A weekend conference has been scheduled for late October to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Thomas Merton’s death and honor his personal vision for concerned individuals to dialogue, in a contemplative way, on the major issues confronting humanity.
Contemplative living is defined as a practice that focuses on seeing life in the context of core relationships – with oneself, God, others and nature. Merton, a monk at the Cisterian Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky for 27 years and a celebrated author, saw the lack of contemplative living in the world as a root cause of our perennial problems such as social injustice, environmental degradation and war.
“Contemplative living is where contemplation and action meet and unite in our everyday lives,” stated Robert Togh, executive director of the Merton Institute, which is hosting the conference at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville Oct. 24-26 in conjunction with the Fetzer Institute. “It is a way of living that brings a special sense of freedom from the illusion of separateness and from illusions about our true purpose in life.”
For more information on the conference, visit www.mertoninstitute.org.
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