Thomas Merton: “Contemplation cannot construct a new world by itself” cannot construct a new world by itself”
Thomas Merton, in the introduction to the Spanish language edition to his complete works: Contemplation cannot construct a new world by itself. Contemplation does not feed the hungry; it does not clothe the naked… and it does not return the sinner to peace, truth, and union with God. But without contemplation we cannot see what ...
Tolle on Collective Egos vs. Enlightened Collectives
How have the various monastic traditions embodied the two possibilities that Tolle writes about below? “How hard is it to live with yourself? One of the ways in which the ego attempts to escape the unsatisfactoriness of personal self hood is to enlarge and strengthen its sense of self by identifying with a group—a nation, ...
Alan Wallace on DharmaCafe.com: Renunciation as Emergence Out of X and Towards Y
In this excellent interview from dharmacafe.com (via @c4chaos), Alan Wallace says that what often gets translated from Buddhist texts as “renunciation” is something closer to “emergence,” as in when we emerge from childish strategies that don’t work toward something more authentic and fulfilling. It’s more than a radical disillusionment, like Sartre or Camus… They’re renouncing something, ...
Coming soon: “The Artists Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom”
From the author of the Monk Manifesto, Christine Valters Paintner. Pre-order yours today. Amazon.com: The Artists Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom 9781933495293: Christine Valters Paintner: Books
SHARE San Francisco
I’ll be here next weekend (May 7): SHARE San Francisco, Saturday, May 7th, Hub SoMa SHARE San Francisco is convening local leaders on Saturday May 7th for a day of connection, conversation, and action to strengthen the Bay Area as a platform for sharing. Why SHARE SF? Cities promise broad access to the resources citizens ...
5/5/11 in Berkeley: “Artmonk Sangha: the Bay Area’s Ritual Laboratory for Artmonks”
Based on practices that we have been developing at the January 2010 & 2011 Artmonk Retreats in the Mojave Desert, these weekly (or semi-weekly) meetups will provide an opportunity for anyone in the Bay Area who is interested to explore the path of the artmonk. DEFINITIONS: “Artmonk”: someone who dwells (alone or in community) at ...
The Monastic University
Is there room for monasteries on university campuses these days? More and more, I envision joining the work we’ve been doing at the Art Monastery Project to existing academic institutions. Imagine artmonks & postgrads, exploring the wide world of (secular/interfaith) monastic living together. Especially if you convinced them that being a monk didn’t have to ...
Rohan Gunatillake on the Social Life of Meditation
I just came across this video on the “Social life of Meditation” from Rohan Gunatillake of 21awake.com and the Here & Now Project. After wrapping up a series of posts on monastic separateness and engagement a few days ago, it’s great to see these issues confronted from a different perspective. Rohan identifies “four major ways in which meditation is ...
