Thomas Merton Quotes

Purity and simplicity are the two wings with which man soars above the earth and all temporary nature.

No more materialism, no more this egoism, I must become spiritual.

The seeker after truth should be humbler than the dust. The world crushes the dust under its feet, but the seeker after truth should so humble himself that even the dust could crush him. Only then, and not till then, will he have a glimpse of truth.

Spirituality is the science that teaches us how to achieve peace of mind and supreme satisfaction. Right now we are hankering after many, many things, but nothing we get satisfies us. Spirituality tells us that satisfaction can be found only if we lead a good and divine life-a life of simplicity, purity and humility.

It is June. This is what I have decided to do with my life just now. I will do this work and lead this life, the one I am leading today. Each morning the blue clock and the crocheted bedspread, the table with the Phone, the books and magazines, the Times at the door.

You have to do your own work; Enlightened Ones will only show the way. Those who practise meditation will free themselves from the chains of death

It's only by forgetting yourself that you draw near to God.

Reverence, humility, contentment, gratitude and hearing the good Dhamma, this is the best good luck.

He who is persistent will realize God. So try your best to make meditation a regular experience in your life.

Simplicity reaches out after God; purity discovers and enjoys Him.

Meditation means this opening out of the soul to the Divine and letting the Divine shine in without obstruction from the personal self. Therefore it means renunciation. It means throwing away everything that one has, and waiting empty for the light to come in.

It is only through meditation that we can get lasting peace, divine peace. If we meditate soulfully in the morning and receive peace for only one minute, that one minute of peace will permeate our whole day. And when we have a meditation of the highest order, then we really get abiding peace, light and delight. We need meditation because we want to grow in light and fulfill ourselves in light. If this is our aspiration, if this is our thirst, then meditation is the only way.

The Seven Factors of Awakening are mindfulness, investigation of phenomena, diligence, joy, ease, concentration, and letting go.

Moving ourselves to the background and others to the foreground is evidence that the (spiritual) search is achieving its purpose.

We're all so busy chasing the extraordinary that we forget to stop and be grateful for the ordinary.

To commune daily with God in deep meditation, and to carry His love and guidance with you into all your dutiful activities, is the way that leads to permanent peace and happiness.

To achieve that state of lasting happiness and absolute peace, we must first know how to calm the mind, to concentrate and go beyond the mind. By turning the mind's concentration inward, upon the self, we can deepen that experience of perfect concentration. This is the state of Meditation.

Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.

Renunciation - non-resistance - non-destructiveness - are the ideals to be attained through less and less worldliness, less and less resistance, less and less destructiveness. Keep the ideal in view and work towards it. None can live in the world without resistance, without destruction, without desire. The world has not come to that state yet when the ideal can be realised in society.

Let there be as little materialism as possible, with the maximum of spirituality.

If we are able to meet these two requirements - regularity in meditation and leading a good life in society, day-to-day a good life - then nothing would be unattainable by us.

The one thing which you have to abandon unconditionally is your self.

Honor the miraculousness of the ordinary.

The biggest ego trip is getting rid of your ego, and of course the joke of it all is that your ego does not exist.

A disciple asked, "Who is a Master?" The Master replied, "Anyone to whom it is given to let go of the ego. Such a person's life is then a masterpiece.