Monday 15 December 2003

Pic of the day: These guys walk around in one of the dungeons in Dark Age of Camelot and randomly spout words of wisdom such as "Be removed from all things", "Never grieve over the irretrievable", "Never fear the unavoidable" and so on until someone kills them. I hope I am at least somewhat less irritating...

A little about monks

I would like to describe in detail my thoughts about monks and why they are needed. Sadly, both my hand and my throat are kinda used up at the moment, so I cannot give this topic the expansive treatment it deserves.

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Let me just briefly state that I believe Martin Luther was too optimistic when he in practice abolished monks from Protestantism. As a former monk himself (albeit for imperfect reasons) he may have seen the negative sides of that institution at that time, which was a dark time for the Catholic church by almost any measure except financial. In the future I hope we will have a society without the chase for status symbols, freeing up common family men and women to develop their spirituality. But until then, we may need official or unofficial monks.

When Germany fell on hard times after the first world war, people sought back to a primitive pagan history to find the myths and spiritual symbols to give them pride. This symbolism became an integral part of Nazism. (The psychiatrist C.G. Jung wrote about this disturbing return to the past, well before the horrible events that we today associate with Nazism.) It may seem harsh to blame Luther for this, but would one of the world's most civilized nations have fallen so deep into barbarism if it had a stronger backbone of spirituality in the present?

Today, the American culture is highly successful in many ways and profoundly influences the rest of the world. Even so, large numbers of spiritual seekers in the USA and similar nations have found it necessary to turn to stagnant, poor eastern countries for inspiration. I believe this is because there is such a fierce competition to keep up with the Joneses. In order to maintain your status, you have to earn more and more and spend more and more. Like the Red Queen, you have to run just to stay in place! Those who drop out of this frantic run can find time for other things, spiritual or otherwise. But for now, this is hard to achieve for a family. It is certainly not impossible, but it is certainly not common either.

Of course, disengaging from the rat race doesn't mean you suddenly become a prophet or guru or enlightened person. You could, for instance, become a dedicated video game player instead. ^_^* I guess this is why there are monasteries, cloisters, ashrams etc: To provide a scaffold while building the inner life. But I fear that it could also become like the rumors about the crowded Japanese commuter trains: That people keep standing upright after they are dead. Metaphorically speaking, this may have happened to quite a few people. But that is quite a story in itself ...