Modern Spiritual Masters: Writings on Contemplation and Compassion

Book Overview

Writings by a dozen modern spiritual masters highlight the need for an engaged spirituality, in touch with the needs of the world. Henri Nouwen, Dorothy Day, Mother Teresa, Thea Bowman, Thomas Merton, Oscar Romero, Mohandas Gandhi, Dom Helder Camara, Mother Maria Skobtsova, Madeleine Delbrel, Howard Thurman, Catherine de Hueck Doherty This anthology highlights stories and essential teachings of a dozen modern spiritual masters, each of whom embodied...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1570757887
• ISBN13: 9781570757884
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: Orbis Books
• Length: 183 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.9" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

An outstanding survey of compassion and spiritual reflection

Any spiritual library needs Robert Ellsberg's MODERN SPIRITUAL MASTERS: WRITINGS ON CONTEMPLATION AND COMPASSION. It offers a synthesis of thought on contemplation and compassion through biographical reflections and selected writings, highlighting the teachings of a dozen spiritual masters from Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton to Howard Thurman. Biography blends with teachings in an outstanding survey of compassion and spiritual reflection perfect for both spiritual and general-interest libraries. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch

"I will give you a talisman..."

In the Introduction to his Modern Spiritual Masters: Writings on Contemplation and Compassion, Robert Ellsberg reminds us that there's no set formula for the cultivation of the spirit and that we should resist "the temptation to identify the gospel with sound doctrine, codes of behavior, liturgical rubrics, and ritual purity" (p. 2). But this doesn't mean that we can't be instructed and inspired by exemplary lives. "Observing" the spiritual journeys of others by reading their words can help orient us in our own pilgrimages. To that end, Ellsberg has selected writings from twelve different spiritual masters: Thomas Merton, Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Madeleine Delbrel, Oscar Romero, Catherine de Hueck, Howard Thurman, Maria Skobtsova, Dom Helder Camara, Thea Bowman, Henri Nouwen, and Dorothy Day. Their voices are diverse, reflecting Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and Hindu backgrounds. They're all "modern," in the sense that they lived in the 20th century; but they lived during different parts of the century, in different places, and reflect different cultural, intellectual, and spiritual climates. As such, this collection offers us a wonderfully colorful and multi-faceted take on the spiritual life. The common thread running through the writings of all these spiritual masters is their conviction that the active and the contemplative life not only aren't incompatible but actually depend on one another. Both prayer and service are acts of love that energize and enrich each other. We may be drawn to one more than the other at certain periods of our lives; temperamentally, some of us may be Marthas and others of us may be Marys. But all of us, if we seek spiritual wholeness, must realize what Ellsberg's twelve masters did: that contemplation and compassion are two sides of the same coin. Readers will discover old favorites in Ellsberg's collection, but may well be surprised by some new discoveries, too. (Madeleine Delbrel was new to me.) Especially welcome is Ellsberg's inclusion of the African American masters Howard Thurman and Thea Bowman. In his chapter on Gandhi, Ellsberg includes one of my favorite passages from the Mahatma: "I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you..., recall the face of the poorest and the most helpless [person] who you may have seen and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [or her]" (p. 41). In putting together this sensitive and eloquent volume, Ellsberg has given us another talisman.