"Get thee to a Nunnery!"

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:

1. The Instruments of Good works
   1. while I can't say I agreed with all seventy-two ules, most of them appealed to me
2. Living within their means
   1. 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.
3. Honesty
   1. With yourself, others, and your God.
4. Content
   1. 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
5. Punishment
   1. 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.
6. Working
   1. 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
   2. Working teaches a lot of valuable things: work ethic, integrity, responsibility, perseverance
7. Common Belief/Values
   1. 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