MONASTICISM

an institutionalized religious movement whose members attempt to practice works that are above and beyond those required of both the laity and the spiritual leadership of their religions. Generally celibate and universally ascetic, the monastic individual separates himself or herself from general society either by living as a hermit or anchorite (religious recluse) or by joining a society of others who profess similar intentions. Although first applied to Christian groups, both Latin and Greek, the term monasticism is now used to denote similar, though not identical, practices in such religions as Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Taoism. an institutionalized religious movement whose members attempt to practice works that are above and beyond those required of both the laity and the spiritual leadership of their religions. Generally celibate and universally ascetic, the monastic individual separates himself or herself from general society either by living as a hermit or anchorite (religious recluse) or by joining a society of others who profess similar intentions. Although first applied to Christian groups, both Latin and Greek, the term monasticism is now used to denote similar, though not identical, practices in such religions as Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Taoism. The word monasticism is derived from the Greek monachos living alone, but the etymology indicates only one of the elements of monasticism as a force in history and society. The etymological method of arriving at an understanding of monasticism is, at any rate, misleading because a large section of the world's monastics live in cenobite (common life) communities. The term monasticism does, however, indicate what later became a socially and historically highly significant featurei.e., living alone in the sense of being unmarried or celibate, though this feature is not directly related to its etymology. Still, even this aspect of monasticism does not extend beyond the cultures and languages within which was formulated the religious terminology that originated in the eastern Mediterraneani.e., the Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions. In the Islamic world, terms that can be translated by monk, monastic, and similar words do not mean single in the Arabic and Persian terminologies as in the Greek. Other aspects (e.g., zuhd, asceticism) of the monastic life in Islam provided the etymological and definitional sets denoting monasticism. None of the many Indic (Sanskrit, Pali, Apabhramsa, Prakrit) terms for monk means single or living alone in these languages, although monastics within those traditionsBrahman-Hindu, Buddhist, and Jainado indeed live alone or in groupings that are set off from the rest of their societies, analogously to Jewish, Christian, and Islamic monastics. The etymologies of the Indian as well as of some of the Arabic and Persian terms connote poverty, certain ecstatic states of mind, dress conventions, and so on, while some (by historical rather than semantic connection) imply single, celibate living. Additional reading Walter Nigg, Warriors of God: The Great Religious Orders and Their Founders (1959; originally published in German, 1953), provides an excellent account of the inceptors of monastic traditions, with special reference to the paramilitary trends in early monastic attitudes. Religions of the East are treated in a number of works. Hindu monasticism is studied in J.N. Farquhar, The Fighting Ascetics of India (1925), a classic by default, as virtually no other works have been written since dealing exclusively with the military orders of Hindu India; and Agehananda Bharati, The Tantric Tradition (1965, reprinted 1977), and The Ochre Robe, 2nd ed. (1980), partly autobiographical, which analyze the official and the esoteric monastic traditions in Hinduism. P.S. Jaini, Sramanas: Their Conflict with Brahmanical Society, in Joseph Elder (ed.), Chapters in Indian Civilization, rev. ed., 2 vol. (1970), is an excellent short survey of the Jaina monastic tradition juxtaposed with the Hindu and Buddhist orders. Surveys of Buddhist monasticism are L. Austine Waddell, The Buddhism of Tibet, or, Lamaism (1895, reprinted as Buddhism & Lamaism of Tibet, 1985), a classic, by way of an overall view of lamaism; Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, The Training of the Zen Buddhist Monk (1934, reissued 1991), another classic, by a famous Zen scholar; Robert James Miller, Monasteries and Culture Change in Inner Mongolia (1959), an anthropological account of Buddhist monasticism in Mongolia (one of the only studies in English); E. Zrcher, The Buddhist Conquest of China, 2 vol. (1959, reprinted 1972), an excellent, learned study of Chinese monastic and lay Buddhism and its conflicts with the official Chinese culture; Sukumar Dutt, Buddhist Monks and Monasteries of India: Their History and Their Contribution to Indian Culture (1962, reissued 1988), a classic work relating the monastic tradition to the other cultural traditions of India; J.A. Niels Mulder, Monks, Merit, and Motivation, 2nd rev. ed. (1973), a report on monastic behaviour in contemporary South and Southeast Asian Buddhism; R.A.L.H. Gunawardana, Robe and Plough: Monasticism and Economic Interest in Early Medieval Sri Lanka (1979), an analysis of the role of monastic institutions in economic development in agrarian societies; J. Prip-Mller, Chinese Buddhist Monasteries, 3rd ed. (1982), examining the monastic ecology and discipline of the Chinese orders; Heinz Bechert and Richard Gombrich (eds.), The World of Buddhism: Buddhist Monks and Nuns in Society and Culture (1984, reissued 1991), using sociological method to examine Buddhist monasticism in both its male and female forms; David N. Gellner, Monk, Householder, and Tantric Priest: Newar Buddhism and Its Hierarchy of Ritual (1992), exploring the gradual transformation of world-renouncing Buddhist monks into Tantric priests closely integrated into Nepal's predominantly Hindu social order; and Robert E. Buswell, Jr., The Zen Monastic Experience: Buddhist Practice in Contemporary Korea (1992), which gives readers an inside look at a Korean Zen monastery and challenges Western stereotypes regarding Zen Buddhism. Other works on Eastern monasticism include John Campbell Oman, The Mystics, Ascetics, and Saints of India (1903, reprinted 1984), a classic work that is a fair account of the monastic situation in both ancient and contemporary India; and G.S. Ghurye, Indian Sadhus, 2nd ed. (1964), an English-language survey of the monastic situation in India.Religions of the West are also treated in a number of texts. E.E. Evans-Pritchard, The Sanusi of Cyrenaica (1949, reissued 1968), is an important anthropological study of a regional Sufi tradition. Christian monastic history is examined in J. Bruce Williamson (compiler), The History of the Temple, London, 2nd ed. (1925), an erudite historical account of the Templars; Norbert McMahon, The Story of the Hospitallers of St. John of God (1958), a history of monastic knightdom in the Crusade and post-Crusade eras; Owen Chadwick (ed.), Western Asceticism (1958, reprinted 1979), providing a good survey, especially of the Roman Catholic orders; Louis Bouyer et al., A History of Christian Spirituality, 3 vol. (196369, reprinted 1982; originally published in French, 1960), a comprehensive survey of monastic developments; David Knowles, Christian Monasticism (1969, reissued 1977), a good survey of the history of monasticism and religious orders; Karl Suso Frank, With Greater Liberty: A Short History of Christian Monasticism and Religious Orders, trans. by Joseph T. Lienhard (1993; originally published in German, 1975), with discussions of both Orthodox and Reformed forms of monasticism; John A. Nichols and Lillian Thomas Shank (eds.), Medieval Religious Women, 3 vol. (198492), a collection of scholarly essays focusing on this long-neglected area of monastic life; Bernard McGinn, John Meyendorff, and Jean Leclercq (eds.), Christian Spirituality: Origins to the Twelfth Century (1985); Jill Raitt, Bernard McGinn, and John Meyendorff (eds.), Christian Spirituality: High Middle Ages and Reformation (1987); Louis Dupr, Don E. Saliers, and John Meyendorff (eds.), Christian Spirituality: Post-Reformation and Modern (1989); and Marie Augusta Neal, From Nuns to Sisters: An Expanding Vocation (1990), exploring the changing character of Catholic women's religious orders. Agehananda Bharati The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica