Monasticism

"Εἶπεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Σισόης· Ζήτει τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ μὴ ζήτει ποῦ κατοικεῖ"

"Εἶπεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Σισόης ὁ Θηβαῖος τῷ μαθητῇ αὐτοῦ· Εἰπέ μοι τί βλέπεις εἰς ἐμὲ, κἀγώ σοι λέγω τί βλέπω εἰς σέ. Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ μαθητὴς αὐτοῦ· Σὺ καλὸς τῷ νῷ, καὶ σκληρὸς μικρόν. Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέ ρων· Σὺ καλὸς εἶ, ἀλλὰ χαῦνος τῷ νῷ"

"Ἀδελφὸς ἠρώτησε τὸν ἀββᾶν Σαραπίωνα, λέ γων· Εἰπέ μοι λόγον. Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέρων· Τί σοι ἔχω εἰπεῖν; ὅτι ἔλαβες τὰ τῶν χηρῶν καὶ ὀρφανῶν, καὶ ἔθηκας εἰς τὴν θυρίδα ταύτην· εἶδε γὰρ αὐτὴν μεστὴν βιβλίων"

"Στέφανός ἐστι μοναχοῦ ἡ ταπεινοφροσύνη."

"When Abba Arsenius was still in the palace, he prayed to God, saying, "Lord, show me the way to be saved," and there came to him a voice saying, "Arsenius, flee from people and you shall be saved.""

"A brother visited Abba Moses at Scete, asking him for a saying. The elder said to him, "Go and stay in a cell; your cell will teach you everything.""

"Abba Isaiah said, "Love to be silent rather than to speak; for silence saves up, but speaking fritters away.""

"Abba Macarius the Great used to say to the brothers at Scete when he was dismissing the congregation, "Flee, brothers!" One of the fathers said to him, "Where can we fly to that is further removed than this desert?" and he placed his finger on his mouth, saying, "Flee from this," and, so saying, he went into his own cell, shut the door, and stayed there."

"Abba Joseph asked Abba Poemen, "Tell me how I can become a monk." Said the elder to him, "If you want to find repose here and in the age to come, say in every situation, ‘I, who am I?’ and do not pass judgment on anybody.""

"A brother asked Abba Macarius, "How might I be saved?" The elder replied, "Be as though dead and pay no attention (like the dead) to the scorn or the admiration of people, and you will be saved.""

"Abba Poemen said, "What is the point of building a house for somebody else and destroying one’s own?""

"He [Abba Poemen] also said, "What is the point in taking up a trade without learning it?""

"Abba Alōnas said, "Unless a person says in his heart, ‘I alone and God are in the world,’ he will not have repose.""

"He [an elder] also said, "The bee makes honey wherever it goes; likewise, the monk too performs the work of God wherever he goes.""

"An elder was asked, "Why am I afraid when I walk about in the desert?" "Because you are still alive," he replied."

"An elder was asked, "How come you are never discouraged?" and he answered, "Because every day I expect to die.""

"He was also asked, "Why am I continually negligent?" "Because you have never seen the sun," he replied."

"An elder said, "The root of all good works is truth.""

"An elder said, "A person who does not receive all people as equal but makes distinctions—such a person cannot be perfect.""

"The elders used to say, "In the same way that fire burns wood, so the work of the monk ought to burn the passions.""

"1. Ἠρωτήθη ὁ ἅγιος πατὴρ ἡμῶν Ἀθανάσιος ὁ ἐπίσκοπος Ἀλεξανδρείας· Πῶς ἴσος ὁ υἱὸς τῷ πατρί; Καὶ ἀπεκρίθη· Ὡς ἐν δυσὶν ὀφθαλμοῖς τὸ ὁρᾶν."

"10. Εἶπεν γέρων· Αὕτη ἡ φωνὴ βοᾷ πρὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἕως ἐσχάτης ἀναπνοῆς ὅτι σήμερον ἐπίστρεψον."

"18. Εἶπεν γέρων ἑτέρῳ γέροντι ἔχοντι ἀγάπην, καὶ συμβαλλομένῳ καὶ μοναχοῖς καὶ κοσμικοῖς· ὅτι ὁ λύχνος πολλοὺς φαίνει [f. 161v] τὸ δὲ ἑαυτοῦ στόμα καίει."

"28. Παρέβαλέ τις τῶν ἐπισκόπων κατ᾿ ἐνιαυτὸν εἰς Σκῆτιν πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας, καὶ ἀπαντήσας αὐτῷ ἀδελφὸς ἤνεγκεν αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ κελλίον ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ παραθεὶς αὐτῷ ἄρτον καὶ ἅλας, ἔλεγεν· Συγχώρησόν μοι, κύρι, ὅτι οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἔχω παραθεῖναί σοι. Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ ἐπίσκοπος· Θέλω ἵνα καὶ εἰς τὸ ἐρχόμενον ἔτος εἰσελθών, μήτε ἅλας εὕρω."

"29. Ἔλεγέ τις τῶν ἀδελφῶν· ὅτι ἐγένετο ζήτησις ἐν τῇ λαύρᾳ τῆς Αἰγύπτου, καὶ ἐλάλησαν πάντες, οἱ μεγάλοι καὶ οἱ μικροί, εἷς δὲ μόνος οὐκ ἐλάλησεν. Καὶ ἐξελθόντων αὐτῶν, ἠρώτησεν αὐτὸν εἷς [f. 164r] ἀδελφὸς λέγων· Πῶς σὺ οὐκ ἐλάλησας; Ὁ δὲ βιασθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ εἶπεν· Συγχώρησόν μοι, ὅτι εἶπον τῷ λογισμῷ μου· ὅτι ἐὰν μὴ λαλήσῃ τὸ ἐμβρίμιον τὸ ὑποκάτω μου, μὴ λαλήσῃς. Καὶ οὕτως ἔμεινα σιωπῶν καὶ μὴ φθεγγόμενος."

"33. Ἦν τις γέρων καλούμενος Ἱέραξ εἰς τὰ μέρη Θηβαΐδος ἐλάσας περὶ τὰ ἐνενήκοντα ἔτη. Καὶ θέλοντες οἱ δαίμονες εἰς ἀκηδίαν αὐτὸν ἐμβαλεῖν τῷ μήκει τοῦ χρόνου ἐπέστησαν αὐτῷ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ λέγοντες· Τί ποιήσεις, γέρον, ὅτι ἄλλα πεντήκοντα1 ἔχεις ζῆσαι; Ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς λέγει αὐτοῖς· Ἐλυπήσατέ με πάνυ. Διακοσίων γὰρ ἐτῶν παρασκευὴν ἔθηκα. Οἱ δὲ ἀπήρχοντο ὀλολύζοντες ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ."

"35. Ἀναχωρητῇ τινὶ μεγάλῳ εἰπόντι· Τί οὕτως με πολεμεῖς, Σατανᾶ; ἐπήκουσεν ὁ Σατανᾶς λέγων· Σὺ εἶ ὁ μεγάλως με πολεμῶν."

"36. Ἀναχωρητής τις εἶδεν δαίμονα προτρεπόμενον ἕτερον δαίμονα, ἐλθεῖν καὶ διυπνίσαι καθεύδοντα μοναχόν. Καὶ ἀκούει τοῦ ἄλλου λέγοντος· Οὐ δύναμαι τοῦτο ποιῆσαι, ποτὲ γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐξύπνισα, καὶ ἀναστὰς ἔκαυσέ με ψάλλων καὶ εὐχόμενος."

"45. Γέρων τις ἀπῄει πωλῆσαι τὰ μαλάκια αὐτοῦ. Τούτῳ δαίμων ἀπαντήσας, ἄφαντα αὐτὰ πεποίηκεν. Ὁ δὲ γέρων ἐτράπη εἰς εὐχὴν καὶ ἔλεγεν· Εὐχαριστῶ σοι, ὁ Θεός, ὅτι ἀπήλλαξάς με πειρασμοῦ. Ὁ δὲ δαίμων μὴ [f. 171v] ὑπομείνας τὴν φιλοσοφίαν τοῦ γέροντος ἔκραξε λέγων· Ἰδοὺ τὰ μαλάκιά σου, κακόγηρε. Ὁ δὲ γέρων λαβὼν ἐπώλησεν αὐτά."

"65. Εἶπεν γέρων· Ῥίζα πάντων τῶν κακῶν ἐστὶν ἡ λήθη."

"86. Μοναχός τις εἰργάζετο ἐν ἡμέρᾳ Μάρτυρος, ἰδὼν δὲ αὐτὸν ἄλλος μοναχός, λέγει αὐτῷ· Ἔνι σήμερον ἐργάσασθαι; Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Σήμερον ὁ δοῦλος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐξέετο μαρτυρῶν καὶ ἐβασανίζετο, κἀγὼ οὐκ ὀφείλω κοπιᾶσαι μικρὸν ἐν τῷ ἔργῳ σήμερον;"

"89. Ἠρωτήθη γέρων ποῖον δεῖ εἶναι τὸν μοναχόν; καὶ εἶπεν· Ἐὰν ὡς κατ᾿ ἐμὲ μόνος πρὸς μόνον."

"90. Ἠρωτήθη γέρων· διατί εἰς τὴν ἔρημον περιπατῶν φοβοῦμαι; καὶ ἀπεκρίθη· Ἀκμὴν ζῇς."

"91. Ἠρωτήθη γέρων· Τί δεῖ ποιοῦντας σωθῆναι; Ἦν δὲ σειρὰν ἐργαζόμενος καὶ μὴ ἀνανεύων ἐκ τοῦ ἔργου, καὶ ἀπεκρίθη· Ἰδοὺ βλέπεις."

"92. Ἠρωτήθη γέρων· διατί συνεχῶς ὀλιγωρῶ; Καὶ ἀπεκρίθη· Ἐπειδὴ οὔπω τὸ μίλιον εἶδες."

"93. Ἠρωτήθη γέρων· Τί ἐστιν τὸ ἔργον τοῦ μοναχοῦ; Καὶ ἀπεκρίθη· Διάκρισις."

"96. Ἔλεγον οἱ γέροντες· Ἔσοπτρόν ἐστι τοῦ μοναχοῦ ἡ εὐχή."

"100. Ἔλεγον οἱ γέροντες ὅτι ἡ ψυχὴ πηγή ἐστιν, ἐὰν ὀρύξῃς καθαρίζεται, ἐὰν δὲ προσχώσῃς ἀφανίζεται."

"105. Εἶπεν γέρων· ὅτι εἴκοσι ἔτη ἔμεινα πρὸς ἕνα λογισμὸν πολεμῶν, ἵνα πάντας ἀνθρώπους ὡς ἔνα βλέπω."

"111. Ἔλεγον οἱ γέροντες· Ἐὰν ἴδῃς νεώτερον τῷ θελήματι αὐτοῦ ἀνερχόμενον εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, κράτησον αὐτοῦ τὸν πόδα καὶ ῥίψον αὐτὸν κάτω, συμφέρει γὰρ αὐτῷ."

"113. Εἶπεν γέρων· ὅτι τὸ ἔργον ἡμῶν καίειν ἐστὶν ξύλα."

"Sarabaites, the most detestable kind of monk, ... lie to God by their tonsure. ... Their law is what they like to do, whatever strikes their fancy. Anything they believe in and choose, they call holy; anything they dislike, they consider forbidden."

"Through an analysis of the status structure of a Trappist monastery, an attempt is made to fill a gap in the literature on intentional communities, both religious and secular. On the basis of field notes based on 26 weeks of observation and questionnaire data it was discovered that despite an extremely egalitarian ideology and absolute material equality, a clearly discernible system of status ranking exists. This ranking was found not to be positively correlated with the monk's status as priest or brother, his job within the economic enterprise, or the socioeconomic status of his family of origin. Positive correlations were found with seniority and the holding of a superior office (e.g., abbot)."

"'Suppose there were a man, a slave, a labourer, getting up before you and going to bed after you, willingly doing whatever has to be done, well-mannered, pleasant-spoken, working in your presence. And he might think, ... "I ought to do something meritorious. Suppose I were to shave off my hair and beard, don yellow robes, and go forth from the household life into homelessness!" And before long, he does so. And he, having gone forth might dwell, restrained in body, speech and thought, satisfied with the minimum of food and clothing, content, in solitude. And then if people were to announce to you: "Sire, you remember that slave who worked in your presence, and who shaved off his hair and beard and went forth into homelessness?" ... Would you then say: "That man must come back and be a slave and work for me as before?"No indeed, Lord. For we should pay homage to him, we should rise and invite him and press him to receive from us robes, food, lodging, medicines for sickness and requisites, and make arrangements for his proper protection.'"

"In the past ... when a bhikkhu was a forest dweller and spoke in praise of forest dwelling … the elder bhikkhus would invite him to a seat. ... Now it is the bhikkhu who is well known and famous ... that the elder bhikkhus invite to a seat. ... Then it occurs to the newly ordained bhikkhus: ‘It seems that when a bhikkhu is well known and famous, ... the elder bhikkhus invite him to a seat.’ ... They practise accordingly, and that leads to their harm and suffering for a long time."

"Just as a bird, wherever it goes, flies with its wings as its only burden, so too, the bhikkhu becomes content with robes to protect his body and with almsfood to maintain his stomach, and wherever he goes he sets out taking only these with him. Possessing this aggregate of noble virtue, he experiences within himself a bliss that is blameless."

"Here, friend Sāriputta, a bhikkhu is a forest dweller himself and speaks in praise of forest dwelling; he is an almsfood eater himself and speaks in praise of eating almsfood; he is a refuse-rag wearer himself and speaks in praise of wearing refuse-rag robes; he is a triple-robe wearer himself and speaks in praise of wearing the triple robe; he has few wishes himself and speaks in praise of fewness of wishes; he is content himself and speaks in praise of contentment; he is secluded himself and speaks in praise of seclusion; he is aloof from society himself and speaks in praise of aloofness from society; he is energetic himself and speaks in praise of arousing energy; he has attained to virtue himself and speaks in praise of the attainment of virtue; he has attained to concentration himself and speaks in praise of the attainment of concentration; he has attained to wisdom himself and speaks in praise of the attainment of wisdom; he has attained to deliverance himself and speaks in praise of the attainment of deliverance; he has attained to the knowledge and vision of deliverance himself and speaks in praise of the attainment of the knowledge and vision of deliverance."

"[The Buddha] advised bhikkhus to be an island (“'dìpa”') or a refuge for themselves. After his passing, their only support or bulwark would be the Dhamma. His legitimate successors would ultimately be only those who had managed to take refuge in the Dhamma, that is, in themselves. (p. 75)"

"Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!"

"Monasticism owes some of its early surge to the conversion of the fourth-century emperor Constantine and his subsequent endorsement of what became the "politically correct" Christian religion. When the state turned from persecutor to protector of Christianity, the church became "worldly" and the faith became secularized. Prosperity, patronage, doctrinal and political strife, and mixed motives for converting to Christianity and holding church office infected the church like viruses. In this setting monasticism became a reform movement—"a living protest against the secularization of Christianity and the cheapening of grace." The protest took the form of withdrawal (anchoresis in Greek, from which we derive the word anchorite, meaning one who lives in seclusion) to the desert (eremos, from which we get the word hermit), literally following Jesus into the wilderness to fight the demons (Mark 1:13) and to achieve the perfection to which Christ called his disciples and which some thought to be unobtainable in the existing churches in contact with the world. With withdrawal came spiritual discipline (askesis, from which we get the word ascetic and which was applied to the rigorous training undertaken by those preparing for athletic and military contests."