And music in his ears his beating heart did make.
I like the idea of monks. I think that, had I lived 600 years ago, I would have been some kind of cloistered monk. I probably would have enjoyed illuminating books or inventing champagne* or something.
I don’t mean the tonsure or the cassock or any of the religious stuff, really. What I mean is the removal of oneself from the world. Going away from everything, using as little energy as possible to keep oneself alive, and using absolutely the rest of your energy in the service of some greater good. The problem I have with being a real monk, of course, is that what they do with all that extra energy is pray. I don’t feel like praying actually does anybody any good except for, maybe in some cases, the person praying.
So what I think would be a good idea is some kind of secular monk association. It would be similar in a lot of ways to the religious monks: people would join up, either for their whole lives or maybe just for a certain number of years. While in the organization, they would have no possessions and would do nothing apart from the least possible work to keep themselves alive and comfortable and maintain the physical plant of the organization, and the rest of their time would be spent doing their work. As to what exactly they’d do, I’m not sure; nor am I sure how money would be handled. The work would have to be something which produced a result which directly improved the lot of the world. The result should probably be usable to fund the existence of the monastery as well.
Imagine groups of purely dedicated people working essentially non-stop on some medical problem, and their solution being released to the world free of charge. Imagine how much more work could be done by a group of people so purely focused,without having to worry about their family or their commute or mowing the lawn or paying rent. I think it’d be a good thing.
[*] And yes, I know that Mr. Pérignon probably didn’t really invent champagne, per se. However, I’m confident that, had I been a live at the right time, we’d all be drinking Dom Avignon ever New Year’s Eve.
Do you think monks wear pants under their cassock? If no, bonus!