Amonastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces ofmonastics,monks ornuns, whether living incommunities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may be achapel,church, ortemple, and may also serve as anoratory, or in the case ofcommunities anything from a single building housing only one senior and two or three junior monks or nuns, to vast complexes and estates housing tens or hundreds. A monastery complex typically comprises a number of buildings which include a church,dormitory,cloister,refectory,library,balneary andinfirmary and outlyinggranges. Depending on the location, the monastic order and the occupation of its inhabitants, the complex may also include a wide range of buildings that facilitate self-sufficiency and service to the community. These may include ahospice, aschool, and a range of agricultural and manufacturing buildings such as abarn, aforge, or abrewery.
In English usage, the termmonastery is generally used to denote the buildings of a community of monks. In modern usage,convent tends to be applied only to institutions of female monastics (nuns), particularly communities of teaching or nursingreligious sisters. Historically, a convent denoted a house offriars (reflecting the Latin), now more commonly called afriary. Various religions may apply these terms in more specific ways.
ThePlan of Saint Gall, theground plan of an unbuilt abbey, providing for all of the needs of the monks within the confines of the monastery walls
The wordmonastery comes from theGreek wordμοναστήριον, neut. ofμοναστήριος –monasterios fromμονάζειν –monazein "to live alone"[1] from the rootμόνος –monos "alone" (originally all Christian monks were hermits); the suffix "-terion" denotes a "place for doing something". The earliest extant use of the termmonastērion is by the 1st century ADJewish philosopherPhilo inOn The Contemplative Life, ch. III.
In England, the wordmonastery was also applied to the habitation of abishop and thecathedralclergy who lived apart from the lay community. Most cathedrals were not monasteries, and were served bycanons secular, which were communal but not monastic. However, some were run by monasteries orders, such asDurham Cathedral.Westminster Abbey was for a short time a cathedral, and was aBenedictine monastery until theReformation, and itsChapter preserves elements of the Benedictine tradition. See the entrycathedral. They are also to be distinguished from collegiate churches, such asSt George's Chapel, Windsor.
The termmonastery is used generically to refer to any of a number of types of religious community. In theRoman Catholic religion and to some extent in certain branches ofBuddhism, there is a somewhat more specific definition of the term and many related terms.
Buddhist monasteries are generally calledvihara (Pali language el). Viharas may be occupied by men or women, and in keeping with common English usage, a vihara populated by females may often be called a nunnery or a convent. However, vihara can also refer to atemple. In Tibetan Buddhism, monasteries are often calledgompa. InCambodia,Laos andThailand, a monastery is called awat. InBurma, a monastery is called akyaung.
A Christian monastery may be anabbey (i.e., under the rule of anabbot), or apriory (under the rule of aprior), or conceivably ahermitage (the dwelling of ahermit). It may be a community of men (monks) or of women (nuns). Acharterhouse is any monastery belonging to theCarthusian order. InEastern Christianity, a very small monastic community can be called askete, and a very large or important monastery can be given the dignity of alavra.
The great communal life of a Christian monastery is calledcenobitic, as opposed to theanchoretic (or anchoritic) life of ananchorite and theeremitic life of ahermit. There has also been, mostly under theOsmanli occupation of Greece and Cyprus, an "idiorrhythmic" lifestyle where monks come together but being able to own things individually and not being obliged to work for the common good.
In most religions, life inside monasteries is governed by community rules that stipulate the gender of the inhabitants and require them to remaincelibate and own little or no personal property. The degree to which life inside a particular monastery is socially separate from the surrounding populace can also vary widely; some religious traditions mandate isolation for purposes of contemplation removed from the everyday world, in which case members of the monastic community may spend most of their time isolated even from each other. Others focus on interacting with the local communities to provide services, such as teaching, medical care, orevangelism. Some monastic communities are only occupied seasonally, depending both on the traditions involved and the local climate, and people may be part of a monastic community for periods ranging from a few days at a time to almost an entire lifetime.[citation needed]
Life within the walls of a monastery may be supported in several ways: by manufacturing and selling goods, oftenagricultural products; by donations oralms; by rental or investment incomes; and by funds from other organizations within the religion, which in the past formed the traditional support of monasteries. There has been a long tradition of Christian monasteries providing hospitable, charitable and hospital services. Monasteries have often been associated with the provision of education and the encouragement of scholarship and research,[2] which has led to the establishment of schools and colleges and the association with universities. Monastic life has adapted to modern society by offering computer services,accounting services and management as well as modern hospital and educational administration.[3]
Taktsang Palphug Monastery also known asParo Taktsang or "Tiger's Nest", July 2016 13Mendicant Monk Sitting on Xindong Street, Taipei 20140103
Buddhist monasteries, known asvihāra inPali and inSanskrit, emerged sometime around the fourth century BCE from the practice ofvassa, a retreat undertaken by Buddhist monastics during the South Asianwet season. To prevent wanderingmonks andnuns from disturbing new plant-growth or becoming stranded in inclement weather, they were instructed to remain in a fixed location for the roughly three-month period typically beginning in mid-July.
These early fixedvassa retreats took place in pavilions and parks that wealthy supporters had donated to thesangha. Over the years, the custom of staying on property held in common by thesangha as a whole during thevassa retreat evolved intocenobitic monasticism, in which monks and nuns resided year-round in monasteries.
InIndia, Buddhist monasteries gradually developed into centres of learning where philosophical principles were developed and debated; this tradition continues in the monastic universities of Vajrayana Buddhists, as well as in religious schools and universities founded by religious orders across the Buddhist world. In modern times, living a settled life in a monastery setting has become[when?] the most common lifestyle for Buddhist monks and nuns across the globe.
Whereas early monasteries are considered[by whom?] to have been held in common by the entire sangha, in later years this tradition diverged in a number of countries. Despitevinaya prohibitions on possessing wealth, many monasteries became large landowners, much like monasteries in medieval Christian Europe. InChinese Buddhism, peasant families worked monastic-owned land in exchange for paying a portion of their yearly crop to the resident monks in the monastery, just as they would to afeudal landlord. InSri Lanka and inTibetan Buddhism, the ownership of a monastery often became vested in a single monk, who would often keep the property within the family by passing it on to a nephew ordained as a monk. InJapan, where civil authorities permitted Buddhist monks to marry, the position of head of a temple or monastery sometimes became hereditary, passed from father to son over many generations.
Forest monasteries – most commonly found in theTheravada traditions of Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka – are monasteries dedicated primarily to the study and cultivation ofBuddhist meditation, rather than to scholarship or ceremonial duties. Forest monasteries often function like early Christian monasteries, with small groups of monks living an essentially hermit-like life gathered loosely around a respected elder teacher. While thewandering lifestyle practised bythe Buddha and by his disciples continues to be the ideal model for forest-tradition monks inThailand,Myanmar,Sri Lanka and elsewhere, practical concerns - including shrinking wilderness areas, lack of access to lay supporters, dangerous wildlife, and dangerous border conflicts - dictate that increasing numbers of "meditation" monks live in monasteries, rather than wandering.
Tibetan Buddhist monasteries orgompas are sometimes known aslamaseries, with their monks sometimes (mistakenly) known aslamas.Helena Blavatsky'sTheosophical Society named its initial New York City meeting-place "the Lamasery".[4]
Buddhist monasteries include some of the largest in the world.Drepung Monastery in Tibet housed around 10,000 monks prior to theChinese invasion[5][6]in 1950–1951. As of 2020[update] the relocated monastery in India houses around 8,000.[citation needed]
A transitional form of monasticism was later created byAmmonas in which "solitary" monks lived close enough to one another to offer mutual support as well as gathering together on Sundays for common services.[8]
It wasPachomius the Great who developed the idea ofcenobitic monasticism: having renunciates live together and worship together under the same roof. Some attribute his mode of communal living to thebarracks of theRoman Army in which Pachomios served as a young man.[9] Soon the Egyptian desert blossomed with monasteries, especially around Nitria (Wadi El Natrun), which was called the "Holy City". Estimates are that upwards of 50,000 monks lived in this area at any one time.[citation needed] Eremetism never died out though, but was reserved only for those advanced monks who had worked out their problems within a cenobitic monastery.[citation needed]
The life of prayer and communal living was one of rigorous schedules and self-sacrifice. Prayer was their work, and the Office prayers took up much of a monk's waking hours –Matins,Lauds,Prime,Terce, daily Mass,Sext,None,Vespers, andCompline. In between prayers, monks were allowed to sit in the cloister and work on their projects of writing, copying, or decorating books. These would have been assigned based on a monk's abilities and interests. The non-scholastic types were assigned to physical labour of varying degrees.[citation needed]
The main meal of the day took place around noon, often taken at arefectory table, and consisted of the most simple and bland foods e.g., poached fish, boiled oats. While they ate, scripture would be read from a pulpit above them. Since no other words were allowed to be spoken, monks developed communicative gestures. Abbots and notable guests were honoured with a seat at the high table, while everyone else sat perpendicular to that in the order of seniority. This practice remained when some monasteries became universities after the first millennium, and can still be seen atOxford University andCambridge University.[citation needed]
Monasteries were important contributors to the surrounding community. They were centres of intellectual progression and education. They welcomed aspiring priests to come and study and learn, allowing them even to challenge doctrine in dialogue with superiors. The earliest forms ofmusical notation are attributed to a monk namedNotker of St Gall, and was spread to musicians throughoutEurope by way of the interconnected monasteries. Since monasteries offered respite for wearypilgrim travellers, monks were obligated also to care for their injuries or emotional needs. Over time, lay people started to makepilgrimagesto monasteries instead of just using them as a stopover. By this time, they had sizeable libraries that attracted learned tourists. Families would donate a son in return for blessings. During theplagues, monks helped to till the fields and provide food for the sick.[citation needed]
A Warming House is a common part of amedieval monastery, where monks went to warm themselves. It was often the only room in the monastery where a fire was lit.[citation needed]
While in English mostmendicant Orders use the monastic terms of monastery orpriory, in theLatin languages, the term used by thefriars for their houses isconvent, from theLatinconventus, e.g., (Italian:convento) or (French:couvent), meaning "gathering place". TheFranciscans rarely use the term "monastery" at present, preferring to call their house a "friary".[citation needed]
In theEastern Orthodox Church andEastern Catholic Church, both monks and nuns follow a similarascetic discipline, and even theirreligious habit is the same (though nuns wear an extra veil, called theapostolnik). UnlikeRoman Catholic monasticism, the Eastern Orthodox do not have distinct religious orders, but a single monastic form throughout the Eastern Orthodox Church. Monastics, male or female, live away from the world, in order to pray for the world.
Monasteries vary from the very large to the very small. There are three types of monastic houses in the Eastern Orthodox Church:
Acenobium is a monastic community where monks live together, work together, and pray together, following the directions of an abbot and the elder monks. The concept of the cenobitic life is that when many men (or women) live together in a monastic context, like rocks with sharp edges, their "sharpness" becomes worn away and they become smooth and polished. The largest monasteries can hold many thousands of monks and are calledlavras. In the cenobium thedaily office, work and meals are all done in common.
Askete is a small monastic establishment that usually consist of one elder and two or three disciples. In the skete most prayer and work are done in private, coming together on Sundays andfeast days. Thus, skete life has elements of both solitude and community, and for this reason is called the "middle way".
Ahermit is a monk who practises asceticism but lives in solitude rather than in a monastic community.
One of the great centres of Eastern Orthodox monasticism isMount Athos inGreece, which, likeVatican City, is self-governing. It is located on an isolated peninsula approximately 20 miles (32 km) long and 5 miles (8.0 km) wide, and is administered by the heads of the 20 monasteries. Today the population of the Holy Mountain is around 2,200 men only and can only be visited by men with special permission granted by both the Greek government and the government of the Holy Mountain itself.[citation needed]
The monasteries of St. Macarius (Deir Abu Makaria) and St. Anthony (Deir Mar Antonios) are the oldest monasteries in the world and under the patronage of the Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church.[11]
The last years of the 18th century marked in the Christian Church the beginnings of growth of monasticism amongProtestant denominations. The center of this movement was in the United States and Canada beginning with theShaker Church, which was founded in England and then moved to the United States. In the 19th century many of these monastic societies were founded as Utopian communities based on the monastic model in many cases. Aside from the Shakers, there were theAmanna, theAnabaptists, and others. Many did allow marriage but most had a policy ofcelibacy and communal life in which members shared all things communally and disavowed personal ownership.
In the 19th-century monasticism was revived in theChurch of England, leading to the foundation of such institutions as theHouse of the Resurrection,Mirfield (Community of the Resurrection),Nashdom Abbey (Benedictine),Cleeve Priory (Community of the Glorious Ascension) andEwell Monastery (Cistercian),Benedictine orders,Franciscan orders and the Orders of the Holy Cross, Order of St. Helena. Other Protestant Christian denominations also engage in monasticism, particularly Lutherans in Europe and North America. For example, the Benedictine order of the Holy Cross at St Augustine's House in Michigan is a Lutheran order of monks and there are Lutheran religious communities in Sweden and Germany. In the 1960s, experimental monastic groups were formed in which both men and women were members of the same house and also were permitted to be married and have children – these were operated on a communal form.[citation needed]
In Hinduism, monks have existed for a long time, and with them, their respective monasteries, calledmathas. Important among them are the chatur-amnaya mathas established byAdi Shankara which formed the nodal centres of under whose guidance the ancient Order of Advaitin monks were re-organised under ten names of theDashanami Sampradaya.
Ramanuja heralded a new era in the world of Hinduism by reviving the lost faith in it and gave a firm doctrinal basis to theVishishtadvaita philosophy which had existed since time immemorial. He ensured the establishment of a number ofmathas of hisSri Vaishnava creed at different important centres of pilgrimage.
Islam discourages monasticism, which is referred to in the Quran as "an invention".[13][14] However, the term "Sufi" is applied to Muslim mystics who, as a means of achieving union with Allah, adopted ascetic practices including wearing a garment made of coarse wool called "sf".[15] The term "Sufism" comes from "sf" meaning the person, who wears "sf".[16] But in the course of time, Sufi has come to designate all Muslim believers in mystic union.[17]
Matthew Lewis' 1796 Gothic NovelThe Monk has as parts of its setting both a fictional monastery and nunnery in Spain at the time of theInquisition. Many have interpreted Lewis' novel as a critique ofCatholicism.[18]Jane Austen sets the latter half of her 1818 novelNorthanger Abbey in an out of use monastery, reflecting onHenry VIII's abolition of monasticism in England and the contemporary abolition of monasticism in France in the wake of theFrench Revolution.[19] Convents for female monastics, or nunneries, were often portrayed as punishments for women unable or unwilling to marry.[20]
In the 1880 novelThe Brothers Karamazov,Fyodor Dostoyevsky was heavily inspired by real-life accounts of Orthodox monasticism. Parts of the novel focus in particular on the controversy surrounding the institution of "elderhood" in Orthodox Monasticism. Dostoyevsky's understanding of the tradition of elderhood is taken largely fromLife of Elder Leonid of Optina by Father Kliment Zeder-gol'm, from which he quotes directly in chapter 5, book 1 of the Brother's Karamazov.[21]
.jpg)
_Entrance.jpg)
