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f syriac christianity in the late middle ages around 318 saint pachomius started to organize his many followers in what was to become the first christian cenobitic or communal monastery soon similar institutions were established throughout the egyptian desert as well as the rest of the eastern half of the roman empire notable monasteries in the east include monastery of saint anthony one of the oldest christian monasteries in the world mar awgin founded a monastery on mt izla above nisibis in mesopotamia c 350 and from this monastery the cenobitic tradition spread in mesopotamia persia armenia georgia and even india and china st sabbas the sanctified organized the monks of the judean desert in a monastery close to bethlehem 483 now known as mar saba which is considered the mother of all monasteries of the eastern orthodox churches saint catherine s monastery was founded between 527 and 565 in the sinai peninsula egypt by order of emperor justinian i in the west the most significant development occurred when the rules for monastic communities were written down the rule of st basil being credited with having been the first the precise dating of the rule of the master is problematic it has been argued that it antedates the rule of saint benedict created by benedict of nursia for his monastery in monte cassino italy c 529 and the other benedictine monasteries he had founded as part of the order of st benedict it would become the most common rule throughout the middle ages and is still in use today the augustinian rule due to its brevity has been adopted by various communities chiefly the canons regular around the 12th century the franciscan carmelite dominican servite order see servants of mary and augustinian mendicant orders chose to live in city convents among the people instead of being secluded in monasteries 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 hinduism edit see also dashanami sampradaya matha and sādhanā a meeting of various shankaracharya heads of monasteries called mathas in the advaita vedanta tradition the title derives from adi shankara an eighth century ce reformer of hinduism 8 in their quest to attain the spiritual goal of life some hindus choose the path of monasticism sannyasa monastics generally commit themselves to a life of simplicity celibacy detachment from worldly pursuits and the contemplation of god 9 a hindu monk may be called a sanyāsī sādhu or swāmi 10 a nun may be called a sanyāsini sādhvi or swāmini such renunciates are accorded respect in hindu society because their outward renunciation of selfishness and worldly attachment serve as an example to householders who pursue mental renunciation some monastics live in monasteries while others wander from place to place trusting in god alone to provide for their physical needs 11 it is considered a highly meritorious act for a lay devotee to provide sādhus with food or other necessities sādhus are expected to treat all with respect and compassion whether a person may be poor or rich good or wicked they are also expected to be indifferent to praise blame pleasure and pain 12 a sādhu can typically be recognized by his ochre colored clothing generally vaisnava monks shave their heads except for a small patch of hair on the back of the head while shaiva monks let their hair and beard grow uncut a sādhu s vow of renunciation typically forbids him from owning personal property apart from a bowl a cup two sets of clothing and medical aids such as eyeglasses having any contact with looking at thinking of or even being in the presence of women eating for pleasure possessing or even touching money or valuables in any way shape or form maintaining personal relationships islam edit see also zuhd islam forbids the practice of monasticism 13 in sunni islam one example is uthman ibn maz un one of the companions of muhammad he was married to khawlah bint hakim both being two of the earliest converts to islam 14 there is a sunni narration that out of religious devotion uthman decided to dedicate himself to night prayers and take a vow of chastity from his wife his wife got upset and spoke to muhammad about this muhammad reminded uthman that he himself as the prophet also had a family life and that uthman had a responsibility to his family and should not adopt monasticism as a form of religious practice 15 muhammad told his companions to ease their burden and avoid excess 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 fast on some days and eat on others sleep part of the night and stand in prayer another part for your body has rights upon you your eyes have a right upon you your wife has a right upon you your guest has a right upon you muhammad once exclaimed repeating it three times woe to those who exaggerate who are too strict and on another occasion muhammad said moderation moderation for only with moderation will you succeed 16 failed verification monasticism is also mentioned in the following verse of qur an then we caused our messengers to follow in their footsteps and we caused isa a s son of maryam to follow and gave him the injil and placed compassion and mercy in the hearts of those who followed him but monasticism they invented we ordained it not for them only seeking allah s pleasure and they observed it not with right observance so we give those of them who believe their reward but many of them are evil livers qur an verse 27 surah al hadid chapter 57 17 nevertheless as christian de chergé laid out in a conference of the dimmid in 1995 there are three significant similarities between muslim and monastic spirituality firstly the central place of obedience in the monastic tradition parallels the importance of surrender or submission in islam secondly similar to monastic communities which come together several times a day for prayer muslims practices ritual prayer salāt five times a day finally the lectio divina the meditative reading of sacred scripture interpreted as god s word directed to the reader is echoed by the muslim conviction that in and through the qur ān god speaks to each individual 18 islam does encourage one to abstain from pursuing the life of the world solely but it does not obligate that believers must abandon the worldly life entirely and this is known as zuhd in islam 19 at best the only monasticism of islam is jihad as mentioned by hadith and tafsir imam ahmad recorded that anas bin malik said that the prophet said every prophet has rahbaniyyah monasticism jihad in the cause of allah the exalted and most honored is the rahbaniyyah of this ummah 20 jainism edit digambara jain monks renounce all clothing main articles jain monasticism and sādhanā in jainism monasticism is encouraged and respected rules for monasticism are rather strict a jain ascetic has neither a permanent home nor any possessions wandering barefoot from place to place except during the months of chaturmas the quality of life they lead is difficult because of the many constraints placed on them they do not use a vehicle for commuting and always commute barefoot from one place to another irrespective of the distance they do not possess any materialistic possessions and also do not use basic services like that of phones or electricity they do not prepare food and only live on what people offer them 21 judaism edit see also nazirite judaism does not encourage the monastic ideal of celibacy and poverty to the contrary all of the torah s commandments are a means of sanctifying the physical world 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 28 47 however until the destruction of the second temple about two thousand years ago taking nazirite vows was a common feature of the religion nazirite jews in hebrew נזיר abstained from grape products haircuts and contact with the dead 22 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 23 in modern hebrew the term nazir is most often used to refer to non jewish monastics unique among jewish communities is the monasticism of the beta israel of ethiopia a practice believed to date to the 15th century 24 a form of asceticism was practiced by some individuals in pre world war ii european ashkenazi jewish communities 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 25 26 this practice was associated with but not exclusive to the perushim 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 27 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 groups are collectively referred to by various scholars as the essenes josephus records that essenes existed in large numbers and thousands lived throughout roman judaea the essenes have gained fame in modern times as a result of the discovery of an extensive group of religious documents known as the dead sea scrolls which are commonly believed to be the essenes library although there is no proof that the essenes wrote them 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 some scholars however dispute the notion that the essenes wrote the dead sea scrolls 28 rachel elior a prominent israeli scholar even questions the existence of the essenes 29 30 31 unreliable source sikhism edit 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 according to sikhism being god centred while being a householder is better than being an ascetic according to sikhism ascetics are not on the right path 32 when guru nanak visited gorakhmata he discussed the true meaning of asceticism with some yogis 33 asceticism doesn t lie in ascetic robes or in walking staff nor in the ashes asceticism doesn t lie in the earring nor in the shaven head nor blowing a conch asceticism lies in remaining pure amidst impurities asceticism doesn t lie in mere words he is an ascetic who treats everyone alike asceticism doesn t lie in visiting burial places it lies not in wandering about nor in bathing at places of pilgrimage asceticism is to remain pure amidst impurities guru nanak 33 taoism edit further information taoist philosophy and white cloud monastery throughout the centuries taoism especially quanzhen school have developed their own extensive monastic traditions and practices 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 34 other religions or movements edit ananda marga has both monks and nuns i e celibate male and female acharyas or missionaries as well as a smaller group of family acharyas the monks and nuns are engaged in all kinds of direct services to society so they have no scope for permanent retreat they do have to follow strict celibacy poverty and many other rules of conduct during as well as after they have completed their training bön is believed to have a rich monastic history bön monasteries exist today and the monks there practice bön buddhism manichaeism had two types of followers the auditors and the elect the elect lived apart from the auditors to concentrate on reducing the material influences of the world they did this through strict celibacy poverty teaching and preaching therefore the elect were probably at least partially monastic scientology maintains a fraternal order called the sea organization or just sea org they work only for the church of scientology and have signed billion year contracts sea org members live communally with lodging food clothing and medical care provided by the church sikhism zoroastrianism and the baháʼí faith specifically forbid the practice of monasticism hence there are no sikh zoroastrian or baháʼí monk conclaves or brotherhoods quanzhen school of taoism has monks and nuns 35 36 way of former heaven sect of zhaijiao 37 the transcendental meditation movement sponsors two monastic groups the thousand headed purusha for men and the mother divine for women 38 the us residences for the groups were in heavenly mountain north carolina 38 there is also a purusha program at an ashram in uttarkashi india 39 the global mother divine organization describes itself as the women s wing of the global country of world peace 40 see also edit asceticism double monastery guru hermit mendicant religious order sādhanā references edit monasticism encyclopedia britannica archived from the original on 8 october 2014 retrieved 6 october 2014 practical sanskrit english dictionary by vaman shivram apte 1 2 3 what is a bhikkhu en dhammadana org archived from the original on 28 november 2010 retrieved 12 april 2012 the bhikkhuni question buddhistchannel tv 28 april 2009 archived from the original on 23 january 2011 retrieved 12 april 2012 helvétius anne marie kaplan michel boud hors anne debié muriel lesieur bénédicte boynton susan 2020 re reading monastic traditions monks and nuns east and west from the origins to c 750 in beach alison i cochelin isabelle eds the cambridge history of medieval monasticism in the latin west cambridge cambridge university press pp 40 72 doi 10 1017 9781107323742 003 isbn 978 1 107 04211 7 archived from the original on 17 june 2021 retrieved 12 april 2024 fafinski mateusz riemenschneider jakob 2023 monasticism and the city in late antiquity and the early middle ages cambridge elements elements in religion in ...