“Active contemplation is nourished by meditation and reading and, as we shall see, by the sacramental and liturgical life of the Church. But before reading, meditation, and worship turn into contemplation, they must merge into a unified and intuitive vision of reality.

“In reading, for instance, we pass from one thought to another, we follow the development of the author’s ideas, and we contribute some ideas of our own if we read well. This activity is discursive. Reading becomes contemplative when, instead of reasoning, we abandon the sequence of the author’s thoughts in order not only to follow our own thoughts (meditation), but simply to rise above thought and penetrate into the mystery of truth which is experienced intuitively as present and actual. We meditate with our mind, which is ‘part of’ our being. But we contemplate with our whole being and not just with one of its parts.”

Merton, Thomas. The Inner Experience: Notes on Contemplation. Edited and with an Introduction by William H. Shannon. (NY: HarperOne, 2003), p. 59. [the text belongs to 1959!]