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The essays in this volume of the Fons Vitae Series, Merton & Indigenous Wisdom, are spiritual exercises to explore Merton's globally inclusive religious imagination. These exercises can revitalize our ways of living as we drink from the springs of ancient views and practices. They help us to not only recognize the damage of European colonization, but to taste indigenous American wisdom as a still-living sacrament for our collective salvation. --
About the author
Peter Savastano is an Episcopal Priest. He holds a BA in Religious Studies and Philosophy from Montclair State University and an M.Phil and PhD. in Religion and Society from Drew University. His areas of expertise are: the Anthropology of Religion with a focus on Christian (Anglican, Catholic and Orthodox) mysticism, vernacular devotional practices, and issues of sexuality and gender in relation to Anglicanism, Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy; Islamic Mysticism (Sufism) and Western Esotericism; the Anthropology of Consciousness with a focus on trance, and other psi phenomena such as spontaneous healing, visionary experiences, NDEs and premonitional dreams; World Indigenous sacred ritual and healing traditions, most especially American Indian traditions and African Diasporic traditions. He has been studying the works of Thomas Merton since early adolescence and teaches a course entitled "Thomas Merton, Religion and Culture". Peter Savastano is Associate Professor of the Anthropology and Religious Studies at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey.
