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Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religion way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christianity churches, especially in the Catholicism, Orthodox and Anglican traditions as well as in other faiths such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jain monasticism. In other religions, monasticism is generally criticized and not practiced, as in Islam and Zoroastrianism, or plays a marginal role, as in modern Nazirite.
Many monastics live in , , monastery, or priories to separate themselves from the secular world, unless they are in mendicant or .
After the Parinirvana (Final Passing) of the Buddha, the Buddhist monastic order developed into a primarily cenobitic or communal movement. The practice of living communally during the rainy vassa season, prescribed by the Buddha, gradually grew to encompass a settled monastic life centered on life in a community of practitioners. Most of the modern disciplinary rules followed by bhikkhus and bhikkhunis—as encoded in the Patimokkha—relate to such an existence, prescribing in great detail proper methods for living and relating in a community of bhikkhus or bhikkhunis. The number of rules observed varies with the order; Theravada bhikkhus follow around 227 rules, the Vinaya. There are a larger number of rules specified for bhikkhunis (nuns).
The Buddhist monastic order consists of the male bhikkhu assembly and the female bhikkhunī assembly. 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.
Bhikkhus and bhikkhunis are expected to fulfill a variety of roles in the Buddhist community. First and foremost, they are expected to preserve the doctrine and discipline now known as Buddhism. They are also expected to provide a living example for the laity, and to serve as a "field of merit" for lay followers—providing laymen and women with the opportunity to earn merit by giving gifts and support to the bhikkhus. 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.
A bhikkhu first ordains as a samanera (novice). Novices often ordain at a young age, but generally no younger than eight. Samaneras live according to the Ten Precepts, but are not responsible for living by the full set of monastic rules. Higher ordination, conferring the status of a full bhikkhu, is given only to men who are aged 20 or older. 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. However, celibacy is a fundamental part of this form of monastic discipline.
The Christian monk embraces the monastic life as a vocation from God. His objective is to imitate the life of Christ as far as possible in preparation for attaining eternal life after death.
Titles for monastics differ between the Christian denominations. In Roman Catholicism and Anglicanism, monks and nuns are addressed as Brother (or Father, if ordained to the priesthood) or Mother, Sister, while in Eastern Orthodoxy, they are addressed as Father or Mother. Women pursuing a monastic life are generally called nuns, religious sisters or, rarely, canonesses, while monastic men are called monks, friars or brothers.
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. Guided by daily rules and lifestyle guidelines, monasticism afforded women great spiritual autonomy. Women also played a crucial role in promoting and financing the monastic movement. 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). While the practices of female monastic communities varied, they were united by a commitment to a life of prayer, contemplation, and service to others.
Teachings from Shenoute of Atripe, an influential figure in the development of the monastic tradition in Egypt and for his writings on monastic life were also implemented throughout monasteries. Sometimes written in the masculine gender as if exclusively applicable to the male congregations, despite the fact Shenoute commanded a federation that included both male and female congregations.
Later, during 379 CE the first monastery for women was founded in Jerusalem by Saint Melania the Elder. This was a significant moment in history: before then, female monasteries were solely adjunct to male monasteries, although the history of female ascetics predates even the earliest recognized female ascetic pioneers, such as Saint Mary of Egypt, who lived during the 5th century CE.
In fourth century Egypt, Christians felt called to a more reclusive or Hermit form of living (in the spirit of the "Desert Theology" for the purpose of spiritual renewal and return to God). Saint Anthony the Great is cited by Athanasius as one of the early "Hermit monks". Especially in the Middle East, eremitic monasticism continued to be common until the decline of 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 Cenobium 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 Monastery in the East include:
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 Order, Servite Order (see Servants of Mary) and Augustinians chose to live in city 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. UNESCO World Heritage. Augustinian Monastery, Erfurt extension application (Accessed: 29 May 2017)
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.
A sādhu's vow of renunciation typically forbids him from:
Muhammad told his companions to ease their burden and avoid excess. According to some Sunni , 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!" And, on another occasion, Muhammad said: "Moderation, moderation! For only with moderation will you succeed."
Monasticism is also mentioned in the following verse of Quran:
Then We caused Our messengers to follow in their footsteps; and We caused Isa(A.S.), son of Mariam, 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)Qur'an Verse 27, Surah Al-Hadid (chapter 57)
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.
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. 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."
However, until the Destruction of the Second Temple, about two thousand years ago, taking Nazirite vows was a common feature of the religion. Nazirite (in ) abstained from grape products, haircuts, and contact with the dead.Maimonides Mishne Torah Hilkhot Nazirut 1:1 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.Maimonides Hilkhot Nazirut 3:1 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.
A form of asceticism was practiced by some individuals in pre–World War II European 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.Yaffa Eliach, Y. There Once Was a World (Back Bay Books, 1998), p. 780. This practice was associated with, but not exclusive to, the Perushim.
The Essenes (in Modern but not in Biblical Hebrew: , Isiyim; Koine 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.F. F. Bruce, Second Thoughts on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Paternoster Press, 1956. 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 mysticism, eschatological, Jewish Messiah, and asceticism 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 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.Hillel Newman, Ph.D. Bar Ilan University: Proximity to Power and Jewish Sectarian Groups of the Ancient Period, Brill, . Rachel Elior, a prominent Israelis scholar, even questions the existence of the Essenes.
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