{"id":5749,"date":"2017-05-05T08:47:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-05T15:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=5749"},"modified":"2017-05-05T08:47:00","modified_gmt":"2017-05-05T15:47:00","slug":"thomas-merton-in-silence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2017\/05\/05\/thomas-merton-in-silence\/","title":{"rendered":"Thomas Merton – In Silence"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Silence
\nby Thomas Merton<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Be still.
\nListen to the stones of the wall.
\nBe silent, they try
\nto speak your<\/p>\n

name.
\nListen
\nto the living walls.<\/p>\n

Who are you?
\nWho
\nare you? Whose
\nsilence are you?<\/p>\n

Who (be quiet)
\nare you (as these stones
\nare quiet). Do not
\nthink of what you are
\nstill less of
\nwhat you may one day be.<\/p>\n

Rather
\nbe what you are (but who?)
\nbe the unthinkable one
\nyou do not know.<\/p>\n

O be still, while
\nyou are still alive,
\nand all things live around you<\/p>\n

speaking (I do not hear)
\nto your own being,
\nspeaking by the unknown
\nthat is in you and in themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will try, like them
\nto be my own silence:
\nand this is difficult. The whole
\nworld is secretly on fire. The stones
\nburn, even the stones they burn me.
\nHow can a man be still or
\nlisten to all things burning?
\nHow can he dare to sit with them
\nwhen all their silence is on fire?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from The Strange Islands: Poems by Thomas Merton<\/a>, by Thomas Merton<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by bpkuk1978<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

I thought I\u2019d continue with the theme of silence from Monday\u2019s poem\u2026<\/p>\n

I love the questions that impregnate this poem.<\/p>\n

Be silent, they try
\nto speak your<\/p>\n

name.<\/i><\/p>\n

Does your name have any inherent meaning?
\nAre you your name?
\nWhen people call your name, are they calling you, or some idea of you?
\nIf you are not your name, what is the purpose of a name?
\nIf you are not your name, what then do you call yourself?<\/p>\n

Listen
\nto the living walls.<\/p>\n

Who are you?
\nWho
\nare you? Whose
\nsilence are you?<\/i><\/p>\n

This is more than a question, really, almost an insistent demand: Who are you? Who are you?<\/i><\/p>\n

But the question isn\u2019t tossed to the busy, thinking mind, which has a thousand quick answers. Merton insists on silence. Remove the background of environment, society, relationship, even thoughts about yourself. THEN ask the question, Who are you? WHO are you?<\/p>\n

Who (be quiet)
\nare you (as these stones
\nare quiet).<\/i><\/p>\n

In that open silence, the question shifts and morphs. WHAT are you?
\nPerhaps you are someone else\u2019s dream\u2026?
\nOr someone else\u2019s silence\u2026?
\nAre you separate from the silence?
\nDo you even exist in that emptiness?
\nHave you simply imagined yourself?
\nCan you re-imagine yourself?
\nHOW would you re-imagine yourself?<\/p>\n

Rather
\nbe what you are (but who?)
\nbe the unthinkable one
\nyou do not know.<\/i><\/p>\n

Who (be quiet) are you?<\/p>\n

O be still, while
\nyou are still alive,
\nand all things live around you<\/p>\n

speaking (I do not hear)
\nto your own being,
\nspeaking by the unknown
\nthat is in you and in themselves.<\/i><\/p>\n

Merton suggests that there is a grand, universal dialog occurring all around us \u2014 in that overlooked silence. Everything is alive, and flowing through that life is a silence, and that silence is speaking to us.<\/p>\n

You say you do not hear. But be silent, be quiet, be still. And you will realize that you are already part of the conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will try, like them
\nto be my own silence:<\/i><\/p>\n

Yes! We want to BE our own silence!<\/p>\n

To be filled with noise is to be distracted from one\u2019s own self. To recognize our own silence, to be comfortable with it, to BE it \u2014 that requires nothing less than to be at ease with one\u2019s heart and to rest like royalty there.<\/p>\n

\u2026and this is difficult. The whole
\nworld is secretly on fire.<\/i><\/p>\n

The whole world burns with this stillness. There is a light and a dancing life hidden in the silence. <\/p>\n

How can a man be still or
\nlisten to all things burning?
\nHow can he dare to sit with them
\nwhen all their silence is on fire?<\/i><\/p>\n

And that silent fire can be overwhelming, frightening, for it consumes everything, including one\u2019s ego and one\u2019s name. So how can one be still in the midst of such a conflagration? <\/p>\n

The bold dare the heat\u2026 and come to rest in the silence.<\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Thomas Merton<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Selected Poems of Thomas Merton<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe Collected Poems of Thomas Merton<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nA Thomas Merton Reader<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe Strange Islands: Poems by Thomas Merton<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThomas Merton Monk & Poet: A Critical Study<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n\n
\n\"Thomas<\/a>\n<\/td>\n\nThomas Merton<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

US (1915 \u2013 1968) Timeline<\/a>
\nChristian<\/a> : Catholic<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n

<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Thomas Merton was a Catholic monk and mystic who, perhaps more than anyone else in the 20th century, is associated with opening up a dialog between the spiritual traditions of East and West. He himself studied many Eastern spiritual practices deeply, from Zen meditation to Hindu yogic philosophy.<\/p>\n

He is best known today for his essays on the spiritual life, especially his first book, The Seven Storey Mountain. He was also a gifted poet.<\/p>\n

More poetry by Thomas Merton<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Silence by Thomas Merton Be still. Listen to the stones of the wall. Be silent, they try to speak your name. Listen to the living walls. Who are you? Who are you? Whose silence are you? Who (be quiet) are you (as these stones are quiet). Do not think of what you are still […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[53,700,51],"class_list":["post-5749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-catholic-poetry","tag-silence","tag-thomas-merton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5749"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5750,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5749\/revisions\/5750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}