1. The Desert Fathers did not imagine themselves, in the first place, to be mystics, though in fact they often were. They were careful not to go looking for extraordinary experiences, and contended themselves with the struggle for “purity of heart” and for control of their thoughts, to keep their minds and hearts empty of care and concern, so that they might altogether forget themselves and apply themselves entirely to the love and service of God. (21)
  2. … this kind of monastic spirit is charismatic rather than institutional. It has much less need of rigid structures and is totally abandoned to one need alone: that of obedience to the word and spirit of God, tested by fruits of humility and compassionate love. Thus the Zossima type of monasticism can flourish in offbeat situations, even in the midst of the world. Perhaps such “monks” may have no overt monastic connections whatsoever. (31)
  3. From these texts we see that in meditation we should not look for a “method” or a “system,” but cultivate an “attitude,” an outlook: faith, openness, attention, reverence, expectation, supplication, trust, joy. […] We should not, however, judge the value of our meditation by “how we feel.” A hard and apparently fruitless meditation may in fact be much more valuable than one that is easy, happy, enlightened and apparently a big success.” (39-40)
  4. We have to think what we are doing, and the reasons for our action must spring from the depths of our freedom and be enlightened by the transforming power of Christian love. Otherwise, our self-imposed sacrifices are likely to be pretenses, symbolic gestures without real interior meaning […] It would be more sincere as well as more religious to eat a full dinner in a spirit of gratitude than to make some picayune sacrifice of part of it, with the feeling that one is suffering martyrdom. (91-92)
  5. This purity, freedom and indeterminateness of love is the very essence of Christianity. It is to this above all that monastic prayer aspires. (119)

All excerpts from Merton, Thomas 1973/2005, Contemplative Prayer