From: Swami Tapasananda [tapas@accn.org]
Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 10:55 PM
Subject: Merton Retreat with Patrick Collins 11/5/05


  SEE! SEE!  My Love Is Darkness!  Only In The Void Are All Ways One: Only In The Night Are All The Lost Found. In My Ending Is My     Meaning.   from Merton's poem, "The Night of Destiny"
                        "I could see he was a truly humble and spiritual man "   H.H. Dalai Lama
  

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                  The Spirituality of Thomas Merton
                                               A Retreat With Fr. Patrick Collins, Ph.D.
                                                                Nov 5, 9am-4pm
                                                        Lakeshore Interfaith Institute
                                                 6676 122nd Ave Ganges Mi 49408  269 543 3951
                                      40.00 includes lunch registration at 269 543 3951 or 616 293 6884

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was a writer and Trappist monk at Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky. His writings include such classics as The Seven Storey Mountain, New Seeds of Contemplation, and Zen and the Birds of Appetite. Merton is the author of more than seventy books that include poetry, personal journals, collections of letters, social criticism and writings on peace, justice and ecumenism. His friend H.H. Dalai Lama 

   " The inner "I", who is always alone ,is always universal: for in this inmost "I" my own solitude meets the solitude of every other person and the solitude of God.Hence it is beyond division,beyond limitation,beyond selfish affirmation. It is only this inmost and solitary "I" that truly loves with the love and spirit of Christ. This "I" IS Christ Himself, living in us: and we, in Him,living in the Father." Disputed Questions pg 160

Fr. Patrick W. Collins, Ph.D., is an outstanding author, preacher, musician and university professor. He senses that his principal vocation is to contemplative living—out of which his various ministries flow. In addition to numerous books and articles, Fr. Collins has produced forty-five TV programs, and a number of videos, among them Thomas Merton: Man, Monk, Myth with Music. Fr. Collins presents various kinds of retreats, missions, and workshops, including what he calls "spiritual concerts" which combine texts and tunes for spiritual insight and growth. This approach gives a  feelingful dimension to the meaning of the words and connects head with heart, reason and imagination. He calls it "Music with  a Message.
THE SPIRITUALITY OF THOMAS MERTON
Four themes from the writings and life of this great spiritual master are presented:
The Journey from the false to the True Self Contemplation Prayer Desert:  Solitude and Silence
Discussions and experiences of contemplative prayer are included http://vatican2.org/patrickcollins/