I just got to thinking today - Hinduism and Buddhism have asceticism and monasticism, but they both believe in reincarnation generally, so a non-monk non-ascetic is motivated to support because someday you might get reincarnated and need to achieve salvation as a monk.

But with Christianity, you only got one shot at life, so does the peasant who sells bread to a monastery believe he has a lower chance at getting into heaven than the monks in the monastery? How does he (or the nobles that donate to the monastery) benefit in terms of personal salvation - how does the system that allows people to live ascetic lifestyles sustain itself theologically?

I know this is a religiously centered question, but as the various religious subreddits seem more oriented toward answering theological questions, I felt that /r/askhistorians might provide a better historical explanation.

Forgive me for being a bit lengthy with my question.

Regarding tonsure in Christian monasticism (mainly Western Christianity), why was the head shaved in the style that it was? Examples one, two, and three.

I know that in Buddhist monasticism, adherents shave their entire head (and apparently sometimes their eyebrows as well) not only for cleanliness, but to foster humility and weaken their own vanity.

Additionally, Hindus would shave their head either completely or would leave a patch of hair called a śikhā (seen here and here) to symbolize their one-pointed focus, religious devotion, and self-sacrifice (this used to be manditory for males, but is now seen mainly among celibate monks and temple priests). It is also believed that God (forgive me for not knowing the proper name of the god to which I am referring) could pull one to heaven, or at least out of this material world, by grabbing hold of the śikhā.

In the instances of Buddhism and Hinduism, the particular type of tonsure seems to serve a practical purpose in its design when viewed from the adherent's religious perspective.

I'm curious about the form of tonsure commonly associated with Christian monks (primarily those associated with Western forms of Christianity), like those in the examples that I posted above. I understand that tonsure served as a visible sign of one's status as a monk and of that one's devotion/submission to his God, but I'm wondering about the design itself.

Why was only the top of the head shaved, leaving the remaining hair to grow around the sides and back of the head? Is there a reason that this specific design/style became the norm?

I've recently gotten interested in the history of monasticism and how it interacted with secular society and I've often seen the claim that monasticism had a huge effect on keeping Europe stable after the fall of the Roman Empire. Is this true?

I'd also appreciate it if someone could recommend (a) book(s) that give a general overview of the movement. They're quite hard to find.

By Egyptian monasticism I mean anchorite desert ascetics the likes of Anthony and his followers, also cenobitic monks like Pachmoius etc. Periodization - 250-400 AC.

Pretty much Christianity is the only of the three that has a history of monasticism and asceticism. The only thing i can think of are the Nazirites in Judaism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monasticism#Buddhism

Buddhist monasticism was created around 5th century BC. There were already communalistic frugal monks before christianity.

A primarily anti-materialistic doctrine was taught by the gnostics, which predate christianity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnosticism#Origins

There seems to be an ideological connection between buddhism and gnosticism, which led some authors to think the latter was inspired by the former.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_and_Gnosticism

Similar notions to buddhism can be found in greek Orphism (5th or 6th century BC), in which there is a belief in a cycle of rebirth which has to be broken.

(http://www.hellenion.org/essays-on-hellenic-polytheism/reincarnation-an-orphic-perspective/)

Orphism shares common elements with pythagoreanism (6th century BC), a sect that could arguably be considered monastic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphism_(religion)#Pythagoreanism

It is said that Pythagoras learned the mysteries of Egypt. In fact, the bacchic mysteries took part in rituals in which they sought "enthusiasm"; the god within. Isn't this a likely precursor of christian mysticism, which sought union with god?

This question is prompted by this comment by /u/Oedium.

What lead to the strong presence of Monasticism both in everyday Christian life, but also in the church hierarchy in Eastern Christianity (or at least Byzantine Christianity) as compared to western traditions?

As far as I can tell, even after the Cluniac reforms, monasticism does not have the same level of presence or power within the western church hierarchy as in the east.

I have read two different authors drawing the line between the decline of Hellenistic learning in Late Antiquity and the rise of monastic tradition, especially in Eastern tradition (Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy). The assertion seems interesting, but what do you think about it? Does it really make sense?

Here I quote from Tirmingham's Christianity Among the Arabs (pp. 66-67),

> Constantine realized ... the way to neutralize Christianity was to patronize it. He followed his acceptance of the doctrinal formulation of Nicaea with the declaration that dissidents were scoundrels, enemies of the truth, whose works should be burned. This was a declaration of war on the freedom to interpret. While the Greek controversialists in fact became all the more bitter, Arameans and Copts abandoned any intellectual attempt to reconcile the conflict between the exoteric and esoteric elements in the Christian tradition in order to purse practical ways by which the false duality could be overcome, hence they called it "the Christian philosophy" and "to philosophize" meant "to pursue the monastic way".

And Judith Herrin in Formation of Christendom lays out that the popularity of monastic discipline in the West coincides with the lack of ancient learning (Greek's intellectualism) and vernacular translations. This is what I can find from my notes, btw, I don't have the book at the moment.

I'm really curious if any Late Antique/Christianity scholars can comment on this?

Sorry for my ignorance but I’m wondering how can I make Buddhism my official religion? Or is it a religion? Im currently a Christian (Roman Catholic) baptized when I was young and really had no choice. I have nothing against it or any other religion but I get to be more interested in Buddhism because of its teachings/way of life.

Muhammad seems like he wanted to draw as much as he could from Judaism and Christianity and there was some Arian/Nestorian monk who proclaimed a prophet in his youth. Why did Islam never adopt a monastic or ascetic tradition of its own?

This is my personal story. Besides the need to vent, I thought it might be useful to some who are struggling with the same issue.

I am a cradle Catholic, but only reverted from atheism three years ago. I first came back through the SSPX. Joining the full communion of the Catholic Church was a breath of fresh air, although I still only attended latin masses. From the beginning though, I had fallen in love with everything about Eastern Orthodoxy: the liturgy, the mystical and iconographic traditions, communion under both species, lives of saints, etc. Everything seemed more vivid and more faithful to the Church of the first millenium, than the tridentine Catholicism that got me in.

I became Orthodox because I didn't feel at home. I couldn't pick a side between those who wanted to erase the past, and those who fought for "tradition" while oblivious to the existence of an Eastern Christianity with many answers to their issues. And the polarization caused by the liturgy wars prevented me from seeing the middle path paved by Vatican II.

Then, things started going wrong. I slowly lost inner peace, my conscience wasn't on board. Going to church was great, but I could hardly sit down for lectio divina anymore. Receiving chrismation and taking another saint's name felt wrong, because it meant that some grace was fundamentally lacking in the Church where I came from, despite evidence to the contrary. I know many former Catholics who did the same and are perfectly at peace, but it just didn't work out for me.

Eventually I spent three months as a novice in a small Orthodox Monastery. It was a bad experience, mostly because the community acted like a parish, had very loose rules and no actual plan for the formation of novices (which is why they had so few), so I became my own spiritual father with bad results. Even the visiting bishop didn't seem to care about what was going on there. Now, I know that my experience doesn't represent Orthodox monasticism as a whole, but it helped me realize that there is nothing "magic" about any place of worship just because it happens to be in communion with "the true Church" : I have read a lot about hesychia in books, but so far I have only seen genuine hesychia in Benedictine monasteries.

I am back in the Catholic Church since december 8, thanks to Our Lady (for the second time) and to the spiritual father whom I had been praying God to give me. I found a new job and am starting next week. Glory to God!

This post isn't

There's a handful of us here (and in the other sub) who are interested in reassembling our theologies and practice in conversation with Gnostic Christian sources, but there isn't necessarily a lot of writing about how that intersects (or at least can intersect) with left-wing political theology. This post is intended as a handful of pointers in what are hopefully promising directions along such lines.

###anarchist directions

The Gnostics by Jacques Lacarrière - portrays Gnosticism as a precursor (in the theological register) of anarchism; as a radical "No" to the "world of injustice, violence, massacre, slavery, poverty, famine, and horrors patiently borne or savagely resisted"; as a critical and disenchanting solvent (because sober about the fundamental limitations of just about everything) of authoritarian theological and crypto-theological projects.

The Ecology of Freedom: The Emergence and Dissolution of Hierarchy by Murray Bookchin - also counts Gnosticism in its genealogy of anarchism.

The Resistance to Christianity: The Heresies at the Origins of the 18th Century by Raoul Vaneigem - portrays Gnostic schools, along with various other heterodox theological movements of Christian history, as so many nascent movements of alternative to (or rebellion against) firstly repressive Late Antique religio-political cultures, and secondly the nascent theological conservatism (also known as "orthodoxy") and hegemonic theopolitical ambitions of mainstream Christianity. Vaneigem here abhors Christianity to the point of being a Jesus-mythicist, but the Situationist analysis of Gnosticism is really unique and quite productive.

War and Revolution: The Hungarian anarchist movement in World War I and the Budapest Commune by Martyn Everett - briefly discusses how a "second strand of Hungarian anarchism coalesced around the figure of Jeno Henrik Schmitt, who advocated a form of Christian anarchism influenced by Gnosticism and Tolstoy’s book The Kingdom of God is Within You."

###communist directions

On Righteousness by Epiphanes, the sole surviving work of

Hello. I was an atheist, but this summer I changed my mind.
I began to believe in God again. I have been happy since I began to believe. Lately, however, I want to take a step forward - I want to become a monk. The problem is that I don't know how to become a monk. I'm thinking of graduating from seminary, but what happens next? I'm confused, this is my goal in life, this is my dream, if anyone knows, please explain.

Atonement with the Heavenly Father

It's important to understand the meaning of the duality of Father and Mother, and how these principles can be applied to spirituality.

The word "Father," coming from the latin root-word pater, shares this root with the word pattern. Heavenly, or "in Heaven," reiterates to the idea of the opposite to the Earth/material, thus something transcendent, immaterial and ungraspable.

As such, God as the Heavenly Father can be best understood in terms of being the great pattern of existence - the true manifestation of this transcendent intelligence that abounds within all things.

We can always recognize patterns. We understand they have a logic behind them. We can see how materiality falls in accord with pattern-like principles. But, the principles themselves, although transferrable in some cases, can never be fully grasped by us through our dialect. The best we can attempt is clumsily describing them.

This reminds me of a fundamental concept of Chinese thought, present in Taoism and Ch'an/Zen. As described by Alan Watts, we may divide the manifestations of the observable world in Li and Tse.

>Tse - is the order of things as measured or written down (i.e. codified by symbols/language, a representative sphere).
>
>Li - refers to "the markings in jade, the grain in wood, the fiber in muscle." These are the complex patterns that make up the natural expressions of existence. They are self-propelling, bound to some principle, able to be observed, but escape any formal linguistic classification, and can be pretty hard to artificially replicate.

Here i would propose a bridging of Christianity with the Chinese view of the Universe as an organism, where everything is interconnected into an impossible to explain natural system, with no controlling center or central authority, but with a great principle than can only be experienced in action - the Tao (Way) or Tian Tao (Way of the Heavens). (I've also proposed some scriptural parallels between Jesus and Lao Tzu here.)

Continuing with a more Taoistic perspective. We, then, are not so much outcasts from the spiritual existence, lost in a world of illusion, but are part of this greater unfathomable ever-manifesting . . . Tao (for lack of better term). And the source of sorrow and anguish, isn't so much a punishment for bad deeds, but t

PART 2: THE LONG AND TUMULTUOUS SHARED HISTORY OF ROMANCE AND GERMANIC NATIONS

This is Part 2-D-δ, the direct continuation of 2-D-γ, which you can find here: https://www.reddit.com/r/AttackOnRetards/comments/rbwshz/continuation_of_my_previous_posts_about_the/

2-D: THE OTHER ROMANCE AND GERMANIC NATIONS IN THE MIDDLE AGES

2-D-δ: MEDIEVAL ITALY (You can read more about it here)

The history of the Italian peninsula during the medieval period can be roughly defined as the time between the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and the Italian Renaissance. The term "Middle Ages" itself ultimately derives from the description of the period of "obscurity" in Italian history during the 9th to 11th centuries, the saeculum obscurum or "Dark Age" of the Roman papacy as seen from the perspective of the 14th to 15th century Italian Humanists.

Late Antiquity in Italy lingered on into the 7th century under the Ostrogothic Kingdom and the Byzantine Empire under the Justinian dynasty, the Byzantine Papacy until the mid 8th century. The "Middle Ages" proper begin as the Byzantine Empire was weakening under the pressure of the Muslim conquests, and most of the Exarchate of Ravenna finally fell under Lombard rule in 751.

https://preview.redd.it/c8c762tpsc581.png?width=3840&format=png&auto=webp&s=861436bc49c35828d1cb10572fc357fe5d1dd6fc

TRANSITION FROM LATE ANTIQUITY (6th to 8th centuries)

Italy was invaded by the Visigoths in the 5th centu

Did Jesus allow monasticism or was it an innovation by later Christian divines?

There are some (different forms of Christianity and Buddhism come to mind) religious traditions that have a form of monasticism. Does your religion have that or something equivalent? What is it like? How is it different from the non-monastic person's practice of your religion? What is your experience of it?

Hello friends.

I've always admired these kinds of lifestyles even as an atheist (I particularly romanticized monasticism). I know some don't necessarily apply solely to christianity but I was wondering how common these things are in modern christianity?

Do any of you follow some form or combination of these lifestyles/traditions?

It might be counterintuitive but are there any subreddits dedicated to these sorts of things? Especially in relation to christianity.

And if anyone can recommend any resources or links regarding this kinda stuff I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks and blessing.

Three Tier Question – Book Recommendations Please

Hello All! I'm a graduate student in theology studying patristic theologies. However, as I look ahead to my PhD I am considering moving forward in time a little bit and studying the medieval period, particular monks, monasteries, and intellectual history in Western Europe (especially especially British Isles, Ireland, Wales, etc.).

I am here for book recommendations. I have read lots on the subject, but mostly through the lens of philosophy and theology, and either way there is lots more to read I'm sure. What I'm looking for are books that handle three main topics:

1. Broader histories and information on the medieval period, especially in Western Europe/British Isles and surrounding areas. I'd like to get more well versed in the time period in general.

2. Those dealing with intellectual history and schools of thought in medieval period

3. Books dealing with monks/monasteries during the medieval period (including books about monks/monasteries and books by monks)

If you have any recommendations that would fit in one of these categories, I would be most appreciative.

Many thanks!