Program Description
Previously unpublished material from world-renowned Trappist monk and author, Thomas Merton, featuring the final conference talks given in the United States before his untimely death.
In May and October of 1968, Thomas Merton offered two extended conferences at Our Lady of the Redwoods Abbey, a Cistercian women’s community in Northern California. Comprising over twenty-six hours of previously unpublished material, Thomas Merton in California covers a variety of topics including ecology and consciousness, yoga and Hinduism, Native American ritual and rites of passage, Sufi spirituality, and inter-religious dialogue, along with extended discussions on prayer and the contemplative life.
The material presented in these talks reveals Merton’s wide-ranging intellectual and spiritual pursuits in the final year of his life, and fills a long-standing lacuna around Merton’s visits to Redwoods Monastery, forming a necessary bridge to the Asian journey that was to come. Practical and applicable, as well as searching and inspired, Thomas Merton in California is essential for Merton readers and scholars, and all those interested in deepening their spiritual lives.
About the Teacher
David M. Odorisio, PhD is Associate Core Faculty at Pacifica Graduate Institute, where he teaches in the Mythological Studies and Psychology, Religion, and Consciousness MA/PhD programs. David is editor of four volumes, including: Thomas Merton in California: The Redwoods Conferences and Letters; A New Gnosis: Comic Books, Comparative Mythology, and Depth Psychology; Merton and Hinduism: The Yoga of the Heart; and co-editor of Depth Psychology and Mysticism. David teaches courses in the areas of psychology and religion, comparative mysticism, and contemplative spirituality. He currently serves as Co-Chair of the Mysticism Unit for the American Academy of Religion.
Check One of David M. Odorisio’s Best-Selling Books:
