Living in a monastery...surrounded by
people, prayer, and peace. While I understand the they are a
brotherhood and helpful to each other, I cannot say they have the
relationships with others that I believe make us healthy human beings
and lead us to a better, more utopic society. After all, they removed
themselves from society rather than interacted with it.
After reading the assigned chapters of
The Rules of St. Benedict,
there
were a few aspects I found of the monastic lifestyle appealing:
- The Instruments of Good works
- while I can't say I agreed with all seventy-two ules, most of them appealed to me
- Living within their means
- One has to realize what is necessary and what is not. Once we realize these means, I feel that our society would be a bit better.
- Honesty
- With yourself, others, and your God.
- Content
- We have to be happy with what we have, but as we mentioned yesterday the grass is always greener on the other side. However, if we can be content with what we have, then we will be more likely to live a better, more meaningful life
- Punishment
- Any society or culture should have punishment. It just needs to be justified and match the crime. Physical punishment should only be used to the most severe crimes. And “God” should decide what they punishment should be. I am a firm believer in karma and therefore each person will get their due in life by the decisions they make.
- Working
- Every person should have to work. It may not be a lot of physical labor, but as long as they are contributing to society in some way then they are doing their part to make a better life for themselves and others
- Working teaches a lot of valuable things: work ethic, integrity, responsibility, perseverance
- Common Belief/Values
- If people can agree on values and what is important then nothing can stop them from working together to achieve happiness.
Now, I am not an atheist – I just do
not know my religious beliefs or if I even do believe, I have to many
questions that have to be answered that have yet to be. However, I
feel that there is more to life than a deity...and that life should
be lived for other reasons than loving and fearing God.
Mentioned in Plato's The Republic,
he says that their should not be
an excess of happiness and in the monastery there is no excess of
anything. However, I think happiness should be one of the main goals
in life and that some of the physical aspects of life help us find
this happiness. Such as love of a partner, family, friendship, humor,
laughter, identity, etc...(maybe I watch to many Disney movies) None
of this is found in the document we read because they removed
themselves from society or temptations...(if we can conquer our
temptations, could we not conquer most anything?)
While
a monastery may not be considered a utopia from a non-religious point
of view, there are aspects or practices that I believe can lead to a
better society. It is up to the people to put them into practice and
follow them.
Images:
http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/following-unwritten-rules/
http://weheartit.com/tag/and%20they%20lived%20happily%20ever%20after
Word Count: 573
I've always seen monastic life as a sort of life long penance. You are constantly relinquishing human desires in an attempt to better yourself before God's eyes and atone for not only your mistakes but for the mistakes of those who live on Earth with you. As a human race we share sins and failings in God's eyes and those who choose monastic life are trying to (in some cases) spread the word of God in hopes of limiting sin, but while they are alive they try to atone.
ReplyDeleteHi Ashley,
ReplyDeleteIt's was an interesting link that you drew between Plato's REPUBLIC and THE RULE in terms of moderation. I hadn't noticed it until you pointed it out.
I also think it's interesting that Brigid pointed out that she views monastic life as a life of penance. I suppose some found a deep happiness in that and preferred it to what Benedict considered the more trivial aspects of life.
As we have talked about in class, who is to decide what makes anybody else happy?
I particularly like the point that you made about the monks choosing to remove themselves from society rather than living with it. I know that you said that you are not a Christian, or more so just full of questions and undecided, and although I myself am a Christian I too am still full of many questions that I am continually awaiting answers for. One thing that some Christians believe is that we should not necessarily interact with people who do not hold the same beliefs as us. I wholeheartedly disagree and think that this idea is one that is extremely conservative and no longer relevant. I think, in my own personal views of Christianity, it is my job to be non-judgmental and accepting of others no matter their personal convictions. To me this concept relates to the monks deciding to live a life separate from society and its evils. I understand the idea of "living a life of penance," but if they have "it" figured out then why not mingle with society to see if it can rub off on the rest of us?
ReplyDelete