The New Camaldoli Audio Archive | New Camaldoli Hermitage

May 3rd, 1983, Serial No. 00374

Given by Bruno Barnhart on May 3rd, 1983

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Serial:

NC-00374

Description:

Monastic Spirituality Set 11 of 12

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#item-set-076

Transcript:

First, remember, we're going through the history of monasticism, and now we're in the history of monasticism in the West, and we've got as far as the 11th century, and a very important movement of reform that happened in the 11th century, and which, according to Heru, carried right down to the present age, that is, it is still under the influence of it. Now, in all of this, history can be very dry, or history can be the most exciting thing in the world, because if you see yourself moving with that same movement of history, then it becomes important to you. If you begin to understand the shape of your own life, and the way that things are happening now, as the same shape, the same movement that you find in the history of these other ages, then it becomes very interesting for you. So there is, I believe, a kind of shape in it, and you can begin to intuit the shape of it, and you find that the shape is the same now as it was then. So the lines that we're reading about there run right through our own hearts all the time. It's the same

[01:06]

movement. I'm not just talking about the Gregorian form, the 11th century, I'm talking about all of this. So it's good to be looking all the time for the deeper movements behind the history that you're reading. Now, the trouble with the approach that we're using now, the trouble with the approach that I use, is that I don't know enough about it to know. I don't know enough about history. If you get to read the story, then you won't be able to see the forest or the trees, but if I'm doing it, the trouble is I don't know enough about the forest. So I give you general lines, and you've got to confirm those yourself and see whether they're right or whether they're wrong as you go on and on reading. But that way, at least we get to the questions quicker than if we had to plow through all the material. We don't have time to go through all of the detailed history that's for people to do on their own. But what I would recommend is that you try to color it kind of in a historical

[02:06]

sense. An interest in history and a kind of continual mulling over things in the light of history, not to exclude that from your thinking. A lot of times people have, especially monks. And when we originally, when we have a conversion experience, we don't have a historical point of view usually. In other words, we see everything as one. And then for a long time afterwards, we will continue to see the whole of our tradition as just being one thing that we disguised ourselves for. But then after a while, the air clears a little bit, and we begin to differentiate. We begin to see different movements. We begin to see the better and the worse at times when there's more vigorous spiritual life than there was. We begin to pick out also in our lifetime the better and the worse. We begin to see more clearly the distinction. And then this sense of history begins to return. We see that some movements are very perfect. Some times on the screen, some places in history, some events are very perfect. And some of them are the worst ones. And we begin to see

[03:10]

more. Let's review a bit before we go on. The periods that we looked at were first the Solitaries of the Desert, of course. It's our thesis that that's where monasticism began. Then Procomius and the Synodians, then St. Basil, the common life, the connection of the world, who plays the role of monastic life. St. Augustine, Cassius, the rule of St. Benedict is very decisive for us as it sets the West on its way. Then that reform in the time of Charlemagne and his successors in Benedict XIII, when the whole of Europe was subjected to the rule of Benjamin. Then the movement of Cronin and its enormous monastic pyramid, monastic empire. And that particular kind of monolithic, medieval monasticism, which for some people the image of monasticism never sets. If you ask some people what monasticism is, they immediately think of a big monastery, a whole troop of monks and gals. A lot of that comes

[04:15]

from the 19th century. And the people who tried to revive monasticism after the disasters of the French Revolution, the time of Napoleon, Procurius, Procurius, Prussian, they look back to that time and go, well, because it was a time when the Church seemed to be triumphant. And when that great image of monasticism corresponded with the great Procurius of the Church. But we have to be careful of that, because I don't think it's accurate to be certain that it was the original creation of monasticism. In fact, perhaps it's not the best way to understand it. Then the decline, well, the general decline of the biblical reformers. In the 11th century the Gregorian reform of the Church and the monastic reform that accompanied it and was part of it stimulated it. And there we have St. Andrew, Peter, Peter and James, as a monopoly

[05:17]

in front of the monarchy. All of the similar movements that happened at that time. A return to the early medical life and putting monasticism on a basis that goes back to the time that we live in today, the desert part of it. Then we have a very complex time, which we'll get into in a moment, where the other religious orders were included. And this often is a screen for us, which blinds us to the unity of the tradition. In other words, we don't see how the history fits together. We think that the Dominican included someone else amongst us, but we don't realize their relationship with the Church. And they don't realize their relationship with the world. And really we're all part of the same stream. Now we'll follow that, maybe in a little more detail than I originally expected, because it turns out to be very interesting. If you read Knowles's book, there's very little in this, he's only talking about the history of monasticism,

[06:20]

but that's too small of an explanation. If you read Knowles's little book, there's much literature in this. Actually, I put it off reading it, because I didn't want to get interested in monasticism. And you do read it, it's quite fascinating, because the way that you see the shape of history, what's happened, a very simple thing is happening here. And it's our question. Let's see how that works as we go along. I had a theory this morning, so I'll make a diagram. Remember, since the 11th century we have a new phase, the arising of these new orders, a kind of reconquest of pluralism as we'll refer to it. At the end, when we finish with this, we'll go back to this summary. And one of the basic questions that it brings up is the question of the relation of the church to the world. Because you start with a little bit, you start with a little Christianity which is like a baby in the world, which has everything inside of it, very mature and very

[07:24]

small at the same time. And then gradually it expands. It's always the question of how the church is going to live as it expands, as it grows out into the world. It's very simple. And then the other thing is the relationship of life to structure, the relationship of just the vitality, which is the inner life of the church, and everything that that means, to the structures that are created in order to support it, in order to correct it. Questioner asks a question inaudible.

[08:53]