Merton - a film biography

[@Ravensbread]

I believe that this clip is actually the only existing motion picture footage of Thomas Merton. It was filmed in Bangkok on Dec. 10, 1968.
Shortly after giving this talk, Fr. Louis (Thomas Merton) went to his bungalow and after showering. was accidentally electrocuted. His life was divided into two 27 year periods. He entered the Trappists at age 27 on the 10th of December 1941 and died hours after delivering this talk, also on Dec. 10, 1968.
His legacy as a great spiritual thinker lives on.

[@MathiEesha]

You told I Believe..
Who is the 'I' ?
The ONES who comes to know the true meaning of 'I' and 'I AM' within themselves are the ones who will be closer to GOD..
AND BEYOND...

I read that Thomas Merton was assassinated.
In 2018, Hugh Turley and David Martin published The Martyrdom of Thomas Merton: An Investigation, presenting the evidentiary record's refutation of claims of accidental electrocution, and suggesting Merton was assassinated for his political opposition to the Vietnam War. A subsequent book, Thomas Merton's Betrayers: The Case Against Abbot James Fox and Author John Howard Griffin, presents documentary evidence of manipulation and coverup by the Catholic Church and Merton's political foes.

Oh ! Thomas Merton, my love 🙏💜

[@clarkstanton7562]

You are missed, Thomas. You are missed. Yet you wrote well and your words live on.

[@VickyChrisikoupublic]

When a wise man speaks my heart rejoices! Thank you for the post.

[@mrJohnDesiderio]

We miss you , Thomas. Our hearts break for the loss .

[@chungchihsu2000]

What a great man! Truly great. Haven't seen anyone like him yet. The solution is to be like him, at least in heart.

[@DaiBei]

Check out another great man of the church on youtube: Anthony de Mello

[@harmoniabalanza]

his spirit is very present if you approach him by reading and meditating on his work.

[@xander7ful]

Thank you very much for posting this. I have only heard audio clips of Merton, but have never seen him on film or tape. This is a rare treat. Only wish more people had filmed him earlier in his life.

[@karenborch8028]

How a
mazing to see this. We lost him too soon-truly a vicar of Christ. Thank you

[@nevendrozdek4410]

WOW! Read all his books... Such a great and talented man who so deeply falled in love with Christ. Although I was born 10 years after he passed I look at him like on one of my very best friends. Just like I regard some other saints too. Yes, it is so possible to be saint today, even to be a monk and it is such a wonderful call...

[@tomvecchione3475]

Strikingly brilliant man. From is writings, his thoughts, and conversations with other religious leaders and scholars from around the globe.

[@scottlutz2311]

This is chilling. Thank you for posting this.

[@cherylmburton5577]

Thomas Merton had only a few personal items with him on his trip here to Thailand. His glasses were described as: One pair of tortoise shell glasses. It makes me think of the children's story: "The tortoise and the hare": In this story the tortoise was thought for certain he would lose the race, but towards the end, the fast hare started running out of steam and the tortoise kept slowly gaining on him and won the race!!!

[@jimhart2917]

"We can all have a Coke or something." - Thomas Merton

[@tomjones6296]

Jim Hart
A

[@joyjumaya1]

he's one of my fav authors

[@SuperEthel1]

Buenos días!!! gracias por compartir..Feliz Navidad..

[@ritavieiramu]

gostei muito, muito, muito. que relíquia!!!!
beijo de gratidão.
Ritinha

[@aaron0949]

weird to see this saint just before he was taken...hard to grasp

[@toniaugusta]

Do you know of any more clips of him talking? I want to hear him speak of his beliefs in his own words. I love his voice.

[@harmoniabalanza]

he was a cloistered monk, probably not. In fact, he was warned by superiors not to let anyone film him for television when he went to the conference.

[@TheWorldTeacher]

You may also enjoy listening to Avatar Adi Da Samraj (search here).

[@kafdita]

2:50 : Akai recorder!

[@yankumar5280]

thanks for sharing Cristovão Junior

[@TheWorldTeacher]

Why sad? The video I listened to just before this one explained how death is neither good nor bad. Search for "satyogainstitue" on TH-cam.

[@mortalclown3812]

My words may not correctly address your point, but I want to say, selfishly, perhaps that human nature sometimes feels this way - sad about death - in the collective even when we know as individuals that you're spot on. Maybe, too, we are a bit greedy to wish for an illuminated/illuminating one to be on earth a bit longer. He would counter the metastasizing batch of planetary leaders who seek the opposite of unity, peace, concern for the poor, etc. (I'm writing this as an American in 2019, so I assuredly have a rabid dog in the hunt, as the old saying goes.) I'm a big believer that everyone's consciousness survives these fickle bodies. Not big on religion, per se, but love Jesus so and am glad for the lives of siddhas, those simpatico with saints, etc. And Merton was an avatar of sorts. Pax et lux. 📿🙏💗🙋

[@lisa-dawnbaker5402]

This was his very last conference. He was later electrocuted touching a fan with wet hands. I have heard that someone purposely put a faulty wire in that fan. Who did he offend and why was he murdered?

[@DaiBei]

At that time, he was the the most widely read writer of the Catholic Church, so the Vatican has to watch him. Is aim wasn't to spread theology knowledge but, for himself and his readers, to find ways to experience God more and more. Therefore he became interested in the ways of Hinduism, Buddhism, and especially Zen Buddhism about meditation and contemplation. He wrote a book about Zen. He got permission to attend the International Conference of monastic leaders from his new Abbot. On that journey he visited several monasteries and Buddhist and Hindu leaders in India, and met the Dalai Lama. I don't think that the Vatican was pleased with that all. When it was his turn at the conference to speak, he died half way during the siesta. Coincidence? It was 10 December. The same day that he entered the monastery 27 years before. Another coincidence: When he didn't came back from the siesta, the other monks waited 30 minutes before looking after him. His room was locked. Through the window they saw him laying naked on the ground, with burning marks on his skin where the 5 foot fan had struck him. Now the last sentence of his biography "The seven story mountain" is: "So that you may be the brother of God and may come to know the Christ of the BURNED people." A strange sentence. Also, in the video above, the beginning of his last sentence is: "So I will disappear from you ..."
About twenty years later, there was another rising star in the Catholic Church who unexpectedly died at the moment when he was going to say important things: the Indian Jesuit Anthony de Mello. He was a popular writer and a reformer of the 30 days retreats of Ignatius of Loyola, towards a growing group with the idea's and some techniques from modern psychotherapists. Because of the growing popularity of his new retreat (for priests and nuns), this event was scheduled to be televised via satellite to a number of Catholic campuses. Tony, who was 55 and healthy, was found death on the floor in his room, the morning of the first day of the retreat. His body was curled up in a fetal position. His official death certificate speaks of an heart attack. But his heart was fine. Tony had no known history of heart disease. Furthermore, within a year of his death, he had been examined by a physician in the United States, who also served as President Jimmy Carter's doctor, who had told Tony that he was quite healthy. Now people who died from a heart attack don’t curl up in a fetal position. The night before, his brother visited him, and Tony said there was something wrong with his stomach after dinner. Maybe he was poisoned. His brother did some investigation and wrote a book about it. See more: www.opednews.com/articles/1/Was-the-Indian-Jesuit-Anth-by-Thomas-Farrell-130218-457.html

[@suchisthismystery2814]

@TwixxTaylor What makes you believe that?

[@toowarty]

what year was this?

[@FranciscoMendoza-mz5xo]

U

[@harmoniabalanza]

1968

[@jayseanchen1]

Grace A Day.

[@PeterSteinhagen]

If this is the conference in Thailand he died a few hours later.

[@mmoss6961]

I think you are right. A huge loss.... his works and writings have transformed my life for the good.

[@TheGuiltsOfUs]

KRISHNA WITHIN

[@bon47ful]

💔

[@suchisthismystery2814]

Thomas Merton's death was no accident. Nor was Anthony De Mello's by natural causes.

[@skiddwister9143]

Christianity isn't about standing on your own feet. How can a Christian monk be so wrong? If Christianity were about standing on your own feet, Christ wouldn't have had to hang from the cross.

[@sebastianaverymorris3081]

Ora Pro Nobis.

[@CICMCB]

It is so wrong to mix Christianity with other religions. He started out in a good place but towards the end went off the deep end. Perhaps that’s why he was taken. Talking about the Dali Llama does not glorify Christ.

[@1too3fore]

He was a very educated and smart dude but oh so naive. To say that Christianity is against an alienated life is a travesty considering what the Roman Catholic Church did to foster child abuse. Abuse victims were definitely alienated and I'm sure there were other examples.

[@calum66]

I would think by Christianity he wouldn't necessarily be talking about the church.

[@1too3fore]

calum morrison Hard to tell, but he belonged to a monastery with child abuse allegations and Roman Catholic.

[@mrJohnDesiderio]

1too3fore in the ideal sense . Not in its errors.

[@1too3fore]

"ideal", there is no such thing.

[@harmoniabalanza]

Real Christianity, not the ersatz corrupt variety.

[@Philippe1613]

Slipping into Gnosticism...

[@madisonelectronic]

He meant gnocchi-ism.
Rare in refectorys

[@kaylap.1191]

Indeed.

[@yoonsookim6546]

Thomas Merton is probably a FTM transman with female skeletal structure .

[@harmoniabalanza]

Hardly. Odd thing to say.

[@kaylap.1191]

Marxist

[@harmoniabalanza]

not really, just insightful. But what is your point by that one word?

[@stevenpatrickstone766]

Wonderful man. Oh by the way, I'm sure he was gay. Only a gay man could have such depth

[@DaiBei]

+Steven Patrick Stone Now in his youth he had several girlfriends, and make one pregnant. This was in England (Cambridge). Family take care af the situation and he left fot USA , going to Culumbia University. Later as monk, he had an hidden affair with a younger woman. He makes many poets for her. So he wad gay. The fact he loved womand (sometimes) doesn't make him a smaller man.

[@DaiBei]

+DaiBei I mean he wasn't gay.

[@stevenpatrickstone766]

DaiBei My friend is gay and he had 14 girlfriends before he came out. Plus got married and had 2 kids. That's what happens to lots of gay men who stay in the closet because of fear. Your point is?

[@jonhlaxgoalie]

+Steven Patrick Stone "Wonderful" youtube comment. Oh by the way, I'm sure you're a Democrat. Only a Democrat could have such stupidity

[@jonhlaxgoalie]

Don't really care about all that, I'm talking about you're comment about how only gay men have depth and he must have been gay for that reason. That's pretty stupid