Christian Monasticism
Many Christians today know very little if anything about Monasticism. Some probably have never heard of the term before. Monasticism also referred to as monarchism is the act of living alone. It is a religious practice where one fully devotes one’s life to those things that are wholly spiritual.
People who practice monasticism abandon worldly pursuits to dedicate their lives to God and to spiritual works. These people seclude themselves from the outside world. They do not care for radio, television, digital electronics, smart phones, going out, going to the movies, dancing and all the fun activities we love to do.
Their lives strictly involve prayer and work. They practice spiritual disciplines, such as chastity, silence, fasting, confession, obedience, good works, vigils and prayer.
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Many nuns and monks dwell in monasteries, away from the secular world.
Monastics can be addressed in different ways. In Roman Catholicism, nuns and monks are called sister or brother, whereas in Eastern Orthodoxy they are called mother or father.
Early Christian Monasticism
Christian monasticism began when the early Christians began to move to the desert to get closer to God. The desert was seen as a place where one could return to God as well as receive spiritual renewal.
Early Christian monasticism was influenced by the lives of John the Baptist and Prophet Elijah, as they both dwelled alone in the desert, but the ultimate inspiration was the life of Jesus Christ. His life was entirely dedicated to God, devoted in prayer, preaching, teaching and fasting. In Matthew 4:1-11, we read about how Jesus went into the desert and fasted for forty days and forty nights, before he could begin his public ministry.
Early Christian
In the Middle Ages, lay brethren participated in the development of monasteries so monks could focus on their studies. The monastic tradition sprang from the idea that monks would act as "spiritual militia" to prevent people from sinning and give penances to those who fell into temptation. "Our Lady 's Tumbler" serves as a distinction for a lay person, as he is housed in a monastery and performs self-inflicted penances for his sins. While there are some insinuations for the lay community in this legend, it is meant mainly for a monastic audience in order to show that anyone can reach sainthood, if they live a life of devotion to God by overcoming sin through worship and penance.
Benedict lived in the 16th century from 480 – 547 in Italy (Nursia) at the time when the great Roman Empire was crumbling. This period was stuffed with wars and paganism. Benedict left his native land to the city of Rome to pursue his education, but paganism in the city disgusted him and he desist from the world to embrace a life of solitude. His life style came to the noticed of many people. Some monks joined him, and he then established twelve monasteries with twelve monks each. He later abandon his monastery due to jealousy and went up the mountain of Cassino where he lived till his death in 547 AD. Benedict thought that establishing rules will act as a guide for the monks to advance in holiness and for the smooth running of the monastery.
closer to God. The monasteries were a place to get away from evil and anything
In his youth, St. Boniface encountered many priests or clerics who traveled from town to town. Through these spiritual conversations, it became evident to St. Boniface that he wanted to pursue a life with God. Eventually, after continuos begging and his fathers fatal sickness, he was sent to the care of the Monastery of Examchester. (Appleton) It is here, that St. Boniface expressed to the Abbot at the time, that he wanted to live a monastic life. The father of the monastery, after council, granted him his wish. Here is where the saint began to prove his love for God, and could begin his journey of the Christian life. After exceeding all expectations and surpassing the knowledge of his teachers, he moved to a neighboring monastery, called Nursling, whereby he studied under the influence of Abbot Winbert.(St. Boniface Church) Here he gained vast knowledge of scriptures and the spiritual exposition of the Bible. Here, he gained such a reputation that men and women from far and wide traveled to study scriptures under his guidance. At the age of 30 he was humbly ordained a priest and yet another branch of his life was fulfilled.
...und it better. Life for them were fair to them but probably not understood by the outsiders. They cared for nothing more than their education and God, and the works of God. They prayed and they worshiped all day and lived where the church was. People of their kind needed a quiet and peaceful way to get their one on one with their god away from the violence on the streets. What if women or men couldn’t become monks or nuns? Women would probably have no education or a passion for god and his works. As for men, they wouldn’t have a peaceful place to independently confide in their god. Life would be different if the same rules applied as of today.
Late in the fifth century the son of a well-off family in Italy left for isolation on his mission to truly seek god. This man was St. Benedict, who is credited with the first establishment of the concept of withdrawing from all temptation for Christian beliefs in the west. St. Benedict left his home and went to the top of a mountain, where he established a monastic community. In this community the individuals who resided there, constantly reiterated their faith. They sacrificed whatever they may have had to prove their true commitment to God. This became an early ideal of Christianity, that one must suffer loss and sacrifice to prove their loyalty to the faith. It was believed in this time period that if one is content with only what they truly need one is freer to think about other people and to think about God . These individuals were called Regular Clergies (monks) and were considered heroes of the faith.
What is Christianity and why has it been able to develop into a continuously growing and evolving religion?
Many bishops and abbots (especially in countries where they were also territorial princes) bore themselves as secular rulers rather than as servants of the Church. Many members of cathedral chapters and other beneficed ecclesiastics were chiefly concerned with their income and how to increase it, especially by uniting several prebends (even episcopal sees) in the hands of one person, who thus enjoyed a larger income and greater power. Luxury prevailed widely among the higher clergy, while the lower clergy were often oppressed. The scientific and ascetic training of the clergy left much to be desired, the moral standard of many being very low, and the practice of celibacy not everywhere observed. Not less serious was the condition of many monasteries of men, and even of women (which were often homes for the unmarried daughte...
Every monastery is different and times things are done and what things are done are going to vary, but the following will be an example of the daily life of an ordained Buddhist nun living in a monastery. A nun will usually wake up at 5 am where they will purchase food outside of the temple to offer as alms food to the monks who make their alms rounds starting from 6 am. At 7 am the nuns will eat breakfast, which usually consists of porridge and occasionally fried rice. After breakfast is over at 7:30 am, it is time for the nuns to do their chanting. The nuns and monks do not chant in the same room together. At 11 am it is time for the last meal of the day, where nuns may eat as much as they can, to last them throughout the rest of the day. After eating and cleaning up after the meal, the nuns will have a short break for rest before meditation starts at 1 pm. Monks and nuns will meditate together, usually for around three hours. During meditating sitting down for an hour, the nuns and monks will meditate walking for an hour, then finish the meditation session sitting for the remaining hour. After meditation there is another break to rest before starting chanting the evening chanting that starts at 7:30 pm. The evening chanting ends the day’s activities. This is what a typical day for an ordained Buddhist nun would be
Seeing the monks was deeply enlightening to me because it was new to see grown man live in humbleness and peace. They wore an orange robe over their bare upper bodies and a white fabric-pants to cover their lower bare bodies. It was clear to me that these monks were individual men indulged in a simple of life. Fortunately, I was able to make the connection between what we learned in my Introduction to Asia lecture and what was from the temple. In lecture we learned that Thailand was deeply rooted in Buddhism, and often time’s, young lay men would make a temporary journey to leave behind their belongings and possessions to live a life of humility as a monk. Carlos, shared some information about the monks stating they were men from Thailand who decided to take a great leap in leaving behind their families and duties in the Thailand economy to live a simple life that avoided stress and societal troubles similar to how monkhood was referred to in lecture. Eventually I was given the opportunity to speak to one of the monks. He stated that Wat Buddharangsi was a Buddhist community that was home to rotating monks from Thailand travelling all over the world. I asked him the principles that the monks live by, and he roughly gave me an ideas of Buddhist principles of—no stealing, cheating, adultery and rules that would inhibit a life of humility and simplicity. I also learned from the monk that they live their days through the kind hearts of others who donate food. If people did not come to donate food to the monks in a particular day, then they were fine with eating food from the previous day’s left overs. I know understand that Buddhism includes a sense of community and teamwork to support the men who took up the mantle as a
Other conversations with his colleagues, such as Brother Christophe and Amedee, also helped to guide Christian in the right direction of his faith. Because of all the talks and discussions that occurred between the monks which influenced his thinking, Christian eventually chose to not move away and instead stay at the monastery. He saw Jesus through his work in France, and this basically convinced him to stay there for the rest of his
One can learn about the life of a Buddhist monk by learning about these aspects of Buddhist life. Understanding the Buddhist lifestyle requires learning about the background of the religion and the monks. Buddha set the teachings of Buddhism, also called the Dhamma-Vinaya. The code of conduct, called the Vinaya, teaches people aspiring to gain the monastic life of a monk to gain wisdom and mindfulness. Buddha set these rules for the well-being of the Bhikkus, or the monks.
Cluniac Monasticism Assess the strengths and weaknesses of Cluniac monasticism between the tenth and twelfth centuries. The nature of Cluny lies in the circumstances of it’s foundation. It was endowed with a measure of independence by it’s founder, Duke William, allowing the monks to elect their own abbot, placing the abbey directly under the guardianship of St Peter and the Apostolic See. As a house dedicated to reviving strict Benedictine observance Cluny was not unique, but it was this independence, the succession of talented abbots and it’s organisation set up by Abbot Berno that laid the foundations of the abbey’s later greatness. The independence granted Cluny in it’s foundation charter was essential in the development of Cluny free from the interference of lay magnates and local bishops.
The differences between the laity and monastic worshippers within Buddhist tradition are distinguished by the extent to which these two groups are willing to follow the middle-way as taught by Buddha. Typically, in order to have a functional Buddhist society, there must be the devout, and those who support the devout, giving aid in the form of food, monies, shelter, transportation, etc. The devout who sacrifice the purity of a true monastic lifestyle in order to support the community (who in turn are the recipients of merit or punya; a bank of ‘good’ actions tied to ‘good’ karma) (Gethin 101), from the monastic worshippers, are called the laity; upasakas (men laity) and upasikas (women laity). The monastics, or Bhikkhus (monks) and Bhikkhunis (nuns) are responsible for accepting the devotion shown by the laity, reciprocally, the laity are obliged to maintain devotion for “in order to be free from guilt […] the bases of a clear conscience [is] generosity and good conduct” (Ibid 83) . Good conduct is the realization and active partaking of the “eight significant dimensions [the Noble Eight-fold Path] of one’s behavior” (Ibid 82), which constitute right (in all actions of) understanding, thought, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration (although not limited to, rather expanded upon realization). The importance of a laities duty within society is to support, through their livelihood, the only traditional Buddhist teaching available to them (Ibid 92). In order to adapt a Buddhist ideology, some conducts were left out of lay worship to support a less strenuous spiritual life (putting the emphasis on merit earned) in pursuit of maintaining a functional community. The purpose, to establish the five lay percepts ...
In the middle ages Friars, Monks and Prioresses had very specific roles in society. A Friar had to follow the mendicant order while living off of charity, preaching, educating, attending to the sick and absolving people from their sin. The Prioress was the head of a group of nuns. She would have had a low social standing as she belongs to the Theocracy. Her roles included growing vegetables and grain, producing wine and honey, providing medical care for the community and being in charge of the Priories. Lastly, the Monk’s role was to remain in his cloister and study religious texts; “And that a monk uncloistered is a mere/ Fish out of water, flapping on the pier…”(177-178). All of these people were supposed to model holiness; they were bound to the community and had no personal possessions. They are supposed to be selfless Christians dedicated to the Church.