Creating a Monastic order to live in for a month

[thelerner]

Actually make that a week add on> and make that Monastic rules, not order, other then in a possibly entertaining mythic sense.  I was thinking of how I'd create a monastic order of my own design.  The rules and regulations..  When they (I'd) get up, what would be eaten, what meditations and prayers done.  What the belief system would be.  Create it and live in it for a week. 

 

Some members here are already pretty monkly.  I admire the discipline inherent in the monastic life; I could read about it all day.  Yet that is the discipline, the life hack that would do me some good.  I just signed up for 6 course craft beer dinner (it benefits charity), very decadent, feeding a very animalistic side of myself. 

 

I could use a week to counter balance it.  Strictness, simplicity, discipline, spirituality.  I'll use this thread to write down some ideas of Monastery ala Michael (Humanist Divinity Order). 

 

I'm hoping others will write down some thoughts and ideas too.  What kind of monkish order, schedules and disciplines they think would make it a worth while week. 

Edited November 12, 2015 by thelerner

[Marblehead]

I have a thought:

 

Doing so would blow my living spontaneously totally out of the water.

 

I'll pass.

[thelerner]

I have a thought:

Doing so would blow my living spontaneously totally out of the water.

I'll pass.

Just what I thought a decadent Westerner would say .  Yet essentially correct.  Its about setting up a highly controlled and scheduled environment for a week. 

[Miffymog]

After I'd gone on a couple of week long silent retreats with other people I decided to do one 'myself'. Get up early and meditate a lot. In the end, I didn't enjoy it I'm afraid. There a few challenges doing this, such as keeping up motivation and encountering personal issues that are best dealt with in the company of others. If you can't do a group retreat, maybe just try it for 24 - 48 hours first, or do week, but a very 'gentle' version. I found the idea of it better than the experience, sorry if I've put you off slightly. I'm sure there are others here who have quite committed solo practices and gain a great deal from it.

[liminal_luke]

I love the idea of a self-retreat. Some ideas...

 

(1) Silence. Or even near silence. Just limiting yourself to essential conversation (like during a vipassana retreat) goes a long way towards creating a meditative atmosphere.

 

(2) Disconnect from technology. No phone. No internet. No TV.

 

(3) Do it in nature. You could go camping alone. Rent a cabin in the woods. Even a hotel room in a quiet coastal town where there´s nothing to do but listen to the ocean might work.

 

Even if you leave everything else loose, not committing yourself to adhering yourself to a meditation schedule etc, just these three things could go along way.

 

Liminal

Edited November 11, 2015 by liminal_luke

[seekingbuddha]

I encourage you try,  but  do not get disheartened if you don't  meet 100%  of your goals the first time around.  I have conducted many self-retreats in my own home and Iiminal  has  made some good observations.   Choosing a location sets the tone, nature being the best place to conduct this.  Degree of  success  depends  on your motivation and perseverance  ability.  To the preceding post, i would add

1. Seclusion  (from society if possible.  If at home,  try to seclude from others as much as possible)
2. A bit of  yoga  or  qi-gong  to refresh yourself, when you get bored/tired of  meditation all day long
3. Restriction on food - as little as possible (once a day), vegetarian  (or fruits only diet). This makes for sharp mind.
4. Sleep short hours, whenever body needs (2 or 3 times a day),  but get out of bed as soon as you wakeup.
5. Do not push yourself, in meditation  but at the same time  remember the 5 hinderances 
6. Drink plenty of water (at least 10 cups a day, if not more)
7. Get sunlight (especially  the sunrise and sunset hour)
8. Walk a bit,  practicing walking meditation
9. Read  direct teachings of the Enlightened ones, not  spiritual fluff.  I try to avoid reading during retreats, but this can help  in directing the mind the right way.
10. Do not be disheartened if things don't  work out as planned.  Repeat  the attempt again when possible.

I have successfully used  ear plugs and eye shades to get "silence"  within my home (even though it is silent neighbourhood).

[Gerard]

I'm hoping others will write down some thoughts and ideas too.  What kind of monkish order, schedules and disciplines they think would make it a worth while week. 

 

My ideas for you:

 

Taoist but not monastic. No rituals, only pay respect to ancestors from time to time as a sign of respect for all the hardships they had to endure and their legacy for future generations.

 

Disciplines: it's obvious,a  place to purify the mind and get in tune with the laws of Nature (seasonal changes, 5 elements, yin & yang, bagua, etc.)

 

Schedule: practice 24/7 and wandering from time to time according to the movements of the celestial bodies and seasonal changes and yearly changes [fire horse year (2026) move north and close to running water to cool down the greatest Yang; excess metal, move south; excess wood, move west and so forth...these changes will vary according to the practitioner's date of birth, i.e. someone born in the year of the rat will benefit from a southern location]. Wandering would vary: could be a week, a month or one year away from the centre.

 

........................................

 

Good you opened this thread, the timing is right, I am about to renounce mainstream society.

 

My dream-project: Have the funds to open a small spiritual (no New Age just hardcore practice) centre deep in the mountains in a valley with plenty of running water and surrounded by mountains, or alternatively in a mountain facing the sea. Either location is good.

 

Place: China. I wonder what's the Chinese Gov. like when it comes to open a centre run by foreigners, are they open?

 

Examples:

 

 

Lao Shan

 

Note: I like the spirit of the dog guarding the mountain, a Fu dog, very auspicious and great Feng Shui. No wonder why that place is sacred to Dragon Fate Taoists. Wonderful location for stay and practice!

 

 

Mount Siguniang

 

 

Rules: stated above but no females though (unfortunately) for obvious reasons; nothing to do with sexism or discrimination of any kind.

 

Rituals: stated above

 

Diet: vegetarian.

 

This is my dream, anyone welcome to join but for good, no short stay as this would be a place for serious practice away from the world.

 

 

Anyway, if anyone has plans to open a centre, I'm keen to join and will teach Baguazhang to the highest level.

 

Best!

 

Thanks again.

Edited November 11, 2015 by Gerard

[seekingbuddha]

Why  china ? You could do this right here in US,  where natural beauty abounds.  Have you thought about basic things necessary to  run a  retreat center like you dream of  ?  Water supply,  food supply,  medical emergencies, accessibility for people to get in and out etc ?  Life  could get real  harsh  in remote areas.   I remember watching this  show called  "Life below zero",  which shows  solitude  life  in Arctic  region.  

 

Going back to the original  topic - one week  (one month is even better)  of  24x7  practice  is very powerful,  even within the confines  of  society.  It  works  great,  if one lives alone or  has a partner  who would understand and cooperate for a week of silence in the home.  We work so hard in society  so that we have money to seek out  sensual pleasures,  without  understanding these  sensual  pleasures  are  a never ending evil in life.  A week of  solitude and silence becomes  more  feasible  for the multitude,  mostly  upon retirement.    

[shanlung]

I'm hoping others will write down some thoughts and ideas too.  What kind of monkish order, schedules and disciplines they think would make it a worth while week. 

 

 

I have been living a kind of monkish existence over the last 6-7 weeks.

With about 3-4 hours daily getting into Chinese and Chinese thoughts and an extent even more then when I was Taiwan living and breathing there.  I guess the absence of my beautiful Chinese tutors helped a lot.

 

Whatever regime one choses , and for long term, must be at least pleasurable.  Even if the goals are lofty, those goals along will never be incentive enough if done day after day after day.  Not even for eternity, but even for just a week.

 

Just like in running, if you do intend to continue on at it, you measure either the distance that you run or the time that you taken in the running.  I was told that you never do both of that together if you like to maintain the pleasure of running.

 

I did not measure the number of Chinese characters read to me with me reading them simultaneously.

I did not even kept a constant time , other than between 3-4 hours.  And even then, never at one single stretch which will be like doing something with wet coarse grit and sand.

 

Of course, in between those 3-4 hours, there will be enough time to drink when thirsty and eat when hungry among other things.  Enough wuwei time to be as tse run as can be in reading other books and playing chess and seeing movies and having nice dinners with friends and entertaining the wife and the cat and smelling the roses now and then.  (heck!  I am back in retirement in case you forgot)

 

As in the time when I focused on my taijichuan and did 4 odd hours daily on my taijichuan on my own for about 7 to 8 months with another 90 minutes with my Masters.  Enough time between that to go to bars, or to tea houses , or to walk on the mountains and get deeper into chinese with my chinese tutors as much and as best as I could.

 

Of course, being the Idiot I might got it all wrong.

 

 

 

Taoistic Idiot adhering to being wuwei and tzerun in between periods of focusing.