Silent Lamp...Radiating Light to the World

“Saint or no saint, what can this monk possibly have to say to me… After all, monks live a unique kind of life. They are cut off from most of the kind of experiences that make up my life. What light can a monk possibly shed on my journey?” – William Shannon, Silent Lamp



This biography, intimately written by a Merton scholar and a priest, is possibly the best book about Thomas Merton ever written; depicting to the reader, unique insights and intimate knowledge of a highly gifted Catholic monk.

The author reveals that despite the Trappists’ cloistered life way of life, monks are not as different from the rest of us as we often suppose.  The pages of this book shows that the same human needs, longings, searchings, frustrations, ecstasies, sorrows and alienation can be found as much in a monastery as outside.


William Shannon shares with us, that while monks may have chosen a special way of living in the world, they have not opted out of the human condition.  The title of the book resonates with the name of Merton in Chinese, meaning “Silent Lamp”, a testimony of what Thomas Merton has become for thousands, if not millions of people throughout the world; providing spiritual direction embodied in his writings – more than 50 books and 4,000 letters and poetry.


Within this book, the reader will encounter the chronological evolution of Merton’s contemplative spirituality, with silence as its core – the inner journey, the life of the Spirit; how Merton’s writing influence goes beyond Roman Catholicism, beyond Christianity and reaching out to touch many who share none of his religious beliefs.  Every page shares with us the story of a person recognizing and actualizing the gifts he received, gifts that are sometimes burdensome; imposing responsibilities that weigh heavily on the human spirit to bring them to full bloom.

 For almost half his life, Merton lived without any clearly definable religious faith; born in 1915, only found the Roman Catholic Church in 1938, discovered monasticism three years later, remained a monk to the very end, where his journey comes to an abrupt end in a most unexpected and mysterious way at the Oriental Hotel, in Bangkok, 1968.


Very briefly, the fifteen chapters reveals to us eight chronologies in the life of Merton from years 1911 to 1968, his father who seemingly did little to communicate ‘faith’, his fears of a life without meaning or purpose, his favorite books, his prayer life, his drinking and womanizing years, his struggles with illusions, his desire to enter a monastery and become a priest, why he chose the Cistercians of the Strict Observances, his vulnerability, fears and continuous dialogue with life, his writings, censorship of his books and how he enriched his faith by expanding it to other religious traditions.


This highly engaging 300+ pager reflective biography reveals to us that Thomas Merton is fully “Catholic” in the best sense of the word and that certain happenings in life are necessary “for a fuller flowering of God’s grace.”

For me, the reading of this biography has been a humbling and an enlightening experience.  In fact, I will definitely read it again to get an even richer insight.

This definitive book about Merton can be purchased from either Thriftbooks (free shipping in US) or Amazon.com at a ridiculously cheap price.

Our Humanity…Need God's Healing…

As human beings, we continue to search endlessly for identity…for meaning…for hope.  Our journey through life…our search…our struggles are never easy…it is fraught with many obstacles…many pitfalls…many illusions that tend to camouflage reality…many veils that hinder us from seeing…from understanding…the truth.



Today and everyday, we continue to read of such ‘hope-less’ headlines making the ‘so-called’ news headlines from around the world…

• Boasts on the raid and brutal killing of Osama bin Laden
• Continuing Muslim-Christian clashes in Cairo
• President Obama losing no sleep over the raid and killing of Bin Laden
• “Buy-elections” in Malaysia
• Endless heavy fighting in Libya
• Building of a large rare earth refinery plant in Malaysia
• Sectarian clashes in Egypt over the alleged conversion of an Egyptian Christian woman to Islam
• Gunmen attacks in Afghanistan
• Brutal and explosive murder of a Mongolian model beauty
• Government-controlled media inciting and provoking hatred, religious disharmony and heaping odium on Christians in Malaysia
• Continuous vows around the world to avenge the death of Bin Laden
• Political character assassination via manufacture of pornography in Malaysia
• Bombing and killing of security forces in Thailand
• The rise of a “new McCarthyism” in Malaysia, etc, etc


It is somewhat sickening to be bombarded daily with these.  Is there no good news?  Such promotion of violence destructs the very continued existence of the human race, our world community.  Violence such as these destroys and humiliates the very dignity of every human being.  These so-called ideals, promoted by some selfish and corrupted politicians are seen as the most pitiful sham for them to remain or cling on to power.

In the history of humanity, we have read about nuclear arms race between the superpowers of the world, apartheid in Africa, military rule in Burma, hundreds and thousands of American troops in Vietnam, restrictions of non-Muslim religious forms of worship in Malaysia, alleged “terrorist” attacks on the twin towers, abusive use of the no-longer-relevant Internal Security Act in Malaysia and many parts of the world…bombs dropped on defenseless Asian villages, bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki…destroying, disfiguring young children, innocent people…all these, for what?  What sort of a journey are these so-called ‘leaders’ in the world promoting today?  What sort of corrupt values?

There are many nations like the United States, Malaysia, Middle East, Thailand, Australia, China, Pakistan, Africa, even Britain, who claim to be fighting for religious truth, justice, freedom, equality and other values of the spirit but what do we actually see?

Countries such as these and the rest of the world, in general, are in a state of corrupt madness, chaos and selfish desperation. Nothing has changed...in fact, it has gotten worst over the ages!

A Trappist monk, the late Thomas Merton, sometime ago, has this to say about the exploits in Vietnam…


“Vietnam seems to have become an extension of our old western frontier, complete with enemies of another “inferior” race.  This is a real “new frontier” that enables us to continue the cowboys-and-indians game which seems to be part and parcel of our national identity.  What a pity that so many innocent people have to pay with their lives for our obsessive fantasies”.

It is a fact that this statement is still so relevant for us today.  There are still so many countries and governments around the world today who blatantly persecute “inferior” and “innocent” people with their political “game” of violence; whether physical, spiritual or emotional – destroying human dignity, curbing human freedom.

From the simple and quiet Mohandas Gandhi, we can learn a lot about non-violence.  Gandhi, a model of integrity which we simply cannot afford to ignore, echoes the contemplative spirit of India.  Gandhi’s motivation has always been spiritual and religious.

In fact, Gandhi too, learnt a lot from Jesus’ words quoted in the Sermon on the Mount.  To Gandhi, political freedom, without the spiritual freedom of the individual person that flows from authentic human unity, held no meaning at all for him.

“When the practice of ahimsa becomes universal, God will reign on earth as He does in heaven” – Mohandas Gandhi (ahimsa is a Sanskrit word for “nonviolence”.  Himsa means injury or harm or violence; the privative a- negates that meaning.)

Despite these persecutions and subtle abuse of powers, many of us choose to be quiet and indifferent.  What can I do?

Should the oppressed or persecuted write or speak out against violence of political war - whatever the inner conscience seems to dictate?  Or should these people maintain a discreet monastic silence, bury their head in the ground, as if all is ok...and just pray for a better tomorrow?


We have seen that the Christian spirituality is not one that is withdrawn from the world…we have a mission in the world.  Transformed Christians, wherever they may be, must commit themselves to the pursuit of justice and the truth.

“We may never succeed in this campaign, but whether we succeed or not, the duty is evident.  It is the great Christian task of our time.  Everything else is secondary, for the survival of the human race itself depends upon it.

We have to make ourselves heard. …Christians have a grave responsibility to protest clearly and forcibly against the trends that lead inevitably to crimes which the Church deplores and condemns.   Ambiguity, hesitation and compromise are no longer permissible.

…We have still time to do something about it, but the time is rapidly running out.  …The great issues that face us are the defense of man, the defense of truth, the defense of justice.” (Thomas Merton)


This mad world of today seems to love promoting violence and only understands love as mainly sentimental love....or love of money...love of power.


As Christian pilgrims, we know that love is much more than that…“love comes from within and goes out to the other, not because of the lovableness in that person’s actions, but because one sees a human dignity, the very image of God, that even violence and evil cannot erase.  It is the love Jesus spoke of when he called his followers to love, not only the neighbor, but the enemy and those who persecute them” (William H Shannon)


In this mad age of aggression, do you allow such endless noise and distractions to affect your journey?  What will the future be like for our children?  What is your response to help heal the world today?

Do not just HOPE for change, VOTE for change!  Vote for a better world today!  Bring back the good news...

“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”
– Mohandas Gandhi