Monastic life and the organization which encouraged such a life precedes Christianity. In Hinduism, for example, isolated caves, mountain tops and ashrams have been home for religious men, either singly or in groups. Here they practice their arduous yogic and meditative prayers so as to experience samahdi: that state of superconscious awareness of identity with God. A Zen Buddhist enters a monastery for the same reason: to see and experience his highest reality, the truth of his own being, within the structure of the monastery. In early Judaism, the monks of Qumran lied in devoted consciousness of Old Testament prophecy. Christianity (specifically--but not exclusively--Catholicism) has the same, centuries-old tradition: the monk's aim is to live out his faith according to the sample and Gospel of Christ, to join in mysterious union with him.
- Marsha Sinetar, Ordinary People as Monks and Mystics, p 26.
- Marsha Sinetar, Ordinary People as Monks and Mystics, p 26.
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