4 ms·

Our western societies fundamentally value extroversion, exchanging with the world and participate in the group. A monastry is the opposite. It worked when pray

by hrktb 7y ago

Our western societies fundamentally value extroversion, exchanging with the world and participate in the group. A monastry is the opposite. It worked when praying for the world was largely accepted as having some effect. Nowadays thoughts and prayers doesn’t cut it for the general population. In a way high level research institutes could be seen as the new monastries, with people shutting down in buildings everyday, searching for new truths that could benefit mankind.

masklinn 7y ago
> Our western societies fundamentally value extroversion, exchanging with the world and participate in the group. A monastry is the opposite. Monasteries absolutely require participation in the group. Monks are not hermits, much of their activity is working for the monastery and interacting with other monks.
- twic 7y ago
  But not interacting with people outside the monastery. Monks are sort of collectively introverted. Indeed, even within the monastery, interaction is often limited to the essential - consider rule of silence adhered to by some orders. hrktb is quite right about the general principle of monasticism. Here's the start of the Catholic Encyclopedia's article on it [1]: "Monasticism or monachism, literally the act of "dwelling alone" (Greek monos, monazein, monachos), has come to denote the mode of life pertaining to persons living in seclusion from the world, under religious vows and subject to a fixed rule, as monks, friars, nuns, or in general as religious. The basic idea of monasticism in all its varieties is seclusion or withdrawal from the world or society." EDIT although in the entry on "monk" [2] there is considerably less certainty about the origin of the name and idea. Imagine your primary reference work being internally inconsistent like that! Can't imagine where these bible-bashers got that idea. [1] http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10459a.htm http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10459a.htm [2] http://catholicencyclopedia.newadvent.com/cathen/10487b.htm http://catholicencyclopedia.newadvent.com/cathen/10487b.htm

by hrktb 7y ago

masklinn 7y ago

> Our western societies fundamentally value extroversion, exchanging with the world and participate in the group. A monastry is the opposite. Monasteries absolutely require participation in the group. Monks are not hermits, much of their activity is working for the monastery and interacting with other monks.

twic 7y ago
But not interacting with people outside the monastery. Monks are sort of collectively introverted. Indeed, even within the monastery, interaction is often limited to the essential - consider rule of silence adhered to by some orders. hrktb is quite right about the general principle of monasticism. Here's the start of the Catholic Encyclopedia's article on it [1]: "Monasticism or monachism, literally the act of "dwelling alone" (Greek monos, monazein, monachos), has come to denote the mode of life pertaining to persons living in seclusion from the world, under religious vows and subject to a fixed rule, as monks, friars, nuns, or in general as religious. The basic idea of monasticism in all its varieties is seclusion or withdrawal from the world or society." EDIT although in the entry on "monk" [2] there is considerably less certainty about the origin of the name and idea. Imagine your primary reference work being internally inconsistent like that! Can't imagine where these bible-bashers got that idea. [1] http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10459a.htm http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10459a.htm [2] http://catholicencyclopedia.newadvent.com/cathen/10487b.htm http://catholicencyclopedia.newadvent.com/cathen/10487b.htm