Do you think Monks are "wasting" their life? Books about monks? already read A Canticle for Leibowitz and Narcissus and Goldmund.
>>24697757>Books about monks?Thomas Merton's memoir "The Seven Storey Mountain" is a classic in this genre. Really, anything by Thomas Merton. His diaries are worth reading, which isn't common.
>>24697757Imagine being a Medieval autist. Be born in a poor family surrounded by an ignorant community you prefer to be distant with since you prefer solitude. A community you love, they are your family, but intellectually below you, all your reflections are just for yourself. The only person you may talk with of these matters is your local priest since you are very religious due the time you live.You have the option to move to a monastery. You will learn basic knowledge about humanities, science and even arts there. You will live in a place with an strong emphasis for silence and spirituality. You can get access to books unable for commoners. And you can still do good deeds for your community.
>>24697790Sounds great
>>24697757i haven't read narcissus and goldmund but the glass bead game is definitely monk-adjacent
>>24697757>Do you think Monks are "wasting" their life?not at all. the serious ones are busy with important matters
they have it all figured out imo
>>24697757The Name of the Rose, of course.
>>24697757At least 5 christianity/faithvsunbelief threads going constantly with the gayest possible loincloth pretending it’s remotely on topic. What drives you to such remarkable faggotry? It’s always some tradcath or american evangelical horseshit as well presumably because if you were in any way serious you wouldn’t be here.
>>24698037/lit/ is the 21st century monastery
The Ladder of Divine AscentLaurusThe Ascetic Homilies of Isaac the Syrian (a major inspiration for The Brothers Karamazov)The Name of the RoseHonorable mention: Pentiment. Technically a video game but the game takes place within a book the protagonist is illuminating (like pages would often be rubbed over dor reuse, so we’re pictures; a pentiment is a picture that as been painted over when reused), one of the last handwritten books by monks as the printing press is ending the tradition of monks writing books by hand, which also is destroying a major source of income for them. Takes place during the Reformation and the protagonist has to decide his religious affiliations over the course of the story
>>24697757I’m wasting away in an abbey ville
>>24697790Sounds like heaven, I’d have to sneak out a few times a year to get some prime peasant pussy, though.
>>24697757>Do you think Monks are "wasting" their life?Isn't everyone
>>24697757>"wasting" their life?The only people I think who waste their lives are suicides and drug addicts.
>>24697757Herrmann Hesse makes Monk life seem kino in Narziß und Goldmund
Monk life seems comfy, unfortunately I'm not religious
>>24697790what about these days
>>24697757>Do you think Monks are "wasting" their life?Yeah, but only because they dedicate their lives towards false idols and demons instead of Allah
>>24697757>>24697757It's a blessed and highly respectable life. Faithful monastics lift the entire surrounding community up. There is a fair chance that an Orthodox, or maybe Catholic, monastery is near enough for you to take a day trip to visit. Monk of Mt Athos is a biography about one of the better-known monks of modern history, including his life before monasticism. Its companion book Wisdom from Mt Athos is also extremely pleasant.
>>24697790Going to a bar and listening to most people talk should give anyone who isn't a slave to the flesh or the devil an inkling to become a monk.
>>24697790>Be born in a poor familyNot going to be able to join a monastery if you can't afford the endowment. Your best bet as a poor person is to become a lay brother (someone who does the grunt labor work). You would not be learning all the cool science stuff as a lay brother.
>>24698719The Koran literally praises Christian monks directly. A Christian monk named Bahira announced the prophethood of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.A Christian ascetic named Waraqah ibn Nawfal supported Rasul Allah, peace be upon him, in his early prophetic revelations. When Waraqah died, Nabi Muhammad, peace be upon him, was so depressed that he attempted suicide multiple times. Only to be saved each time at the last moment.The Early Church had a huge part in bringing us Islam. We would not have Islam if not for Christians, and Islam confirms the Torah and Gospel before it. The Koran teaches that Christians are believers that go to Heaven and are the closest spiritual brothers of Muslims.The Arab Christians of Palestine, including Bethlehem, use the name Allah for God as it is the Arabic name for God. Constantly dispelling outright lies about Islam told by zionist propagandists.
>>24700791Personally, I love Christian monks. So did Habib Allah, peace be upon him. He spent a lot of time discussing religion with the monks of Mt. Sinai and drafted a treaty between Muslims and Christians because of it. It is called the Ashtiname of Muhammad, peace be upon him, and the document is preserved at Saint Catherine's Monastery at Sinai today.My favorite Christian monk is Saint Francis, who was also a close friend of Sultan Malik al Kamil and therefore an early proponent of inter-faith dialogue between Christians and Muslims. It is the Sunnah, the tradition of the Prophet, peace be upon him, to have enlightened inter-faith dialogue with Christians. The religiously educated understand the value of this.
>>24700821Muslims have institutions that the West translates as monasteries, but celibate monasticism is not a thing in Islam. Muslims have Zawiyas, lodges for poor and unmarried ascetics led by a Shaykh, like an Abbot, that also serve as houses of worship and houses of learning. These institutions are generally obscure to the West and are found mostly in North Africa and West Asia (Middle East). This is what you would call an Islamic monastery, but celibate monasticism is not allowed. It is rooted in the Sunnah (tradition) of Al Suffah in Madinah. The Prophet, peace be upon him, built a platform in his Masjid (mosque) in Madinah to provide lodging for the poorest and unmarried followers of Islam. He also shared his daily meals with these homeless Muslims and lived in a small home without any luxury.Al Suffah literally means the shade, as the platform was shaded with palm leaves. The Sufi tradition, the Islamic mystical and ascetic tradition, is rooted in Al Suffah. It is the inward, intellectual aspect of Islam that is peaceful and spiritual. Some of these ascetic brotherhoods number in the millions and form an invisible network that spans nations from East to West. Some have chains of transmission directly from the Twelve Imams. Muslims also have saints in the mystical tradition.It is the Sunnah to house and feed the homeless in the Masjid. The Faqir, literally meaning poor, live full time as ascetic mystics inside Masjids and Zawiyas. They spend their days praying, meditating, studying Islam, and doing basic chores as well as economically valuable labor much like Christian monks. Christian monasteries are highly successful institutions as they take vows of voluntary poverty and spend all day working and praying. Some make cheese, candles, incense, and so on. They sell these things to provide for the monastery. Monks are not lazy, they work hard. They achieve complete economic self-sufficiency in balance with nature and in my view are the model of the perfect human society.The Sunnah is heavily influenced by Christian monasticism. For example, praying seven times a day like the Divine Office as well as voluntary fasting and charity. The Sunnah, in my view, provides the model of the perfect human society. It is like celibate asceticism without the celibacy. Shariah, translating as the clear and well-trodden path to water, provides the divine blueprint of the perfect human society where all needs are met and humanity lives in perfect harmony with nature and each other. The Shariah is the combination of the Koran and Sunnah.The mystic seeks spiritual perfection. To become an individual citizen of Shariah by strictly followint the Koran and Sunnah. The ultimate goal of the Muslim mystic is to achieve a mystical understanding of God and to reach a point where it is possible to receive divine revelations and perform miracles.
>>24700914>To become an individual citizen of Shariah by strictly following the Koran and Sunnah.The Sunnah is mostly based on Hadith, sayings which are attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. This is a lot of reading, and not all Hadith are valid. Each has a detailed chain of transmission and Sunnis and Shias have different books of Hadith.Seeking knowledge, Ilm, is intellectually rigorous. It is a lot of book reading. The four books of Shia Hadith together contain 44,344 Hadith. A Hafiz is someone who memorizes the Koran from cover to cover and can recite it from memory. Islam has a very rich intellectual tradition with a lot of depth to it, most laypeople do not study Islam at this level.Muslims depend on Imams and scholars to study religion and provide guidance from this. In Muslim nations, Islam is literally the basis of the legal system and courts, where experts in Shariah function as judges and lawyers in Islamic courts under Islamic rulers such as Emirs and Caliphs.To bring things full circle, the Asthiname of Muhammad, peace be upon him, says that Muslims have a duty to protect Christian monks, devotees, and pilgrims. It also states that Christians should not be offended, disturbed, coerced, or compelled into paying a religious tax or from practicing their religion. It effectively grants religious freedom to Christians and exempts them from religious taxation.
>>24700670This is false, monks take a vow of poverty and often spend years as initiates doing the most basic chores before receiving their robes. Being a monk is hard work and not everyone who seeks it are granted it.It was and is entirely possible for someone to go from unrobed initiate to Abbot, head of the monastery. The Christian virtue of charity is what led to academic scholarships, where tuition is granted on intellectual merit regardless of economic status.The various monastic orders each have a clear and defined set of rules which defines the role of each monk. Someone prepares the food, someone keeps the garden and grounds, someone makes the candles, and so on.
>>24700961Even today, if you simply show up to a Christian monastery and express interest, you can become an initiate. Same with convents and nuns. This is not a small thing, you have to take vows of celibacy and poverty and essentially abandon the world. Catholics and Orthodox have such institutions. There are even some here in Appalachia.For Muslims, a Zawiya will provide lodging to what are called travelers. To join an ascetic brotherhood, you have to study under a Shaykh and likely do basic chores as well. Many also do a Chilla, a retreat for 40 days and 40 nights which is the Sunnah of Jesus Christ, peace be upon him.
>>24698305You should be. Being religious is not a bad thing and it is form of rebellion against the secularist degeneracy which pervades the highest halls of power in our time. Even the military, corporations, and academia. Of course culture and the arts as well.Our times strongly remind me of the secularism which pervaded following the Enlightenment and preceded the First Great Awakening and the American Revolution which followed.Am honestly sick of the mind-numbing degeneracy and immorality which has become the dominant culture of our times in the West. People are aggresively degenerate and actively seek to spoil and destroy any hint of spiritual purity snd goodness.Religion is such a sweet refuge for me as a Muslim, and religious Christians share much of my values. Just prayed Asr and now to have a nice cup of tea and work on my book selling business.>>24698080I'm working on a website like this board that I think you people will enjoy, but I'm not going to reveal too much about it.
>>24697821I would definitely recommend getting into this if you are physically healthy. You will live a long and fulfilled life.
