The Seeds of Contemplation - According to Thomas Merton
On Planting Seeds in the Soil of Contemplation
What type of seeds are you planting? The Buddha used this analogy to illustrate the importance of small acts, “Even by the falling of water drops, a water pot is filled; the wise person becomes full of good, even if they gather it little by little.” The truth is every action and moment matters.
In New Seeds of Contemplation, Thomas Merton wrote,
Every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul. For just as the wind carries thousands of winged seeds, so each moment brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of men. Most of these unnumbered seeds perish and are lost because men are not prepared to receive them: for such seeds as these cannot spring up anywhere except in the good soil of freedom, spontaneity, and love.
Do you have the patience to allow your seeds of contemplation to grow?
The Pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus advised that good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. One must have a protracted and patient effort to develop good character and anything else worthwhile.
Similarly, in the classic Letters to a Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke stressed, “There is no measuring with time, not even a year matters, and ten years are nothing.” To be an artist is to neither reckon nor count; to ripen like the tree, which does not rush its sap. But it comes only to those who are patient, who are there, as if eternity lay before them, so carelessly silent and vast. Although contemplation does not only require patience, it also requires courage.
“Contemplation is no pain killer.” — Thomas Merton
The practice of contemplation is not free of challenges. “Let no one hope to find in contemplation an escape from conflict,” observed Merton, “from anguish or from doubt. On the contrary, the deep, inexpressible certitude of the contemplative experience awakens a tragic anguish and opens many questions.”
Contemplation, whether from a spiritual perspective like Merton’s or a philosophical one like Aristotle’s — shapes how we navigate the world. To quote the mystic and theologian Meister Eckhart, what we plant in the soil of contemplation, we shall reap in the harvest of action.
According to Merton, “Everyone is shadowed by an illusory person: a false self.” We are usually not very good at recognizing illusions, least of all the ones we cherish about ourselves. Contemplation is not and cannot be a function of this external self. Contemplative practices help us realize that our highest ambition is to be what we already are.
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Thank you for reading; I hope you found something useful.
Until next time, be wise and be well,
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