Thomas Merton’s Path to the Palace of Nowhere

The Essential Guide to the Contemplative Teachings of Thomas Merton

By: James Finley

Narrated by: James Finley

Thomas Merton, Trappist monk, author, and student of Zen, remains one of the most important and beloved figures in the modern Christian contemplative movement. His writings, which bridge Eastern and Western spiritual thought, continue to inspire us with their real possibilities for immediate and direct experience of the divine.
Now James Finley, who for six years lived, prayed, and studied with Brother Louis, as Merton was known at the Abbey of Gethsemani, shares with us the gifts passed on to him by this towering figure on Thomas Merton's Path to the Palace of Nowhere.
First presented at a series of popular retreats, this full eight-CD program takes a participatory approach to Merton's most useful teachings, helping us to discover our true self … to disappear into God; to be submerged into his peace; to be lost in the secret of his face, as Merton said, through daily practices including contemplation, prayer, and faith. In the end we find ourselves in what the Taoist sage Chuang Tzu called the Palace of Nowhere, where all the many things are one.
There is an Eastern teaching called transmission of mind, in which the enlightened mind embodied in the master is manifest in the student's awakening. It is in this spirit that James Finley invites us to follow Thomas Merton's Path to the Palace of Nowhere.

A continual awakening!

Loved it! Packed full of insights opening me to clarity of past experiences. I'll go through it again! ~ Lynn

A must listen

A must listen for whoever desires to live a more contemplative life. A remarkable recording.

James Finley

I am learning more and more of these teachings. James Finley's humble way of talking. I love him....

Transformative

I will repeat the experience of listening to this book hopefully with others. So much here opens the heart to sharing and mutual understanding that it simply must be shared.

contemplation and meditation

Fantastic down to Earth , wholistic teachings , narrated in a poetic peaceful and loving way .