To be a monk is first of all to be a man. Like all men, monks are seeking the meaning of life and the fulfillment of their capacities. But there are differences. Monks have always believed that happiness is to be found within, in the depths of the heart. So monastics have always sought true happiness in the moral-mystical sphere of right conduct, deeper knowledge of, and union with Reality.
Monasticism is a very ancient human phenomenon.
It began in the East. There were Jain monks in India as early as the 2nd millenium before Christ. Brahmanism gave birth to many monastic movements. Buddha died in the first quarter of the 6th century B.C. and in subsequent generations his philosophy was embraced by Far Eastern peoples. In the Western world there was practically no develed monasticism before the Incarnation.