At the World Conference on Religions in Calcutta, (1966?)Thomas Merton
delivered a paper in which he referred to the "second axial period". I
believe that this paper was delivered shortly before his death that
same day. I may be mistaken about this latter bit.
I am looking for the entire text of that paper. |
Request for Question Clarification by
pafalafa-ga
on
23 May 2005 12:42 PDT
Hello again.
The phrase you asked about seems to most often be attributed to Ewert Cousins:
http://astro.temple.edu/~dialogue/Antho/ewert_an.htm
Are you sure it originated with Merton?
paf
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Clarification of Question by
ryoyu-ga
on
23 May 2005 13:38 PDT
Hello again, indeed.
I guess this answers my question about specialties of yours!
I thank you for that site - that's as clear an explanation of the 2
Axial ages as I have seen!
I am not claiming that the phrase "second axial age" was created by
Merton, only that he used it. Of that I am certain because I have a
recording that includes a sample of Merton himself using that phrase.
The recording is called "Compassion" and is long out of print, to my knowledge.
In googling merton, axial age, I got several hits that mentioned his
talk in Calcutta in that context, but none of them had the text.
There is, of course, no reason to think that what I heard is from is
Calcutta paper, but he's a hero and if the text can be found I'd like
to have it. In the meantime I'll just transcribe the 30 seconds or so
on the recording.
Ryo (actually the abbreviation of my "dharma" name)
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Request for Question Clarification by
pafalafa-ga
on
23 May 2005 19:53 PDT
If you haven't seen it already, you should certainly check out this site:
http://www.thomasmertonbooks.com/thomasmerton/index.asp
and perhaps even contact them regarding the transcript you are
seeking...they may be able to identify the precise source.
paf
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Clarification of Question by
ryoyu-ga
on
30 May 2005 13:49 PDT
Pafalafa-ga,
This is embarassing. I just read, closely, the paper by Ewert
Cousins. In it, I found word for word that statement that I had
attributed to Merton. In my defense, that original recording did the
same. So - you had the answer on the git-go and I have muddled about
in the dark for weeks. But you have provided a lot of additional
useful information, so thanks. I'm off on vacation for a week but if
I find more questions in my brain-pan, I will send them along. Ryo
|
Nothing embarassing about having muddled about. That's just part of
the human experience (I should know, I've been muddling my way through
parenthood for the past decade).
Thanks for letting me know that my earlier comment answered the
question, and if there's anything more I can do for you on this one,
just give me a holler.
paf |
Request for Answer Clarification by
ryoyu-ga
on
05 Jun 2005 13:47 PDT
pafalafa
OK...
some time you might want to go to a site called
www.ordinary-things.com and take a look at the page called Silver Tea.
It's about parenting, more or less. A daily letter to my son that
has been going on now for 18 months...
ryo
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Clarification of Answer by
pafalafa-ga
on
09 Jun 2005 07:55 PDT
I had a look at Silver Tea.
What a beautiful idea and labor (?) of love...a very nice mix of the
spiritual and curmudgeonly (at least, for today's entry, though I
couldn't agree more about GWB).
Thanks for letting me know about this (and for your participation in
GA as well...it's good to have you on board).
paf
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
ryoyu-ga
on
09 Jun 2005 08:39 PDT
Glad you liked it. Today's was far more hostile than usual but I'm
fed up. No more questions now, but it'll happen....my deadline for
the book is July 1st and I'm aiming to have it done by next thursday.
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