Monasticism
Monasticism (from Ancient Greek μοναχός (monakhós) 'solitary, monastic'; from μόνος (mónos) 'alone'), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities.
Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially in the Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican traditions as well as in other faiths such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism.
[1] In other religions, monasticism is generally criticized and not practiced, as in Islam and Zoroastrianism, or plays a marginal role, as in modern Judaism.
Many monastics live in abbeys, convents, monasteries, or priories to separate themselves from the secular world, unless they are in mendicant or missionary orders.
The Sangha or community of ordained Buddhist bhikkhus (Pali bhikkhu, like Sanskrit bhikṣu, means 'mendicant; one who lives by alms'[2]), and original bhikkhunīs (nuns) were founded by Gautama Buddha during his lifetime over 2500 years ago.
[3] After the parinibbāna (Final Passing) of the Buddha, the Buddhist monastic order developed into a primarily cenobitic or communal movement.
Initially consisting only of males, it grew to include females after the Buddha's stepmother, Mahaprajapati, asked for and received permission to live as an ordained practitioner.
In return for the support of the laity, bhikkhus and bhikkhunis are expected to live an austere life focused on the study of Buddhist doctrine, the practice of meditation, and the observance of good moral character.
Bhikkhunis follow a similar progression, but are required to live as samaneras for longer periods of time, typically five years.
The disciplinary regulations for bhikkhus and bhikkhunis are intended to create a life that is simple and focused, rather than one of deprivation or severe asceticism.
Monasticism in Christianity, which provides the origins of the words "monk" and "monastery", comprises several diverse forms of religious living.
During the fourth and fifth century monasticism allowed women to be removed from traditional lifestyles such as marriage and childbearing to live a life devoted to God.
[6] Monasteries served as a space for communal living for monks and nuns many operated under different ranges of severity for rules and punishment of disobedience towards practices that largely originated from the Desert Fathers, these parameters were administer by a superior (Father/Mother).
In fourth century Egypt, Christians felt called to a more reclusive or eremitic form of living (in the spirit of the "Desert Theology" for the purpose of spiritual renewal and return to God).
St. Augustine's Monastery, founded in 1277 in Erfurt, Germany is regarded by many historians and theologians as the "cradle of the Reformation", as it is where Martin Luther lived as a monk from 1505 to 1511.
[7] Today new expressions of Christian monasticism, many of which are ecumenical, are developing in various places such as the Bose Monastic Community in Italy, the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem throughout Europe, the Anglo-Celtic Society of Nativitists, the Taizé Community in France, the Eastern Orthodox monasteries of New Skete, New York, and the mainly Evangelical Protestant New Monasticism.
[14] There is a Sunni narration that, out of religious devotion, Uthman bin Maz'oon decided to dedicate himself to night prayers and take a vow of chastity from his wife.
According to some Sunni hadiths, in a message to some companions who wanted to put an end to their sexual life, pray all night long or fast continuously, Muhammad said: "Do not do that!
As further disseminated through the teachings of the Yisrael Ba'al Shem Tov, the pursuit of permitted physical pleasures is encouraged as a means to "serve God with joy" (Deut.
[21] However, they did not withdraw from general society, and they were permitted to marry and own property; moreover, in most cases a Nazirite vow was for a specified time period and not permanent.
Its principal expression was prishut, the practice of a married Talmud student going into self-imposed exile from his home and family to study in the kollel of a different city or town.
The Essenes (in Modern but not in Ancient Hebrew: אִסִּיִים, Isiyim; Greek: Εσσηνοι, Εσσαιοι, or Οσσαιοι; Essēnoi, Essaioi, or Ossaioi) were a Jewish sect that flourished from the second century BC to AD 100 which some scholars claim seceded from the Zadokite priests.
[26] Being much fewer in number than the Pharisees and the Sadducees (the other two major sects at the time), the Essenes lived in various cities but congregated in communal life dedicated to asceticism, voluntary poverty, daily immersion (in mikvah), and abstinence from worldly pleasures, including (for some groups) marriage.
Many separate but related religious groups of that era shared similar mystic, eschatological, messianic, and ascetic beliefs.
These documents include multiple preserved copies of the Hebrew Bible which were untouched from as early as 300 years before Christ until their discovery in 1946.
While Sikhism treats lust as a sin, it at the same time points out that man must share the moral responsibility by leading the life of a householder.
Particularly well-known is the White Cloud Monastery of Dragon Gate Taoism in Beijing, which houses a rare complete copy of the Daozang, the major Taoist Canon.
