Thomas Merton’s Encounter with Buddhism and Beyond: His Interreligious Dialogue, Inter-Monastic Exchanges and Their Legacy

This thesis explores Thomas Merton’s role as a pioneer of Buddhist-Christian dialogue and monastic interreligious dialogue by: 1) delving into the process of Merton’s self-transformation through contemplative experiences; 2) exploring his encounter with Zen and Tibetan Buddhists and his pioneering engagements in Buddhist-Christian dialogue; 3) presenting and responding to the criticisms of those who raise questions about Merton’s understanding of Buddhism; 4) studying his inter-monastic exchanges with Buddhists at the level of contemplative dialogue; and 5) presenting the ways in which Merton’s pioneering legacy continues in the ongoing Gethsemani Encounters and monastic exchange programs as well as in intra-religious dialogue in an Asian monastic context. Through the lens of Zen, Merton saw the value and possibility of “contemplative dialogue” between monastics and contemplatives of different religious traditions, those men and women who look primarily to a transformation of human consciousness and a spiritual awakening from within their respective traditions. With regard to the future, he hoped that through contemplative dialogue, monastics would strive for “intermonastic communion” and a bonding of the broader “spiritual family” and thus become witnesses of the fundamental unity of humanity to a world that was becoming ever more materialistic and divided. More recently, Eastern and Western monastics have appropriated Merton’s example as they engage in dialogue with each other in various monastic exchange programs, such as those organized by Dialogue Interreligieux Monastique/Monastic Interreligious Dialogue (DIMMID). His legacy of contemplative dialogue can be expanded to Raimon Panikkar’s understanding of “intra-religious dialogue” at the interior level. Finally, in this context, the thesis further develops Panikkar’s internal dialogue at the regional level in an Asian context as a form of intra-monastic dialogue.Doctor of Theology (ThD