
The Wisdom of the Desert
Sayings from the Desert Fathers of the Fourth Century
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Narrated by:
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Greg Chun
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By:
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Thomas Merton
About this listen
The Wisdom of the Desert was one of Thomas Merton's favorites among his own books, surely because he had hoped to spend his last years as a hermit.
The personal tones of the translations and the blend of reverence and humor so characteristic of him show how deeply Merton identified with the legendary authors of these sayings and parables, the fourth-century Christian fathers who sought solitude and contemplation in the deserts of the Near East.
The hermits of Screte, who turned their backs on a corrupt society remarkably like our own, had much in common with the Zen masters of China and Japan, and Father Merton made his selection from them with an eye to the kind of impact produced by the Zen mondo.
©1960 Abbey of Gethsemani, Inc. (P)2019 New Directions Publishing CorporationListeners also enjoyed...
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- By: Thomas Merton
- Narrated by: Thomas Merton
- Length: 5 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Christian theology may not believe in Marxism, and Marxism may think that God is dead, but the two ideologies still have much to say to one another. Thomas Merton, one of the world’s greatest modern Christian intellectuals, was fascinated by the dialogue between Marxists and Christians. Now, by listening to these nine masterful talks, which Merton delivered to the novices at the Abbey of Gethsemani in 1965 and 1966, you can join in these conversations.
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super personal opinion
- By Brian Jones on 06-14-21
By: Thomas Merton
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Thomas Merton on Chinese & Greek Philosophy
- By: Thomas Merton
- Narrated by: Thomas Merton
- Length: 4 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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A leading Christian intellectual and a global citizen, Thomas Merton was known for his mission to understand and learn from other cultures’ worldviews and philosophies. Now, as you listen to these nine captivating talks on Chinese and Greek philosophy, your own interest in these ancient schools of thought, Eastern and Western, will be ignited.
By: Thomas Merton
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Thomas Merton on Desert Spirituality
- By: Thomas Merton
- Narrated by: Thomas Merton
- Length: 3 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Travel into the desert with Thomas Merton as your guide. In the third century, men and women journeyed into the deserts of Syria and Egypt. Turning away from the world, they sought to find salvation in solitude. By doing so, they developed new forms of monasticism and spirituality. Now known as the Desert Fathers and Mothers, their wisdom remains as inspirational today as ever.
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focus on Syrian history
- By Amazon Customer on 02-03-22
By: Thomas Merton
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Thomas Merton’s Path to the Palace of Nowhere
- By: James Finley
- Narrated by: James Finley
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Original Recording
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First presented at a series of popular retreats, this full audio program takes a participatory approach to Merton's most useful teachings, helping us to discover our true self...to disappear into God; to be submerged into his peace; to be lost in the secret of his face, as Merton said, through daily practices including contemplation, prayer, and faith. In the end we find ourselves in what the Taoist sage Chuang Tzu called the Palace of Nowhere, where all the many things are one.
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Deserves a slow, attentive listen
- By Sarah Bensen on 03-01-16
By: James Finley
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Thomas Merton on Sufism
- By: Thomas Merton
- Narrated by: Thomas Merton
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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In the 20th century, Thomas Merton, one of Christianity's great mystics, encountered the ancient Eastern mystical tradition known as Sufism. The result was an outpouring of mystical insight and spiritual wisdom.
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Not a good introduction to Sufism
- By Carlmmm on 03-06-19
By: Thomas Merton
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The Contemplative Journey: Volume 2
- Contemplation and Transformation from Christianity's Mystical Tradition
- By: Father Thomas Keating
- Narrated by: Thomas Keating
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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From infancy, Father Keating teaches, we accumulate emotional layers, or programs, as a result of traumatic experiences. The practice of Centering Prayer engages directly with the unconscious and loosens old traumas that hinder your spiritual development. This form of divine therapy draws from a contemplative method that has brought profound inner transformation into the lives of thousands of practitioners. The Contemplative Journey is Father Thomas Keating's great masterwork.
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The Lord is Amazing
- By Bernard Remacle on 12-03-16
What listeners say about The Wisdom of the Desert
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- Hilary
- 01-16-24
Well presented and executed.
The simplicity of the program, the clarity of the translations, and the fact that these sayings are preserved as they were intended.
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- John C Schupp
- 01-29-21
Great overview of the desert fathers
Great overview of the desert fathers. Some history of them and then some of their sayings.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Teddy
- 02-07-23
Better to read it yourself
This seems like it must be very profound—the west’s answer to the Blue Cliff Record—but it is read at warp speed, with each saying numbered and quickly recited like a grocery list. You get no chance to absorb any of it and the effect is the opposite of what Merton intended.
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- Adam Shields
- 08-01-21
150 sayings & stories for Desert Fathers
A few weeks ago there was a sale on Audible and I picked up several audiobooks for under $3. The Wisdom of the Desert is probably not the best book for audio. It is a collection of 150 sayings or stories about the 4th-century desert fathers. These are sayings that, like poetry, are designed more for contemplation than consumption. Here are a few examples:
“What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves? This is the most important of all voyages of discovery, and without it all the rest are not only useless but disastrous.”
“An elder was asked by a certain soldier if God would forgive a sinner. And he said to him: Tell me, beloved, if your cloak is torn, will you throw it away? The soldier replied and said: No. I will mend it and put it back on. The elder said to him: If you take care of your cloak, will God not be merciful to His own image?”
"It was said of one of the elders that he persevered in a fast of seventy weeks, eating only once a week. This elder asked God to reveal to him the meaning of a certain Scripture text, and God would not reveal it to him. So he said to himself: Look at all the work I have done without getting anywhere! I will go to one of the brothers and ask him. When he had gone out and closed the door and was starting on his way an angel of the Lord was sent to him, saying: The seventy weeks you fasted did not bring you any closer to God, but now that you have humbled yourself and set out to ask your brother, I am sent to reveal the meaning of that text. And opening to him the meaning which he sought, he went away.”
As others have said, there are many nuggets of wisdom here. And there are stories that show how far culturally we are from the desert fathers. I need to get a print version of this and read it again slowly.
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5 people found this helpful