This is a book not so much on the how of contemplative prayer but on what is contemplation. It is a thorough work on the topic from a person who made this very thing his life's vocation. Merton looks at contemplations and explains it in fifteen chapters and 154 pages. Contemplation from Merton's perspective is simple enough but illusive - it's something God does, not something that can be derived from human effort. Human effort only seems to make it more illusive. There are many paradoxes with contemplation, and Merton explores and explains them while remaining orthodox and faithful to the Catholic perspective on religion and prayer. ( )