Becoming a monk/nun?

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There are some elements of the monastic lifestyle I really respect... discipline, restraint, simplicity, humility, silence, divorce from worldly ways... maybe they're onto something.

Of course, I don't know of any orders that would accept an atheist. Maybe I'll just have to settle for living simply and getting a tonsure haircut.

Anyone else given thought to this? Would you consider it, if not for all the heavy religious baggage this kind of lifestyle would bring?

when i was younger i was always attracted to monasticism. leaving to world to be with god was so attractive, except that the god i knew and loved didn't seem to be the same as the one sought by any of the christian monastic traditions. in high school i hung out at a laotian buddhist monastery a few times, but turned down the offer to live there for a summer training program for youth interested in the yellow robe. as much as i respected them, i felt like i wasn't buddhist or laotian enough to take that step.

still, i've always found texts like the Rule of St. Benedict and merton's Wisdom of the Desert to be inspiring - evidence that the lives i saw people pursuing while growing up in middle class america in the last quarter of the 20th century weren't the only way to live.

why not start your own atheist monastery?

I got halfway there and was in a fundamental baptist church for a few years. Problem is, no matter what religious system it is, you still have to fit in to stay in.

An atheist monastery sounds good to me.

The idea of being eternally chaste is terrifying.

I've thought about becoming a monk before. But I'm not into that religious stuff. Which leaves becoming a Buddhist(They're like atheist, just more spiritual) monk, to which there are no English speaking Buddhist monasteries that I'm aware of in the States that I could get to.

Sounds great, but i'd still find sex partners reguardless.

I considered becoming a nun for awhile, a long time ago, but nah, I'm not going to do it. At the time, the order and privacy tempted me, as well as the fact that I was pretty religious. I've changed a bit since then.

A girl I used to be friends with though is thinking about becoming a nun, very seriously thinking about such. It wouldn't really surprise me if she did.

My husband always said if something happened to me or our son, he'd become a buddhist monk. I don't think he'd be able to leave behind his video games, though.

I seriously think about it, but I don't think that either Buddhism or Christianity has much calling for me. I'm pretty into Chassidic Judaism, and there are some teachings in it kind of like that, so that in itself is satisfying.

I seriously think I might become a nun. I haven't decided if I want to be more in the world or more cloistered, though.

I would enjoy a life of seclusion and meditation, but I get the impression that nuns have to spend a lot of time with each other, and going out into the community and volunteering with people. Sounds very social.

Ideally, I'd like to be a hermit. I would live way out in the woods with no other people. People in the surrounding areas would know me as a sage. They'd occasionally come and bring me things in exchange for advice and pieces of wisdom, but I'd spend most of my time alone. Sadly, I don't think it's possible to live that way these days.

If I could learn some secret super combat technique like Hokuto Shinken, I might consider becoming a monk. I already have the celibate part down, what else is left?