Academic scientists are unforgiving. There s no room for anything else in your life. I ve seen how these monks are so serious but find time for laughter. They ve shown me how to have balance in my life. Henrioulle may still go to graduate school someday, but she ll probably study something else, perhaps education.
Students participate in the monastic rhythm of study, contemplation and levity.
The students quickly scatter into specks on the high sandy ridges and let out childlike squeals as they jump, roll and slide down the mammoth dunes like children on a favorite sledding hill. They may not know it, but they are in the mystic mode. Indeed, contemplatives look at the world like a child does. The monk is not sophisticated. He is simple.