"The path is active and passive, intentional and unintentional, full and empty, conventional and radical, but always a movement of the heart towards truth. We can only pray to be guided to this awareness each day and to find the course to attend to the path of radical openness."
B. Lanzetta
One of the foundational attributes of monasticism is solitude of self. Solitude is not aloneness for the sake of separateness, but an interior sanctuary reserved for divine communion. It is a state of preserving holiness in your own being, to be with God's being, the divine being, allowing no other to intrude.
Each of us is a living example of divine possibility and, therefore, is worthy of gentle regard. Our journeys are mysterious. We offer each other mutual respect,which always tries to see through the eyes of the heart.
A palpable love and devotion for God, each other, and our heritages are all sustained by a motherly embrace of reverent gratitude.
A vital aspect of a monk's life is self-transformation in order to aspire toward or achieve mystical depth. The monk stakes his or her life on the capacity to be transformed, to be divine-like, enlightened, or free. Monks throughout history advocate the value of retreating into one's cell as the practical means of self-purification. The cell represents the triumph of love for the false self, and the resilience to enter into the night beyond faith, intellect, or hope.
Renunciation of worldly desires is prescribed as the means of harnessing one's inner life toward the highest good. The aim of monastic formation is purification of heart so that the monk's outer behavior is reflective of his or her interior quest.
The monk's primary work is prayer. It is the first language of the soul and the fulcrum of monastic life, from which all-else flows. Prayer or meditation is the most important element in monastic spirituality.
Monastic hospitality welcomes the homeless soul into the house of spirit, showing the pilgrim charity, blessedness, joy, and love. Hospitality calls us to celebrate the bond that is much more powerful than our differences and to invite others to share in the bounty of love.
A person's life need not be predicated on the competition, ruthlessness, and lack of kindness we witness every day. There is another way of being. Yet, to live another way, requires discipline. The internalization of the monastic rule at a cellular and soul level is vital.
Work is a means of spiritual development, especially the work of one's own hands. Work is help for prayer. Monks perform individual acts of kindness and merciful service daily.
Monasticism leads us away from bondage and toward the freedom of the true self. It is designed to liberate us from false desires and towards the soul's freedom of choice, a reality that the ego-self and the material world are simply unaware of. To achieve freedom requires a continual reaffirmation of our sacred existence in the midst of all that denies its validity.
The monastic gives up the notion that a meaningful life has to have credibility on the world's arms. Instead, we surrender to the divine within, sinking into the sate of restful awareness. We listen to this voice: Come this way. Rest in me. We do not understand how un-restful we are until we experience divine rest. Much of the way we live does violence to the spirit, because it demands things that our true self has no intention of doing. By being "useless" on the world's terms, we can live honorably and uphold our deepest commitments.
