The Seven Storey Mountain Audiobook By Thomas Merton cover art

The Seven Storey Mountain

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The Seven Storey Mountain

By: Thomas Merton
Narrated by: Sidney Lanier
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About this listen

The Seven Storey Mountain is the extraordinary spiritual testament of Thomas Merton (1915-1968), a man who experienced life to its fullest in the world before entering a Trappist monastery. By the end of his life, he had become one of the 20th century's best-known and beloved Christian voices. This autobiography deals...not with what happens to a man, but what happens inside his soul.

Public Domain (P)2009 Phoenix
Catholicism Ministry & Evangelism Other Religions, Practices & Sacred Texts Religious Spiritual Growth Spirituality Theology Inspiring
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What listeners say about The Seven Storey Mountain

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Modern classic

If you could sum up The Seven Storey Mountain in three words, what would they be?

Thirst for truth

Who was your favorite character and why?

The author

What does Sidney Lanier bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A sense of what the author's emotional state was for vignettes in the book.

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7 people found this helpful

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Easy to get lost in

There is a point at which this is so long a time yet so quickly complete that it is fascinating

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1 person found this helpful

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excellent book

this was well done great book but is the abridged version of the book. still very good though

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Great story

Sad story and well narrated. Yet my search to finding my true self, my mission on earth continues

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Getting to know you better

Having been aware of Merton for nearly a decade, I am glad to have shared this time with him getting to know him better.

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very refreshing view of true Christianity.

Salvation is within us. Grace and love will help us find it. God will bring all religions back to him.
We are all part of the Universal Christ. Have fun. Love wasteful.

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Thought Provoking

A very special story of a life spun from curious threads into a fabric of humility and love, the love of Christ, the love of God. Wonderfully written, inspiring on multiple levels.

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Greatest story ever told

The best book I have ever read about the history of the Catholic faith and the history of trapist

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Condensed

This is a WONDERFUL story/biography of Thomas Merton’s birth, childhood, and journey to manhood and conversion but there are parts that are missing from the book. You will have to get the book and read it to get the FULL story.

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As a Secular Humanist, I Gleaned a lot from This

I took a class in college in Contemplative Writing. When we spoke about Thomas Merton, I asked a rare question for me, "Was this required reading?" To my happiness, the answer was no. We read a ton in that class. May Sarton and Gail Sher, Rilke and Rumi, and tons of self selected works of our choosing. Many of the students were reading and referring to Merton, but I wrote it off as their religiosity. We happened to be in Kentucky and took a visit to Gethsemane as well as Sister Loretto House. I thought about the nature as being connected to this guy Merton who everyone was talking about. But that was 2012. It took until 2018 for me to read some Merton for myself. I am glad I have.

I don't know if I can convince anyone that I have good reason for my resistance against Catholicism. But I wanted to say all that in the previous paragraph so you understand it has been a strong resistance. Knowing Merton's personal background now has made him in my eyes the exact opposite of a harsh or dogmatic read. Reading about the sad fate of Merton's parents, and especially the artistic upbringing of Merton makes me love the monk and take pride in the fact that I walked in the territory of the offspring of similar birds. If he had always been a Christian, it would have been one thing. But this is, instead, an exploration into the deep substance of life, from the frivolous games of college fraternity life. It is a human story above all else of a man who chose to deafen himself with liquor and noise and mindless interactions, to a man who found something meaningful to care about. There is nothing wrong with that. To have a knee jerk reaction against Catholicism, just shows what wounds I have, but it is not healthy to write off an amazing writer like Merton due to his religious difference any more than I would wish to have someone come and try to convert me from spiritual secularism to atheism. It just is not kind to dismiss someone's narrative and humanity due to their religious preference. So Merton, I am truly sorry.

So when I witnessed Merton praying at the bedside of his father who had passed away, I wanted to know how to pray as he seemed to instinctively know. I wanted to change into a deeper and more contemplative soul.

PS Also, the narrator has a very calm, soft, kind voice.

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21 people found this helpful