Morton J. May Foundation Gallery: Thursday, 15 January 2015

A Hidden Wholeness: the Zen Photography of Thomas Merton

Opening Reception and guest speaker:
January 15, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m

A Hidden Wholeness will be on view Jan. 12 to Feb. 21, in the Morton J. May Foundation Gallery, located in the Maryville University Library. Admission is free of charge and the public is welcome to view exhibits during regular library hours.

Thomas Merton was a Trappist monk at the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Kentucky. He is best known today for his spiritual writings on contemplation and his own personal spiritual journey that led him to study Eastern religions, especially Zen Buddhism. Merton was also a visual artist of considerable talent exploring drawing and calligraphy and, as reflected in this exhibition, photography. His photographs were a way to summon viewers to be present to what Merton called the “living and self-creating mystery of which I am myself a part, to which I am myself my own unique door.”