BBC's The Monastery (2005)

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I’m about forty minutes in and it is interesting me so far. I will watch the entire thing because a) I have no life and b) I want to see how the guys end up. I like that they portray religious life in a positive light, which is not something I ever expect of modern media, but I dislike the way they are making the whole experience to just be about these guys’ personal lives. I think it is deceptive in that it might lead people to believe that being a man or woman religious is about the self, about finding personal happiness, rather than denying the self and dedicating oneself to God.

But I am still really enjoying it. I think it is good that something like this might make people think about God and religion, since many people do not have much knowledge of those in religious life.
 
dove51 said:
I’m about forty minutes in and it is interesting me so far. I will watch the entire thing because a) I have no life and b) I want to see how the guys end up. I like that they portray religious life in a positive light, which is not something I ever expect of modern media, but I dislike the way they are making the whole experience to just be about these guys’ personal lives. I think it is deceptive in that it might lead people to believe that being a man or woman religious is about the self, about finding personal happiness, rather than denying the self and dedicating oneself to God.

But I am still really enjoying it. I think it is good that something like this might make people think about God and religion, since many people do not have much knowledge of those in religious life.
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I’m about half way through - I’ve got other things to do that I’m putting off. Wait till you get to the conversation about the ‘m’ word :o :rotfl:

I think because the focus is on the outsiders rather than the monks themselves, it is necessarily going to focus on the inner journeys (the selves) of the five.
 
Just finished it - awesome! 👍 Ended so much better than I expected.
 
Watching it now.

The Learning Channel did an American version of this in 2006.
 
I would very much like to watch the YouTube segments, but I worry that they are in violation of copyright. The BBC does have a YouTube Channel, but they only show clips, not entire episodes of their programs. And a search of that website turns up no hits for “monastery”.
 
foggydawn said:
I would very much like to watch the YouTube segments, but I worry that they are in violation of copyright. The BBC does have a YouTube Channel, but they only show clips, not entire episodes of their programs. And a search of that website turns up no hits for “monastery”.
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To me, and I hope I’m not being naive here, there’s no difference between youtube and a public library which often obtains these sort of DVDs and makes them available to the public to borrow free of charge. As long as you’re not, say, burning copies onto DVDs to sell to others or anything … 🤷
 
Way past my bedtime but it’s so outstanding I can’t stop watching!

Thanks for providing the link!
 
Thanks for the link. I watched the shows and they were wonderful.

One of the things that impressed me was seeing how true the monks were to their faith and values and how attractive that was, even to people who didn’t share them. They were able to change lives merely by being who they truly were. What a lesson in evangelization!
 
SuscipeMeDomine said:
Thanks for the link. I watched the shows and they were wonderful.

One of the things that impressed me was seeing how true the monks were to their faith and values and how attractive that was, even to people who didn’t share them. They were able to change lives merely by being who they truly were. What a lesson in evangelization!
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Yes! And when they “pushed” on the more specific doctrinal points (Jesus IS the Son of God), they did so gently and with great humor! Loved the humor! Even the tense moments between the monk and the “playboy”, where the monk tried to help him see and acknowledge his arrogance, were treated with a levity and sensitivity!

My ONLY complaint, if you could call it that, is that I wish they had spent more screen time equally with all the men. It was a bit tiresome after awhile to dwell on the same two and their squabbles. I was so intrigued about the older poet, whose objections to Scripture seemed to echo those of many non-religious folks, and I would have appreciated more screen time with him. The Buddhist dude was also interesting and I would have liked to hear more about his struggle to accept the Christian faith.

But it was wonderful! I’m so TIRED this morning from staying up so late watching it (and crying over the profound conversion of the precious young blonde guy)!

BTW: I also found it VERY interesting that the young blonde man was the only one who really cried out to God to reveal Himself. In those awkward moments when, on screen, and riddled with expletives, he repeated the plea he made in the Church, I found myself praying along with him, that God would answer his prayers and make Himself known! And He did!
 
blessedtoo said:
Yes! And when they “pushed” on the more specific doctrinal points (Jesus IS the Son of God), they did so gently and with great humor! Loved the humor! Even the tense moments between the monk and the “playboy”, where the monk tried to help him see and acknowledge his arrogance, were treated with a levity and sensitivity!

My ONLY complaint, if you could call it that, is that I wish they had spent more screen time equally with all the men. It was a bit tiresome after awhile to dwell on the same two and their squabbles. I was so intrigued about the older poet, whose objections to Scripture seemed to echo those of many non-religious folks, and I would have appreciated more screen time with him. The Buddhist dude was also interesting and I would have liked to hear more about his struggle to accept the Christian faith.

But it was wonderful! I’m so TIRED this morning from staying up so late watching it (and crying over the profound conversion of the precious young blonde guy)!

BTW: I also found it VERY interesting that the young blonde man was the only one who really cried out to God to reveal Himself. In those awkward moments when, on screen, and riddled with expletives, he repeated the plea he made in the Church, I found myself praying along with him, that God would answer his prayers and make Himself known! And He did!
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I agree, they spent almost no time at all on the older guy really.

And it was wonderful to see the young blonde guy (Tony I think his name was) change so much. When he had his last ‘session’ with his spiritual mentor I was so worried that he was just going to go back to his old job 😦 Thank God he gave it up :extrahappy:
 
LilyM said:
I agree, they spent almost no time at all on the older guy really.

And it was wonderful to see the young blonde guy (Tony I think his name was) change so much. When he had his last ‘session’ with his spiritual mentor I was so worried that he was just going to go back to his old job 😦 Thank God he gave it up :extrahappy:
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Yes, I was enormously relieved to see the postscript! And he continues to visit the Monastery! He truly DID have a religious experience! Heck, I HAD ONE just watching his!
 
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