In the 200s AD, the Roman Empire saw the rise of monastic traditions beginning in the deserts of Egypt and Syria. In Syria, St. Pachomius was working out how Christian ascetics could live in monastic communities, while in Egypt, St. Anthony was living as a solitary hermit in the desert. Within a generation of these two saints beginning their different types of monastic living, tens of thousands were copying them in Syria and Egypt, living in monasteries or else as lone hermits in the desert, in the latter case trying to emulate the life of Saint John the Baptist, the "voice of one crying in the wilderness: make straight the way of the Lord!"
Why did this all happen? Because in the 200s AD, Rome experienced 50 years of civil wars and almost as many emperors. The Roman Empire nearly fell, and life after the "Crisis of the Third Century" was never the same again. By the late 200s, Rome's skeptical, materialistic, rather complacent attitude was all gone, replaced by religious fervor among the entire population, from peasants to rulers, and by a need for spiritual consolation and oneness with the Divine.
We, today, in the modern world, are still quite skeptical, materialistic, and complacent, but crisis is emerging and many are yearning for a deeper meaning, a true purpose, in their lives. I suggest that if some intrepid souls, the likes of Saint Pachomius and St. Anthony, began a new tradition of monasticism in the West, hundreds of thousands of people would follow in their footsteps within a generation.
The teaching of those "Desert Fathers" became the foundation for medieval monasticism in Europe after the Empire fell and the region entered a Dark Age, as St. Benedict founded his monastery in Italy, consciously looking to the Desert Fathers as an example of how to get it right.
Incels, femcels, and others cast aside by today's society could find the warm embrace of God in a monastic setting, thus transforming their lives from ones of nihilistic rage to lives of
>>509634440 (OP)[continued] spiritual fulfillment and deep tranquility that one only finds in oneness or merging with the Divine.
Yes, monks, the world over, take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. This is deliberate. Monks are meant to live "otherworldly" lives and to reject the values and desires of this world, so they give up sex, money, and willfulness. It is not that bad and is actually liberating to live this way.
>>509634440 (OP)psyops to destroy men that might otherwise make a difference
The Buddha, likewise, was the founder of a monastic tradition, one that lived and meditated according to his teachings about the nature of reality. By inspiring the foundation of monasteries and a whole new monastic tradition in India, which would go on to spread to East and Southeast Asia, the Buddha became one of the greatest religious or spiritual leaders of all time.
Monasticism is always the bedrock of a new and powerful spiritual tradition. The modern world needs a monastic revival in order to give purpose to all of its lost souls, to reorient their lives and to revive real moral values.
Morality flows from the monasteries, which are morality's original fountain, its source. As monastic traditions die, as with the Protestant Revolution in Europe, morality begins to die off as well.
>>509634896:>What does it profit a man, if he gains the world and loses his soul?
Why lust after worldly things? Why seek out worldly, material, political "success"?
Serving the Divine is far better, whether that is done in a Christian or a Buddhist monastery.
>>509635078Or in a Sufist community, I might add.
The ancient Jews also had the Essenes, who were very much like monastics, withdrawing from society to lead lives focused on God and Holiness. Some scholars suspect Jesus Christ himself was trained in an Essene community.
>>509634896The reason people like you cannot find happiness and are so frustrated and tumultuous is because you hold no higher values than what the world itself values: money, sex, power, prestige and honors, etc.
Even the Stoics taught about the importance of higher values, in their case, aligning one's life with the natural order of things, which was viewed as a kind of metaphysical order behind the passing drama of what transpires in time and space, the Stoics having been somewhat influenced by Platonism.
It was an interesting read. I spend several hours and months in isolation now and focus on God. I enjoy it. It wasn't until recently did I begin looking back at the world and seeing all of the changes since I last was a part of this. The isolation does do several things for a person but it has other effects as well. I am also curious on the setup that you speak of. Are we looking at individuals isolating or in families and groups? Do we leave the ones that don't want such a thing here and divide the world into two? Are there communication between the two? If an un isolated individual wanted to join ISO world, is he permitted? I have a better idea of what you are referencing but what does that look like in modern times?
>>509635789What I have in mind is the old Western tradition of monasticism that began in Syria and Egypt and then spread to Italy through Saint Benedict and then to the rest of Europe. Monks lived communally in monasteries and left their families behind, though sometimes family would come visit them. But their fellow monastics were considered to be like a new family.
Getting away from the ordinary world is relieving indeed and puts things into perspective.
>>509634896Also, I tend to think that 50 years of civil wars during the 200s AD in the Roman Empire, when powerful generals vied for the top position and constantly warred with and killed each other, put worldly desires into perspective for most of the Roman population. Seeking status, money, power, prestige etc. probably looked bad after seeing so much of the population die off from warfare and its attendant famine and pestilence. People saw what this sort of worldly ambition led to and began to reject it in favor of spiritual purity and living a moral life devoted to a higher purpose.
I am building an Islamic monastery here in Alabama with the blessing of the Sayyid of Iraq, the blood descendants of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
This tradition is rooted in Al Suffah, a platform that Rasul Allah built for the homeless and unmarried followers of Islam to sleep on in his mosque in Madinah. He even shared his daily meals with them.
Today, it is called a zawiya, a lodge for Muslim ascetics who renounce materialism for a peaceful life of contemplation, meditation, and prayer. We are building it in the forest by flowing water. This is the purpose of my life, to invite Americans to Islam and to lead believers in prayer and righteous works.
I hope to heal many people from their spiritual ailments, including addiction and depression, and to build a beautiful home for the poorest for God. Such institutions serve as the center of Islamic communities, and we grant the surrounding land to Muslims to build homes and farms.
Here is a zawiya in South Africa that is one source of inspiration. I have always admired monks and their way of life, and God has fulfilled the secret desire of my heart to build the monastery of my dreams. When I was at my lowest point in life, yearning for death, God provided me with another way and a purpose to live and do good for those in need.
This nation has experienced a lot of trauma and despair has increased. There is a lot of healing that needs to be done. Such institutions require a Shaykh to establish a brotherhood of ascetics, and for a poor man of no status like myself, the only way I can achieve this title is to become a Hafiz. To memorize the entire Koran. This is a lot of work to do, but I do it for God with the support of my brothers.
>>509637497I have tremendous admiration for this effort and must congratulate you. This is God's work indeed. I hope your monastery heals many people's spiritual desolation and improves the quality of life of those who settle the land to farm.
I have always been drawn to the ascetic, monastic life. It's about time I finally get on with it.
>>509637497I tend to think that monasticism is the fountainhead of morality in a society; morals flow from the monks, from the monastery or convent, to the laypeople, as the monks and nuns serve as examples of the blameless life of purity and devotion to higher values and a greater purpose.
When Western Civilization severed most of its ties with monastic tradition during the Protestant Revolution, morality in Europe began to decline. Worldliness and the pursuit of power and profit became ascendant. The God-centered life of the medieval age was over.
I want that God-centered life to be revived, at least to some extent. And indeed, monasteries are perfectly suited to take in, and reform, society's rejects and misfits, changing their status from that of outcasts to that of holy men, and even holy women (in convents), who live for the truth, for contemplation, for the study of scripture, and ultimate, live for God.
>>509637497Also, monasteries can be self-sufficient and not only rely on donations from believers and sympathizers. Many monasteries have had subsistence farms that the monks or, in the case of convents, the nuns work for a period of time each day to produce the food they consume. And some monastics spin cloth and engage in other simple production, just like the Amish do, so they can sell their wares and support the monastic community. It's a good life for those who have the discipline to follow it, and of course the senior monastics will guide and help and counsel the new initiates as they struggle to adjust to their new lives.
>>509634440 (OP)Monarchism is still the problem, faggot
>>509638842You need to right your life and turn to purer thoughts and concerns, fren.
>>509639128Knowledge is not a concern. Ignorance is.
>>509639202If you have so much knowledge, why do you still have so much anger?
Is your knowledge about the wrong things, about worldly and unfulfilling things?
Even Schopenhauer said that detached contemplation of any subject matter leads to satisfaction and is the key to genius. You sound like your ego is quite involved in your pursuit of knowledge, biasing it.
>>509638842What does monarchism have to do with reviving monasticism in the modern world? I am genuinely curious about your thought process here.
>>509641764What is there to revive when its right there? Still existing. Still deciding. Still owning undisclosed amounts of wealth.
>>509634440 (OP)Society has always had ways to get rid of surplus men, because realistically you need fewer men than women to get the same birthrate as if you had more men.
