Thomas Merton is without any doubt one of the most creative individuals that the Earth has seen. His listening to the prompts of the Spirit and thus the flourishing within himself of interests, character traits, and ideas that he was not aware of in advance — not to speak of his monastic superiors — made for a remarkable personality. His uncanny and daring sense of humor was not only an expression of his connection to life (via positiva) but also the product of a very free and supple mind (via creativa).
Part of Merton’s artistry — says Matthew Fox — was birthing himself anew on several occasions. Merton had been a poet since his youth. Later he became also a photographer and then a graphic artist. In his book Angelic Mistakes: The Art of Thomas Merton, art critic Roger Lipsey presents Merton’s creative path in this way: That his search for a living Christian mysticism ultimately led to rich parallel worlds in Zen Buddhism and later in Tibetan Buddhism — this too, though impossible to anticipate, belonged to his calling. With rigor and heart, one thing led to another. But nothing, it seems, led inexorably, nonnegotiably, to the serious practice of abstract art.
It is indeed quite remarkable that a Catholic monk in the 1960s would take up the practice of abstract drawings, mixing it with Zen calligraphy. Some kind of devotional painting would have been more acceptable. As one would expect, Merton’s art making was a contemplative exercise, imbued with his spirituality, thus relatively untouched by debates about art in the “secular world” — as it was called then — yet not at all out of touch either. He called his works “footprints of the unconscious (as a child might make deliberate footprints in the snow)” and insisted that such “footprints” were “divested of ego and yet not anonymous,” a paradox that — he said — “I do not know how to explain.”
In his book A Way to God: Thomas Merton’s Creation Spirituality Journey, Matthew underlines the many aspects of Merton’s creativity, from the moments of ecstasy and union/communion which he mostly likely experienced in writing, to his experiments with photography where we can see much spiritual depth and insight along with skill and discipline, to calligraphy as an art and meditation experience.
Matthew also underlines the art of friendship and the love of music that are less often spoken about with regard to Merton, and yet contribute essentially to delineate his figure as an amazingly creative one. Who knew that Merton got tipsy from champagne on the grass field of the monastery with no less than visitor Joan Baez? Matthew believes indeed that Merton knew and practiced art as meditation all the time, at least two decades before Matthew himself would make it familiar to larger audiences.
The experience of emptiness and void (via negativa) is so essential to Merton’s art production that he truly could be a spokesperson for creation spirituality. Of course it is true in general that without letting go there can be no art — as a rule of thumb, less is better than too much — but in Merton the movement of the soul from “contemplation” (as he calls the via positiva) to creativity and art is explicitly and thoroughly washed through the nothingness, including the nothingness of God. I can’t think of another artist so conscious about this, and yet operating not out of a rational decision to go through certain steps, but being rather moved from within.
Matthew rightly underlines also the importance that Merton attributed to art within ritual. He says — and I concur — that certain Merton’s attitudes could be taken as a great endorsement of our Cosmic Mass.
He makes reference to Merton’s great respect for all the forms of art, and he quotes him saying: The function of image, symbols, poetry, music, chant, and of ritual (remotely related to sacred dance) is to open up the inner self to the contemplative, to incorporate the sense and the body in the totality of the self-orientation to God that is necessary for worship and meditation. True, here Merton is saying that ritual is only remotely related to sacred dance, but the quote is from the 1950s.
Several critics have spoken about Merton’s struggle between two vocations, that of the contemplative monk living in silence and that of the artist who needs to express his experience through words, figures, etc. More appropriately, Matthew speaks about the fact that the via creativa was not named for him as an authentic dimension of the spiritual journey — he had to find it pretty much on his own. And he did it remarkably well.
Robert Lipsey, Angelic Mistakes: The Art of Thomas Merton, pp. 19, 39
Matthew Fox, A Way to God: Thomas Merton’s Creation Spirituality Journey, 101 86 89 83-84
See also Fox, Creativity: Where the Divine and Human Meet
And Fox, One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths
And Fox, Passion for Creation: The Earth-Honoring Spirituality of Meister Eckhart
And Fox, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth
Banner Image: A Zen-like photo of a place for contemplation at Gethsemani Abbey. Photo by Tabitha Kaylee Hawk on Flickr.
Queries for Contemplation
What can be the role of art and creativity in the present social crisis? How can I engage art as meditation in a regular way that does not subtract from my ethical engagement but rather supports it?
Recommended Reading
A Way to God: Thomas Merton’s Creation Spirituality Journey
In A Way to God, Fox explores Merton’s pioneering work in interfaith, his essential teachings on mixing contemplation and action, and how the vision of Meister Eckhart profoundly influenced Merton in what Fox calls his Creation Spirituality journey.
“This wise and marvelous book will profoundly inspire all those who love Merton and want to know him more deeply.” — Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism
Creativity: Where the Divine and Human Meet
Because creativity is the key to both our genius and beauty as a species but also to our capacity for evil, we need to teach creativity and to teach ways of steering this God-like power in directions that promote love of life (biophilia) and not love of death (necrophilia). Pushing well beyond the bounds of conventional Christian doctrine, Fox’s focus on creativity attempts nothing less than to shape a new ethic.
“Matt Fox is a pilgrim who seeks a path into the church of tomorrow. Countless numbers will be happy to follow his lead.” –Bishop John Shelby Spong, author, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, Living in Sin
One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths
Matthew Fox calls on all the world traditions for their wisdom and their inspiration in a work that is far more than a list of theological position papers but a new way to pray—to meditate in a global spiritual context on the wisdom all our traditions share. Fox chooses 18 themes that are foundational to any spirituality and demonstrates how all the world spiritual traditions offer wisdom about each.“Reading One River, Many Wells is like entering the rich silence of a masterfully directed retreat. As you read this text, you reflect, you pray, you embrace Divinity. Truly no words can fully express my respect and awe for this magnificent contribution to contemporary spirituality.” –Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit
Passion for Creation: The Earth-Honoring Spirituality of Meister Eckhart
Matthew Fox’s comprehensive translation of Meister Eckhart’s sermons is a meeting of true prophets across centuries, resulting in a spirituality for the new millennium. The holiness of creation, the divine life in each person and the divine power of our creativity, our call to do justice and practice compassion–these are among Eckhart’s themes, brilliantly interpreted and explained for today’s reader.
“The most important book on mysticism in 500 years.” — Madonna Kolbenschlag, author of Kissing Sleeping Beauty Goodbye.
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth
Fox’s spirituality weds the healing and liberation found in North American Creation Spirituality and in South American Liberation Theology. Creation Spirituality challenges readers of every religious and political persuasion to unite in a new vision through which we learn to honor the earth and the people who inhabit it as the gift of a good and just Creator.
“A watershed theological work that offers a common ground for religious seekers and activists of all stripes.” — Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice.
“I am reading Liberating Gifts for the People of the Earth by Matt Fox. He is one that fills my heart and mind for new life in spite of so much that is violent in our world.” ~ Sister Dorothy Stang.
