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St. Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries (516)

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Re: St. Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries (516)

#101

Post by riffraff »

yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #89
bodegajed wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah the benedictine life is cool with me. I consider my self as non-religious and I follow some aspects of Asceticism like abstaining from eating meat and just content with simple pleasures like playing the guitar and doing arts. I also removed my self from social media. I always work and don't take holidays. I'm done with life based on consumerism

> removed my self from social media I would have said that HN is social media; in your view, is the distinction that you don't post things to a personal timeline here? (Certainly even seeing HN as social media I wouldn't mind treating it as a special case)

not OP, but I would think that a core aspect of it is having a social graph, i.e. being able to follow specific people, and having other people follow you.

This is true for twitter/facebook/friendster, but not for hn/reddit/slashdot.

Some of the negative effects of online communities are shared by both kind of things, but not all.

Re: St. Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries (516)

#102

Post by Rokesmith »

Lovely to see this here, from another atheist who reads it often for the great wisdom within.

Some favorites:

"When two monks meet they should each try to be the first to show respect to the other,"and, the abbot must “arrange everything that the strong have something to yearn for and the weak have nothing to run from.”

Re: St. Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries (516)

#103

Post by trhway »

hawktheslayer wrote: post #41
h2odragon wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Say on; first hand experience in this is rare. What did you discover you missed most on returning to "the real world"? was a year enough time?

Ironically I missed the structure that came from the vow of obedience that felt at times like I gave up all my individual freedom. I learned this gave me focus on the thing at hand, whether it was praying, meditating, cooking or cleaning. I still miss the sheer simplicity of that life.

sounds similar to military.

Re: St. Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries (516)

#104

Post by elcritch »

hawktheslayer wrote: post #41
h2odragon wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Say on; first hand experience in this is rare. What did you discover you missed most on returning to "the real world"? was a year enough time?

Ironically I missed the structure that came from the vow of obedience that felt at times like I gave up all my individual freedom. I learned this gave me focus on the thing at hand, whether it was praying, meditating, cooking or cleaning. I still miss the sheer simplicity of that life.

I've visited a couple of Greek monasteries for a few days each over the years. Even that short time as a layman was very refreshing. Even "mundane" acts were contemplative.

Re: St. Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries (516)

#105

Post by waihtis »

tamentis wrote: post #51

I spent 2 weeks in a benedictine monastery in Italy, about 2 months ago. I think these were some of the most influential weeks of my life. I really hope I can write something useful for others, but the more I digest the experience, the more I think people need to do that themselves and come to their own conclusions.

Do share your experience if you'd like. I think a lot of people would find it interesting.

Re: St. Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries (516)

#106

Post by darkwater »

Thorentis wrote: post #77
geerlingguy wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a strange paradox, but one that I've found time and again; 'liberty' to do anything anytime can be much more restrictive than 'freedom' to choose one thing and then move on.

It is very saddening to see "modern" and "progressive" thinkers promote the idea of choice and freedom, while condemning those that choose particular lifestyles (monks, housewives, etc). Some of the happiest people in the world are the ones that choose a simple yet rewarding lifestyle. The unhappy ones, as I have invariably found, are those that are never happy with the choices of others.

A little problem with "housewives" here: many of them didn't choose anything, nor had a voice in choosing their lives. The same applied to monks centuries ago, if you weren't the first born, your destiny would be joining a monk life. But at least that stopped a while ago, while housewives by "force" are still a reality today in many situations.

Re: St. Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries (516)

#107

Post by darkwater »

bodegajed wrote: post #95
yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> removed my self from social media I would have said that HN is social media; in your view, is the distinction that you don't post things to a personal timeline here? (Certainly even seeing HN as social media I wouldn't mind treating it as a special case)

True. I made it an exception because I consider checking HN as part of my work. I still need to be well informed with the trends and current technology events because it's part of my job.

Commenting and reading here, especially under this article, is not needed for your job. As it usually happens with strictly enforced ways of life, people skip the rules because strict rules enforced all the time, are really difficult to actually obey. And that's good, it's part of the fun of being human. But at the same time it's why I don't like at all those lifestyles.

Re: St. Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries (516)

#108

Post by morsch »

Thorentis wrote: post #77
geerlingguy wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a strange paradox, but one that I've found time and again; 'liberty' to do anything anytime can be much more restrictive than 'freedom' to choose one thing and then move on.

It is very saddening to see "modern" and "progressive" thinkers promote the idea of choice and freedom, while condemning those that choose particular lifestyles (monks, housewives, etc). Some of the happiest people in the world are the ones that choose a simple yet rewarding lifestyle. The unhappy ones, as I have invariably found, are those that are never happy with the choices of others.

I don't condemn housewives, I think it's important that care work is recognised as, well, work. I'd say that calling it a simple yet rewarding lifestyle makes it sound a lot less difficult than it is, it comes off as dismissive. Having gotten a taste of both worlds, I can tell you working as a software developer is a lot more simple and, at times, more rewarding.

Many people are in a situation where they can't make the choice to exclusively do care work, due to financial constraints, and much of the care work is done by women who also work for money alongside of it. So in a way, being wealthy enough to have one person concentrate on maintaining the house is lucky. At the same time, it's a risky choice, because it leads to financial dependency on the partner, and marriages tend to end.

Re: St. Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries (516)

#109

Post by spoonjim »

galaxyLogic wrote: post #49
christophilus wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I spent some time discerning as a Trappist, and now have a family. I’ve found the lack of silence to be the biggest challenge. How is your prayer life as a parent?

Trappists make great beer right? It is strong beer and gets your head messed up. I've often wondered how such good religious folks would become producers of alcoholic drinks. I assume they didn't drink themselves, doesn't go well with meditation I assume. So are they more like thinking "Let the sinners drink this since they want, and it will pay for the rent of our meditation chambers?"

There is no general religious proscription against alcohol. Only Muslims and Mormons come to mind.

Re: St. Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries (516)

#110

Post by zokula »

Thorentis wrote: post #76
galaxyLogic wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trappists make great beer right? It is strong beer and gets your head messed up. I've often wondered how such good religious folks would become producers of alcoholic drinks. I assume they didn't drink themselves, doesn't go well with meditation I assume. So are they more like thinking "Let the sinners drink this since they want, and it will pay for the rent of our meditation chambers?"

There is no issue with alcohol in Catholicism. Indeed, some during the middle ages would live off beer alone during Lent, when they would abstain from food entirely. It is simply a question of moderation. There are many medevial images of monks drinking. "In Catholicsm, the Pint, the Pipe, and the Cross can all fit together." ~ GK Chesterton.

I know in many Eastern Orthodox churches and some ethnic Catholic chruches have bars on the premises so after church you can go get some beer or a few shots, or to go shot-for-shot with the local Bishop.
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