{"id":2676,"date":"2013-07-09T21:03:14","date_gmt":"2013-07-09T20:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/?p=2676"},"modified":"2013-07-09T21:03:14","modified_gmt":"2013-07-09T20:03:14","slug":"thomas-merton-the-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2013\/07\/thomas-merton-the-film.html","title":{"rendered":"Thomas Merton: the Film"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"thomasAnyone who knows me or has read this blog for long knows I am a great admirer of Thomas Merton. I remember his name being mentioned to me at a Buddhist<\/a> retreat some time around 2002 or 3, and then, in a quiet week during my MA in Buddhist Studies, I picked up his Asian Journal<\/a> where,\u00a0upon seeing the great Buddha statues at Polonnaruwa, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) he wrote:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLooking at these figures I was suddenly,\u00a0almost forcibly, jerked clean out of the habitual, halftied vision of things, and an inner clearness, clarity, as\u00a0if exploding from the rocks themselves, became evident\u00a0and obvious. The queer evidence of the reclining\u00a0figure, the smile, the sad smile of Ananda standing with\u00a0arms folded (much more \u2018imperative\u2019 than Da Vinci\u2019s\u00a0Mona Lisa because completely simple and straightforward). The thing about all this is that there is\u00a0no puzzle, no problem, and really no \u2018mystery.\u2019 All\u00a0problems are resolved and everything is clear, simply\u00a0because what matters is clear. The rock, all matter, all\u00a0life, is charged with dharmakaya . . . everything is\u00a0emptiness and everything is compassion. I don\u2019t know\u00a0when in my life I have ever had such a sense of beauty\u00a0and spiritual validity running together in one aesthetic\u00a0illumination. Surely, with Mahabalipuram and\u00a0Polonnaruwa my Asian pilgrimage has come clear and\u00a0purified itself. I mean, I know and have seen what I\u00a0was obscurely looking for. I don\u2019t know what else\u00a0remains but I have now seen and have pierced through<\/em>\u00a0the surface and have got beyond the shadow and the\u00a0disguise.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now an ambitious group of filmmakers has come together to bring you Thomas Merton, the film.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThomas Merton was a legend. He was one of the most important writers on faith and humanity in the twentieth century.<\/strong> His writing has changed my life and I really want to introduce Thomas Merton to my generation and younger\u201d \u2013 Ben Eisner (screenwriter \/ producer).<\/span><\/p>\n

This project has been years in the making already. Here is a 2010 pitch:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/vimeo.com\/66840378<\/a><\/p>\n

And now a 2013 campaign is underway to bring in just over $2 million, which will fund 1\/4 of the film, enough to get the wheels fully in motion.<\/p>\n

From the Indigogo campaign<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Plot Summary<\/h3>\n

In the summer of 1966, world famous monk and peace activist Thomas Merton falls in love with a nursing student half his age, plunging him into the most agonizing predicament of his life. As he endeavors to prevent his secret romance from being discovered by his abbot, James Fox, Merton realizes he must finally choose between serving himself or serving the world.\"\"<\/p>\n

Why Are We Making This Film?<\/h3>\n

Like millions of people before me [Ben], I first encountered Thomas Merton through his autobiography\u00a0The Seven Storey Mountain.<\/em>\u00a0Merton\u00a0invited me on a soul searching journey where I started to ask myself the tough questions about what Merton called the \u201ctrue self\u201d: the\u00a0place of freedom within all of us that is unscathed by fear, insecurity and hurt we\u2019ve accumulated from our past.\u00a0Over the next seven years as I delved further into Merton\u2019s life and writings, I became convinced his story must be told on the big screen.<\/p>\n

Merton is the most relatable person I have ever read. He lived his life openly and honestly. Even though he died over 40 years ago, his writings on peace, social justice, and spirituality are more relevant than ever. My ultimate hope is that this film will introduce Thomas Merton to an entirely new audience who might have never heard his name or picked up one of his books. I\u2019m excited to think how this homage to Merton\u2019s legacy could potentially inspire millions of people from all generations, faiths and cultures to love the world in a deeper way.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve been impacted by Merton as I have, or if you would like to learn more about his brief but incredible life, I invite you to contribute to this project and help us share Merton\u2019s vision to inspire a world in desperate need of unselfish love and indiscriminate compassion.<\/p>\n

\u2013read more and support here<\/a>\u2013<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI want this film to make people laugh. I want them to cry. I want this to touch people at the depths of who they are with the longings to be at peace with themselves<\/strong>.\u201d \u2013 Ben Eisner (screenwriter \/ producer)<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Follow along in Merton\u2019s Asian Journey via the blog: Merton in Asia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Visit the site of Kevin Miller<\/a> (one of the filmmakers)<\/p>\n

<\/strong>Read one of my blog posts from 2006:\u00a0Buddhism: bodhisattva Thomas Merton<\/a>\u00a0(some of my other posts mentioning Merton<\/a>)<\/p>\n

And check out the film\u2019s page on Facebook:\u00a0<\/span>https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DivineComedyOfThomasMerton<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anyone who knows me or has read this blog for long knows I am a great admirer of Thomas Merton. I remember his name being mentioned to me at a Buddhist retreat some time around 2002 or 3, and then, in a quiet week during my MA in Buddhist Studies, I picked up his Asian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,5,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddhism","category-buddhist-ethics","category-happiness"],"yoast_head":"\nThomas Merton: the Film<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Anyone who knows me or has read this blog for long knows I am a great admirer of Thomas Merton. 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