The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-04-29
SOMK n Books.
Monks and IIonasteries.

W III 8hDos W. '"'t
mediate authorities 10 whom he is mainly In
dsbtsd for his data. he has strlven TO avoiC
the errors into which one Is apt To fall from
tho use of such means Of Information Wha'
he has attempted to do Is to present the salient
features Of the subject so far a. they are essen
Val to q proper conception Of the orderly eyolu-
ton Of the ascetio ideal, To understand mon
astclsm one must not only study tho isolated
snchorite seeking n victory over a sinful sell
In the Egyptian desert. or the monk In the
secluded clolster. but he must also trace the
fortunes of ascetio organizations involving
multtudes OF men. vast aggregauons Of wealth
and surviving the rise and fall of empires
Within the scope Of such an inquiry. almoste every
phase Of human life Is encountered Attention
10 divided between hermits. beggars. mission
cries. professors. diplomatists, statesmen and
pontlrs.
The first seventy pages OF this volume are
slotted to a review OF mouasticism in the Fast.
By soIns Investigators, India Ia thought to be
the birthplace OF the institution. Ia the sacred
writings of the Hindoos, portions Of which have
boon dated as far back rs 2400 Il. C., there are
numerous legends about holy monks and many
ssoetio rules. Although based on opposite
philosophical principles, the earlier Brahnin-
ism and the later system, Buddhism, each
tended toward ascctic practices, and they
each boast to-day of long-dpscended orders
OF monks and nuns. The Brahmin aScetic.
or Gymnosophist naked philosopher. as the
Greeks called him, exhausted his Imagination
In devising schemes of self-torture. he buried
himself with his nose lust above the ground.
or wore an iron collar, or suspended weights
from his body. Capable Of almost super
human endurance. ha clenched his fists until
the nails grew into his palms. or kept his head
turned In one direction until he was unable
to turn IL back. lie WAS n miracle-worker,
an oracle OF wisdom and an honored saint.
We shall meet him again in the person Of his
Christian descendant on the banks of the Nile,
The Buddhist ascetic was less rigorous than the
Gymnosophist in the toriuring of his body,
but he was actuated by the same selfish indi-
vidualism. to wit: q desire 10 save his own soul
by slavfsh obedience to asCetiCrnles. The main
fact to be- remembered is that in India many
centuries before the Christian era there existed
both phases of Christian monaSticism. namely.
the hermit and the crowded convent.
Long before Father Bury, the Portuguese
missionary, first saw in the sixteenth CEN
fury Chinese Buddhist BONES torturing
themselves and using ~rosaries, there had
existed in India n Grand Lama. or head monk,
with monasteries under him, filed with monks
who kept the three vows Of chastity, poverty
and obedience. They had their routine of
prayers. OF fasts and o. labors like the Christian
monks of the Middle Ages.
Even among the Greeks, not n few philoso-
pliers had taught asce,ic principles. 1t is
Upall knntvn TINT pvthauoroo kprp about Es0 "a =
established a religious brotherhood, the rule.
OF which provided for u rigorous self-ex ANNA
ton and unquest!oninG submission to n master,
il has been asserted that the influence Of the
Pythagorean philosophy was strongly felt in
Egypt and In Palestine after the time Of Christ.
Certain 1t Is that more than two thousand
years before ~lgnatius Loyola formed the
nucleus of his great society within his sub
terranean chapel in the city Of Paris, there
was founded at Crotona in Greece an order
Of monks whose principles. constitution. aims
and methods entitla them TO be called the pagan
Jesuits, Tho teachings Of Plato. also. must
have had. under certain social conditions,
q powerful influence upon those who
yearned for victory over the flesh. Plato
strongly insisted on an ideal life In which higher
pleasures should be preferred to lower. Earthly
tlOuRllS anu dI1Dltlbls were 10 give 1llGh 10
q holy communion with the Divine. 1t is easy
to forecast the effect Of such a philosophy in
times Of general corruption upon those who
wished to acquire exceptional moral and intel
lectual powers, yet who felt unable TO cope with
the temptations OF social life. II would lead, In
many cases. to a retreat from the world, 10 a
life OF meditation. As We approach Christianity
more closely In time andi in teaching, We encoun-
ter the Jewish sect NJ the Essences, which ex-
hibits remarkable rcscmblances to Christian
monasticism. The sect Is described by Philo,
the Alexandrian Jewish philosopher, who was
born about % b. G., and by Josephus. the Jewish
historian, who was born at Jerusalem, A. d. 81.
The Essences stood outside of the Jewish ecClc-
siastical body: they were bound by strict VOWS,
and professed extraordinary purity. They
avoided cities as centres Of immortality. and,
with some exceptions. they eschewcd marriage.
They held aloof from traffic, oaths, slavchold-
ing and weapons of offence. They were strict
observers of the Sabbath. wore n uniform robe,
possessed all things in common, engaged in
manual labor, abstalned from forbidden food,
and. apparently. rejected the bloody sacrifices
OF the temple, although they continued 10 send
thither thank-oiferings Novitiates were kept
on probation three years. The ~strictest dis
cipline was enjoiaed; oxcommunication fol-
lowing detection in heinous sin. Evidently
the STANDARD of character was pure and lofty.
Their frugal food, simple habits and love of
cleanliness, combined with a regard for ethical
principles, oonduced to a high type Of hfe.
Philo says: "Of philosophy. the dialectical
department. as being in no wise necessary for
the acquisition of virtue. the Essences abandoned
10 the word-catchers and, the part which treats
OF the nature OF things, as being beyond human
grasp. they leave TO speculative air-gazers
with the exception OF that section of 1t which
deals with the subsistence of God and the genesis
Of all things: the ethical part of philosophy,
on the contrary. they right well work out"
Pliny the elder, who lived A. D.. 1919, made the
following reference 10 tho Esscnes;
ION the western shore of the Dead Sea, but
distant from 1t far enough to escape from its
noxious breezcs, dwell the Essences. They are
an Eremite clan, a clan marvellous beyond
any other In the world; without any women.
with sexual intercourse entirely given lp.
without money and tho associates Of palm
trees. Daily Is the thronS Of those that press
about them renewed. mon resorting to them
In numbers, impelled through WEAKNESS of
existence and tho surges OF III fortune TO their
manner OF life. Thus it is that, through thou
sands of ages-incredible TO rclatc,-thpir
society into which no ono is born lives
on perennially. SO fruitful to them is
the irksomeness Of life experienced by
other men," As q rule. admission to tho
sgder was granted only TO adults, yet
children were sometimes adopted for trimming