The interests of
Monks
Clarissa Trevino
12/4/2012
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Clarissa Trevino
English 1301.201
Fall 2012
Felicia Dziadek
The Interest of Monks
“The word monk comes from the Greek meaning something or someone who is alone
(monos 'alone'). In the Greek world, the term monk came to mean an ascetic who lived alone
away from the world. Frequently the monks, although living alone, would gather in the same
area. It was these solitary monks whom the Egyptian Pachomius brought together into one
place. The place where all the once solitary monks now lived with one another is called a
monastery” (Gill). The monk religion has been around for decades, and will continue to stay a
strong religion for many more to come. One who becomes a Monk devotes their life to prayer.
The history behind Monks
The history behind this religion is extremely interesting, but when it comes to the myths
or stereotypes that our society has come up with, they are nowhere near the truth. One myth
in particular that came about while researching was how one, who is a monk, wears sandals
everywhere. That is in fact false; it is common for Monks to wear sandals just as common as it is
for anyone else to wear them. They don’t just walk around in shoes such as Converse, Sperry’s,
or Vans, they wear more of a modern style shoe such as a laced boot for example. Some may
just not wear shoes at all, depending on the preference or while meditating.
These stereotypes are what attracted me to this topic in the first place. I thought it was
neat to learn more about a different religion that calls for shaving your head; I also thought it
was very unique. But not all monks shave their heads; there are certain monks who go without
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Felicia Dziadek
the shaving of the head. Shaving your head depends on what sort of monk you are. It is in fact
common for one to have short hair.
While men in this discourse community are called monks, women are known as nuns.
There are some who are women monks but it is rare, they are mostly nuns. It’s the same
concept, but one is female and one is male. They both have the same beliefs as each other
depending on what religion, but when it comes to the hair women have theirs covered with a
veil. The veil covers all of the hair leaving nothing but the face revealed. Nuns are more
common to see out in public than monks are. They live in monasteries with monks, and can also
live in churches depending on the religion.
The discourse community for Monks is a lot different than a normal discourse
community of non- Monks. Also it varies as the religion changes, but for the most part it is all
the same. The language, the rules, the vow to keep silent, community, even the attire of this
discourse community is different. Some might question why one vows to keep silent for so long,
or maybe why they stay silent in the first place? Why do they wear those robes and not regular
clothes? Monks have commonly been stereotyped to look like something most monks don’t
look like. They look like normal people instead, yes they wear robes but not all monks shave
their heads.
In this discourse community you must be disciplined enough to do the things they do.
Along with meditating and prayer for long periods of time, you have to take the time from our
world and society to see the more important things in life. A vow of silence for us who aren’t
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use to keeping silent for more than a few minutes is hard. It is hard for anyone to accomplish,
and to do it for years is something truly amazing. I myself respect them for doing such a hard
task such as keeping quiet for such a long period of time. They meditate for hours a day, and
community they live in is such a peaceful environment. It takes a lot for one to spend hours a
day in one place, with the mindset to meditate. It is not easy, and only a few can actually do
that.
Living in a monastery can be life changing, they take in the homeless and give them
shelter and food. It’s a place you can learn things such as the meaning of life, love, and help
others. It’s a place where one can be calm and peaceful, because everything around there is
nothing but peace. During one of my interviews it was said that it was nice living there, only
because it is separated from the real world and all the chaos that’s happening right now such as
the presidency, money, work etc.
Facts you may not have known before
Here are just a few facts you might have not known before. The first clocks made in the
medieval England were worked on by monks. The history of monks can go on and on, but we
can only know so much. Some Monks can only give certain amount of information. I found in
my research in the article “Isan Dharma Letters: Conserving and Applying the Letters for the
Pedagogical System of Phra Pariyatti Dharma Schools-The Divisions of General Education in Isan
Region” , written by Chaiyanan, Phra Maha Chinda, Phisit Bunchai, and Sitthisak Champadaeng,
which consisted of information about the ancient letters which are stories about the history on
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Felicia Dziadek
Buddhist monks. The purposes for these studies; investigating the backgrounds, two being ways
to conserve, three to investigate the patterns. The article goes further on about the letters and
how they help us become more aware of what was happening and how it was all happening
involving the monks in previous years (Chaiyanan).
The monasteries play a big role in this discourse community itself. “Monasteries usually
consist of main prayer hall, dormitories, a library, schoolrooms, rooms for Buddha statues and
religious objects and a crematorium” Not all monasteries are the same, but most of them are
set up this way. “The monks sleep in small austere rooms or dormitories and meditate inside
rooms, sometimes filled with smoke from candles and incense burners, and chant in low
moaning voices to the rhythm of stick striking an instrument that looks like a wooden cowbell”
(Hays).
An interesting topic I encountered while researching was about the burning monk. It
was an interview held between Patrick Witty, and Malcolm Browne. The question that started
the interview was asked by Patrick Witty, “What was happening in Vietnam leading up to the
day you took your famous photograph of Quang Duc’s self-immolation?” Malcolm began to
respond talking about how the monks had said there were going to do something big,
something that may possibly change the way people look at them now. While in Vietnam, in
1963 Browne took an interest in Buddhism. He believed something was going to happen, but he
didn’t know what. But it was certainly going to be big; he seemed to be the only one who
believed this at the time.
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The day it happened, Browne knew what was going to happen. He had several rolls of
film ready to take pictures; he was going to witness such a dramatic, horrific immolation or a
sacrifice. He then spoke of what actually happened step by step. First, the monks stepped out
of the car in to an intersection. The oldest of the monks sat down, while the few younger one
began to pour liquid gasoline on him till he was covered. The monk sitting on the floor lit the
match and tossed it onto his lap. He caught fire immediately, and began to stay on fire till
death. It was said by Browne that he had no emotion in his face; he just sat there in silence, and
took the pain till he was pronounced dead. Browne had mentioned he had thought he was the
only photographer there, soon after he sent out the photographs for the world to see such an
importance in Buddhism history.
The interview closed with one last question about how the photograph he took helped
his photography career. “Would you consider the photograph your crown achievement in
journalism?” said spokesperson for Time Light box magazine, Patrick Witty. “It attracted a lot of
attention; I’ll say that for it. It was not necessarily the hardest story I’ve ever had to cover, but it
was certainly an important part of my career” responded photographer, Malcolm Browne
(Browne).
I came across this video on levitation involving a monk. It couldn’t be explained on how
he was floating. But there was actual footage of the elder monk floating while reciting prayers.
It was incredible to see it happen, but even more incredible to watch if you were there yourself.
Before he levitated he explained to the guy interviewing him to stay back, in case the energy he
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had didn’t work. He was surrounded by candles and continued to meditate for minutes before
the miracle happened (White).
Methods on how I found my research
Finding all my research wasn’t that difficult to find, I finished a lot of my research on the
database at the Mary and Jeff Bell library. All fifteen sources not including my interview were
found on this database. Before all this began I started with choosing a topic. I chose monks
because it seemed interesting, I really didn’t know much about it but it was something that
caught my eye. I constantly heard about monks either on movies, or read articles about them.
So therefore I became more interested in this subject. Once the topic was chosen, I began my
research. I logged onto the Mary and Jeff Bell library, and searched “Monks”; thousands of
topics came up relating to either the monk religion, monks who left the monastery, missing
monks in China, to even Monks population in different areas. All 15 sources were found on this
database, and then the interviews came. I found people to interview through friends, and their
information they had.
For the article with the interview in Time light box magazine, I simply just typed in
“burning monk” in Google, because I had heard about it in the past. I wasn’t really sure what I
was going to get out of that, but then I came to this article which included photographs from
the scene. The interviewee was a photographer who witnessed the crime happen.
Interviews
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Felicia Dziadek
I interviewed a few friends asking those questions such as what their opinions were on
this topic and how they felt. I didn’t really get much information out of them because for one,
they were never informed about such a topic. While interviewing one friend, he referred me to
the choir teacher at Flour Bluff High school, who was a former monk. I soon made an
appointment with him, but since the break for class I was unable to meet with him right away.
Talking with a fellow classmate of mine, I asked him what his opinion on Monks was and
he responded “I really don’t hear about monks quite often, I just know they wear robes, shave
their heads, and don’t talk. I also know that they meditate for long periods of time, and they
live in a monastery” “…also they’re weird and crazy” (Nelson). With that being said, I came to
the conclusion that the typical stereotype for monks was exactly what he had said. While taking
a vow to be silent it can either last weeks or maybe years. By taking this vow it may be for a
different reason for others. It could because they are trying to accomplish something, and
choose not to communicate verbally till it is accomplished.
I have recently interviewed a former monk, whom is now the choir teacher at Flour Bluff
High school. We sat and talked for some time, he happened to be very open on some things on
this subject. His name is Fernando Fe; he lives in Flour Bluff, Corpus Christi. He is fifty-three, and
teaches choir at Flour Bluff High School. He left the monastery at age 20, and was only there for
2 years. “I wish I could have been more dedicated to the religion, but it was hard and it wasn’t
for me” said Fernando. While living there he
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English 1301.201
Fall 2012
Felicia Dziadek
Data
I found several articles on many monks leaving the monastery. In the article “The
Adjustment Process of Ex-Buddhist Monks to Life after the Monastery” by Tim Mapel, I found
that five ex- Buddhist Monks were studied after their life leaving the monastery. This article
explains their new life, and how they are adjusting to such a different aspect of life itself. The
author tells about the adjustment they are going through and the many challenges they
overcome while starting a new life as a non-monk. It goes into greater detail about how the
experience of the ex-Buddhist monks transition which they seek in the future (Mapel). Going
from living life in a monetary, where it’s peaceful, holy, and composed. There are no outer
distractions, such as politics, and other society crisis we are dealing with right now. Monks live
in a peaceful community where they can spend hours meditating, and live a life dedicated to
“finding themselves”.
Another article relating to leaving the monetary was the “The First Ten Years of Solemn
Vows: Benedictine Monks on Reasons for Leaving and Remaining in Monastic Life” written by
Falkenhain, John Mark, and Jane Becker. This article discusses why Benedictine Monks tend to
leave the monk life after ten years in the Monastic life. They left after they realized it wasn’t for
them. They weren’t committed to the religion as they should be. It goes into detail and gives
research on what the monks say about why they leave, and discuss the difficulties on sharing
the information the monks have with us as non-monks (Falkenhain).
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Felicia Dziadek
A selection of reading that caught my attention was the “Chamdo: Monks, Nuns
Disappear after Arrest”. Tells the story of the Monks and Nuns who live in China and got
arrested. 10 of the 40 whom got arrested disappeared after an explosion. A meeting was held
and it was said that all monks and nuns must return to the monastery. It didn’t say much about
why they were arrested, but that they were accused for developing the explosion.
The article in Skillfull Means responds to the meaning of “vow of silence” by saying,
“Taking a ‘vow of silence’ is one of the oldest, simplest and most effective spiritual techniques
known. By voluntarily cutting yourself off from communication with others, you quickly remove
yourself from the chaos, distraction, judgments, and neuroses of the world around you. By
temporarily suspending communications with others, you create a "sacred container" around
you, which helps you to go within” (Skillfull Means).
Conclusion
The original problem I questioned in the beginning of this research was why they must
stay silent. There must be something else to vow to while they tried to achieve their goals. But
as I continued in researching this subject I soon found out that not all monks take the vow to
stay silent and then I began wondering about the many stereotypes there are regarding this
matter.
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Clarissa Trevino
English 1301.201
Fall 2012
Felicia Dziadek
Researching this discourse community was slightly difficult. Monks tend to stay to
themselves most of the time. It was hard to research information that wasn’t there. But in the
end information was found.
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Clarissa Trevino
English 1301.201
Fall 2012
Felicia Dziadek
Works Cited
Browne, Malcolm. Malcolm Browne: The Story Behind The Burning Monk Patrick Witty. 28 August 2012.
Chaiyanan, Phra Maha Chinda, Phisit Bunchai, and Sitthisak Champadaeng. "This article consisted of
information about the ancient letters which are stories about the history on Buddhist monks. It
gives the purpose for these studies, one being to investigate the backgrounds, two being ways
to conserve, three to investigate the p." n.d.
Falkenhain, John Mark, Jane Becker. "The first ten years of solemn vows: Benedictine monks on reasons
for leaving and remaining in the monastic life." n.d.
Gill, N.S. about.com. 2012. 19 November 2012.
Hays, Jeffrey. Facts and Details. 2009. 4 December 2012.
Nelson, Nick. Interview. Clarissa Trevino. 19 November 2012.
Skillfull Means. n.d. 18 November 2012.
White, Dan. Youtube. 13 August 2011. 4 December 2012.