20.0507-1902 James' brother was a monk in a monastery

@24.0229-0917.09 by Atx

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One of James’s brothers was a monk in an urban monastery near Los Angeles. James had, in his earlier days, seriously considered becoming a monk, himself. He researched a number of monastic orders as possible candidates and experienced one of them as a postulate for several months. It never quite happened.

I.e. James knows a bit about #monasticism. This could set the stage for a conversation about how one becomes a monk. Does it have to be aligned to a church or organization? Involves ordination which you can do yourself by attaining some level of authority in a related practice. == it’s a Practice! -->

Dear Marla,

Somehow we got talking about how the Hahnestery was named beecause of it's isloation and how it affects the people who live here.

James took a swig from his beer and said, "My brother was a grunt in Viet Nam, and it really messed him up. After the war he spent a few years in a monastery near Los Angeles trying to find himself."

Another swig of beer.

"He taught me to meditate. The concept is easy to understand but not easy to do. It's not an instant gratification thing. Apparently, the real benefits are subtle and take a while to manifest. I never got that far. It did seem to help my brother, though. He had his head back on pretty straight when he left the place."

"Do you meditate now," I asked.

A look of mild embarassment came over him. "No, not really. At least, not the formal, sitting-crosslegged-on-the-floor kind. I did that in spurts for a few years, but not long enough for it to become a focus of my priorities. My life was too turbulent and evolving back then to give it a serious priority. I got a bit of a taste of it, though. Looking back, I regret not getting into it. Now that my life is not turbulent, my addled, elderly mind cannot sustain the concentration needed."

"What's it like," I asked?

He closed his eyes and said, "I can still sit in a chair, close my eyes, try to focus on my breathing and will my my body to relax for a few minutes at a time. I can actually feel my metabolism drop as my body relaxes and sinks "backward" into the chair for a minute or two. Then it's gone and my eyes become wide-awake open then.

He scrunched up his nose, "Well, like I said, I didn't get far enough into it to really have an opinion. I did feel some of the relaxation they always talk about when this question is asked. I think George, my brother, medidtated daily right up until he died about ten years ago. When I asked him what was so good about it, he'd say that he didn't know, but there must be something, because he was still doing it.

... . hr>.

I've never been a religious person. I used to think that "spirituality" was about "God" and religious stuff,

"The first thing to understand," offered Lorraine,"is that everyone has their own definition of the word. If