The Seven Storey Mountain

Thomas Merton was born on January 31, 1915, in France to his parents, who were artists. His father was from New Zealand, and his mother was from the United States, and given their worldliness, Merton was brought up in an open-minded, secular environment. Tragically, his mother died of stomach cancer when he was young, and his only memories of her as presented in the book were how serious and pale she seemed. However, he discovered a new version of his mother through the journal she left behind and the stories others told him about her. His father took him on his travels, and Merton lived a unique childhood, straddling many worlds, from the stuffy preparatory schools of France to the United Kingdom to the streets of New York and beyond. He spent much of his early childhood in Queens, New York as World War I broke out in Europe, and his family left France. There, his younger brother, John Paul, was born. John Paul later died during Merton’s young adulthood in World War II. Long before he lost his brother, Merton lost himself or at least realized how far he had to go to find himself.

In terms of his educational career, after stints at schools and being shuffled around during his father’s travels, Merton attended Clare College in Cambridge and transferred to Columbia University in New York, from which he graduated in 1938 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. During his younger years in university, he suffered bouts of poor health, dabbled in communist ideology, and made some poor decisions. It was around this time one of his friends introduced him to a Hindu monk who profoundly impacted him and started his journey toward Catholicism. Though he had a lot of stumbles along the way, he found himself attending Mass on his own for the first time that very same year and was later baptized at the Corpus Christi Church in New York.

After his undergraduate years, Merton earned a Master of Arts in English and pursued a PhD at Columbia University. It was only after so many stumbles in life, thinking he had all the answers, priding himself on his good deeds, and seeking validation through his writing, that he found himself enamored with the idea of becoming a priest. He pursued this, and initially, he failed because of his recent baptism and checkered past. Merton wasn’t ready to give up on his dream, however. He lived his life as a monk even when he was not one, and eventually, after spiritual pilgrimages and dark nights of the soul, he visited the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky where he labored for a few days until he was accepted there as a monk. He was afraid his past or recent conversion would get in the way again, but the Father there believed Merton had an important role to play in the salvation of others. Merton was also urged to continue writing there. It was there that Merton found true happiness, among the silent monks and close to God, though the book, which was penned when he was in his early thirties, ends with a somewhat complicated Epilogue as he demonstrates he’s still working to untangle his identity and devote himself to his religion. He is just as philosophical as he was when he set out on this journey, but rather than being a journey of self-discovery, Merton found it a journey for purpose: to discover and be close to God.

Merton’s work had an immense impact after publication and is a cornerstone autobiography for Catholics and creatives alike because of the reverence he has for the arts. Merton didn’t stop his spiritual journey when the book’s pages ended. Merton died on December 10, 1968, at the young age of 53 in Thailand. His death is still the source of controversy and speculation because he died in an unusual way: electrocution. It was ruled accidental officially. Some speculate he died by suicide because of a romantic affair he had with a nurse that got him in trouble with the monastery, and he was forced to pick one or the other. Others maintain Merton would never have died by suicide. Some point to a possible murder, and the theories range from ensuring his martyrdom to a plot by the CIA to silence a prominent war critic. Whatever the cause of his death is, it remains the subject of discussion and shines a light on where he was spiritually and emotionally at the end of his life. Perhaps as no surprise to readers, Merton found himself more interested in Eastern religions as he grew older, and he even met the Dalai Lama, who claimed Merton was an exemplary true Christian. This embrace of other cultures and world views brings some aspects of the book full circle, like how influential his meeting with the Hindu monk was. Some of his more dogmatic attitudes toward other sects of Christianity also mellowed out as he aged into his spirituality.