Desert Mosque

Tassili-N-Ajjer

Jeanne Tabachnick

Do you feel called to monastic life, but don’t fit into any of the belief systems of traditional monasteries?

Me too.

In Radical Spirit, Georg Buehler noted that there are no monasteries for open-minded, spiritual seekers of no particular religious tradition.

Why not? 

Surely other liberal, interfaith or no faith folks besides myself (and Bueler, presumably) are drawn to monastic community.  Yet we can’t just adopt one of the existing faiths as our own, willy nilly.

What are we to do?

The same suite of effective spiritual practices can be found among monastics of all traditions - Hindu, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, etc. Only two things vary: the world view within which each tradition explains the practices, and the weight put on one practice over another. 

If this is true, surely people could form a monastic community without a shared, religious tradition.

What would such a monastery look like?

Without a shared Rule or culture,

how would the monks find inspiration and guidance for the strenuous task of daily life in spiritual community?

Without ancient guidelines to balance personal power,

how would the monks stop themselves from devolving into a cult of personality?

How would the community be sure that each voice was equally heard - especially the least powerful or most critical?

Visit my blog for more thoughts on this topic and others.

Let me know what you think.

Monastery for People of

No Particular Religious Tradition