Monastic Life = Escapism?

[Ubenedictus]

Christ calls us all away from worldly things. He doesn’t call everyone to the religious life (ie monastic orders/priesthood/etc) but we are all expected to rebuke worldly things and be living lives of prayer and selfless acts for others. I’m not saying if we have worldly things we’re going to hell by any stretch but I just don’t see it as escapism since we’re all supposed to do it to begin with. Not to mention you have to understand that our beloved brothers and sisters religious spend the majority of every day either in physical service of others or spiritual service of all. Some monks spend the majority of every day praying constantly. Talk about being someone special to be able to do that. I don’t think I could ever handle that but that’s just because there’s probably a good chance Christ isn’t calling me to that. Though I have been discerning and considering the possibility that I may be called to the Priesthood, whether it be a Diocesan Priest or a Religious Priest (the Jesuits is where I’d go). But for those who can spend almost all day quite literally every day, just praying for the world, for specific intentions as well as general intentions for the world. There are many, myself included, who believe that it is because the lives they lead and their selfless actions that grant this entire world such graces that it is a fairly common and growing belief that it is their actions which stay God’s hand in judgement. It’s all done to His will, but if He can still see such good in the world He would be less inclined to punish us (is what common sense tells us). Lord knows if something ever happened to our brothers and sisters religious almost all the grace in this world would be gone and all we’d have are selfish, sinful, prideful, gluttonous, etc etc people living horrid lives with so few selflessly doing anything for others. Then we’re all in some real trouble.

wow u are thinking my thought. Somehow the monks and hermit (intercession) 'keep the world rolling

 

[TiggerS]

God is Ultimate Reality, hence monastic life is not to escape from reality, rather to seek and give oneself totally to God who is Ultimate Reality - not out of some selfish desire for fulfillment only, but in their hearts on behalf of the whole of creation.

It is strange in a culture so avidly bent on the rights of the individual and their right to seek their own happiness, that there is so much aversion to those who live monastically - not because they want to run away from anything, but because they feel it is the only way that they can find their personal happiness and in the belief in a spirit of self sacrifice that by doing so, they benefit the whole world.

Monastic life is not an easy life - it is difficult by comparison with a life in the world, and only those that have the Grace of a monastic vocation remain in the life.

If anything it is those immersed in the world with no thought of God that are escaping from the reality of matters. But we live in a culture in many ways that is ignoring God and because this is becoming perhaps the most common in our culture, it is being accepted by the majority perhaps as the reality of matters. Opinion and concepts cannot make a reality. You can’t fool all people all of the time, but an awful lot of people can be fooled an awful lot of the time.

 

[pamkowal]

Just as you take your heartbeat and your breath with you wherever you go, so too does the world follow you. Life cannot be escaped no matter where you end up in the world. I’ve spent a lot of time in a monastic setting and I can tell you that in that setting I found that my inner focus became more acutely aware of all that I had experienced up to that point ‘in the world’. Anything emotionally daunting that was unprocessed before I arrived became even more acutely present in my consciousness, until I faced my feelings and fears and looked at my shortcomings and personal limitations with true love and acceptance for myself.

I guess what I’d need to ask you is to clarify what specifically you think one escapes or avoids by becoming a monastic. I would say that many people out in ‘the world’ are much more prone to escapism than monastics simply because there are so many ways to distract one’s attention from turning within when a person lives ‘in the world’. There are far fewer ways to avoid dealing with one’s inner stuff when living in a simplified monastic setting and so one more quickly comes face to face with his/her attachments and aversions. Monasticism is definitely not for the faint-hearted!

 

[TimothyH]

Just as you take your heartbeat and your breath with you wherever you go, so too does the world follow you. Life cannot be escaped no matter where you end up in the world. I’ve spent a lot of time in a monastic setting and I can tell you that in that setting I found that my inner focus became more acutely aware of all that I had experienced up to that point ‘in the world’. Anything emotionally daunting that was unprocessed before I arrived became even more acutely present in my consciousness, until I faced my feelings and fears and looked at my shortcomings and personal limitations with true love and acceptance for myself.

I guess what I’d need to ask you is to clarify what specifically you think one escapes or avoids by becoming a monastic. I would say that many people out in ‘the world’ are much more prone to escapism than monastics simply because there are so many ways to distract one’s attention from turning within when a person lives ‘in the world’. There are far fewer ways to avoid dealing with one’s inner stuff when living in a simplified monastic setting and so one more quickly comes face to face with his/her attachments and aversions. Monasticism is definitely not for the faint-hearted!

This is a sublime post. One has only to look at the cocoon of noise people surround themselves with to see that it is true. People can’t sit still and be silent for 20 minutes. Silence is threatening because it forces one to be alone with himself.

Look at the constant stimulation, the addiction to external stimuli, to ipods and entertainment systems in minivans and TV and 24 hour news and talk radio. It’s all designed to pull us outside of ourselves.

Sit still for ten minutes and don’t make a sound. Don’t even read. Don’t do anything except fold your hands and sit there in silence. People will ask you if you are OK. People will inquire as to what is wrong and if you tell them that nothing is wrong, they will think you are stupid or wierd.

pamkowal, I would be interested in a thread on silence.

-Tim-