(46) Universal Monk

"The hermit, the sannyasi, freed from caste and family
responsibilities, is a sign of the Absolute for those still
bound to them, but he does not form the seed of a new
society; no spiritual community gathers around him. "
[Thomas Matus, O.S.B. (Cam), ASHRAM DIARY: IN INDIA
WITH BEDE GRIFFITHS, O Books, 2009. p. 47.]

Comment: Thomas Matus is a well known Camaldolese
hermit, whose community in Northern California is part of
the Benedictine Order. An author of a number of books,
he is also a noted musician and is devoted to yoga and
religious ecumenism. And, especially, he spent lots of
time, over a number of years, in India--with the late Fr.
Bede Griffiths, also a hermit, who established an ashram
devoted to the life of the sannyasi.

Frankly, the sannyasi--which is a kind of "universal" monk--
is a whole new territory for me, especially when considering
that some Benedictines have adopted this lifestyle. Yet,
Fr. Thomas does make mention that he still holds to his
Christian orientation. The late Wayne Teasdale, a lay monk,
also said the same. (See Post 30 in Benedictine Beacon.)

I don't know if I ever will move into the sannyasi territory,
but I do know the appeal it holds for me. And that is
being a "universal" monk. As a lay person, monastically
oriented, I felt guilt over decades because I marched to a
universal drummer rather than to a institutionally prescribed
drummer.

Perhaps on the fringe of the Benedictine world, I eventually
crawled away from my sense of guilt but nonetheless held
strong to Christ--even as his god imagery shifted into new
phases, as I continued to broaden my horizons.

Anyway, it is such a relief to discover a sense of Benedictine
"universality," whether by monks involved in religious
ecumenism, in depth psychology, in studying new forms of
theology and Christology, and even in comparative studies
that try to relate modern science theories with spirituality.
And now comes the sannyasi!

It's all about what I call the "Challenge of the New," or
sometimes the very old. I am always happy to find
Benedictines who are not afraid to be spiritual explorers.