(3) New Monk

As for St. Benedict, it wasn't as easy--at first.  Even in translation

his Rule seemed so strange to my mind.  It took some time to

realize that this great saint was writing for men at the cusp of the

Dark Ages in Europe, while at the same time the old Roman 

Empire was crumbling all around--and vandals were roaming

the countryside.  Talk about a tough situation, when civilization

was nearly lost and chaos was rising to a crescendo.  Those

first Benedictine monks were undoubtedly looking for some

sort of *stability.*  So it came as no surprise that Benedict's Rule

emphasized Stability in place.  His monks would spend their

entire life at the monastery,

I wondered aloud about the few traditional Benedictine monks

we know of today,  The answer was that not only does Time 

bring Change, but Change brings forth Tradition.  That left me

scratching my head.  Our novice master impressed upon us that

we need remember that since Benedict wrote his Rule some

fifteen-hundred years and more had passed.  The centuries saw

the return of civilization: the Renaissance, the Age of Reason, 

the Industrial Revolution, Modernity, High Technology, the

Information Age, Global Economics, Religious Pluralism, unto

our own Times moving steadily beyond the cusp on into the

Third Millennium.

Having lived through all this Time of Change, the Benedictine

Tradition adapted and survived throughout.  The Laity became

ever more involved, engaging the Benedictine Tradition in 

terms of spiritual development.  Hence the great pillars of this

tradition, such as Stability, Work and Prayer, the Love of Learning,

Apatheia, Hospitality, Meditation, Peace, Spiritual Practices such

as "Lectio Divina," and above everything, "To Seek God"--all

were transposed onto our modern experiences of life.  They 

were the pillars that led to what the traditional Benedictines called

"Conversatio Morum."

"Conversatio Morum" still remains a Latin term in the Benedictine

Tradition.  It was both a vow to reform one's life, conversion towards

a more Christ-like life, as well as to conform more and more into

the monastic life.  Lay people--who committed to the Benedictine

lifestyle the best their circumstances permitted--also considered

this Latin term as basic to their spiritual practice.  And during the

early genesis of the Millennial Monasteries, much that had been

learned from the years of lay experiments with the Benedictine

Tradition was transplanted into our own experimentation.

My novice year came to an end, and I was still exuberant

about becoming a Millennial monk and made my preliminary

commitment to the monastery community.  I took my monastic

name at this time, henceforth known as "Brother Benet."

Then we newly minted monks embarked on two more years

of training.  One year would be dedicated to Monastic Studies

at our monastery and a following year would be spent up at

Stanford University working towards a Master's Degree in

Religious Studies.

Our Monastic Studies program started with the long history of

Western Monasticism, eventually slipping into what was called

"Monastic Inter-Religious Dialogue."  This was about how diverse

monks from different religions and cultures came together and

learned from each other.  For example, Buddhist and Benedictine

monks began visiting one another's monasteries in the late 20th

century, and they benefited when it came to deeper prayer forms

and meditation techniques.  And in class we learned how this

period of diverse exchange impacted on the early founders of

our own Millennial Monastery organization.

As for our connection with Stanford, that was a pleasant surprise.

it was only a year-long program with no thesis required, though

there were research papers.  Also the students decided upon the

concentration of their studies, assisted by a tutor.  So before I

headed up to Palo Alto, to Stanford, I had to think seriously about

the course of study I wanted to pursue.

Talking this over with our Rector, Brother Philip, I examined how

I might firm-up a "focus."  I knew that I still wanted to work as an

architect, particularly in Environmental Design, but how in the

world could I work this intention into a Religious Studies program?

Brother Philip was very helpful.  He suggested that I might look

into studying the field of Eco-Theology.  But I knew that I wasn't

made out to be a theologian.  So we took another turn in our

conversations, and I found a small niche in Eco-Spirituality.

Following the Stanford program, I could teach this still fairly 

new approach to people now starting to attend our monastery

retreats.  Brother Philip felt strongly that by connecting Creation

more specifically with God's Action in the World and God's

intent for us as part of Creation, leads eventually to a greater

connectedness not only to the planet but to the other life forms

that share our Earth Home.

As for my being an architect, Brother Philip said that he also

had some thoughts about this that he would share with me

after I completed the Stanford program.