Does anybody want to be a hermit-monk?

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There would be silence, structure and hopefully peace. Life would be austere but clean and simple. There would be none of the agonies from coping with people who just will not understand that you cannot at that point in time deal with it. A splendid isolation to watch and wait as the mind turns and contemplation comes to pass. Forms of the world move like the shadows of clouds on a moonlit night cast with a silvery weakness on a clear motionless lake. In the silence you hear more and listen for the first time to the sound of your own voice. Not the false speech that man is taught to speak in society, but the consciousness that we are all born with. In such a world it is not wisdom that is sought, for the wisdom of man is always a vain and little thing; the focus of such an existence is to simply find peace and to then exist within the folds of harmony.

Am I being silly? Are hermit-monks like that? Is it even possible to live connected harmoniously to this violent and ugly world? But we can hope and dream. No harm in that.

I probably wouldn't.

Yeah it is kind of tough to live without modern amenities, but there are benefits to sloughing off the fiction of modern existence. It will be healthier for one and most people will lose weight. But maybe we are all trapped in our world and cannot leave it without experiencing unbearable pain.

i've been trying to plan for a modified version for when i can retire. access to "the outside world" but separated from it. i'm not a masochist - i need dentists, tylenol, and i do like heat in the winter. but the rest, i could do.

I have often contemplated leaving everything behind. As a Buddhist I have a strong tie to this tradition, and see that it has its strong points.

I did live like a monk for about a year. I left a job that was physically and mentally unhealthy. It was supposed to be a brief absence to recover, but I procrastinated about going back to work. I loved it. I had a set structure for reading and writing to prevent falling into nothingness. After this year of bliss, my return to work was a complete disaster. What little I knew about relating to people was gone. My social anxiety was off the charts, where I finally understood why people would think I was crazy, and I came to understand AS. I see the episode as a horrible mistake, even though I'm healthier and have better self-understanding than ever.

All I have of the year are my notes and articles. The year was so uneventful I almost have no memory of it -- like it disappeared. Then again, I would be hard pressed to say what I did in 2003 when I was working.

I do!

The two religions that have influenced me the most are probably Buddhism and Christianity. Both religions actually extol the life of the hermit. Jesus was known to disappear for days on end into the wilderness while the Buddha achieved enlightenment while meditating alone in forest. The life that Jesus spoke of almost seemed to involve leaving behind all the attachments of this world to live as purely as one can in the spirit. That means no job. no money and hence a life of voluntary poverty. I have never understood how any Christian or Buddhist can study the teachings of Jesus or Buddha and continue in the life they live; entangled by the many webs of desire and deception.

I have dreamed about being a hermit monk ever since I was a child. In some sense my life today is shaped to match that dream, albeit molded in the modern form. I wish I had the courage to move to some island in the Indonesian archipelago or perhaps northern Thailand or even southwestern China in the foothills of the Himalayas. There would be no escaping the modern world though and my existence would be made possible by my very small portfolio of investments. But at least I would be away and spending my days in the contemplation of nature’s beauty. Five years of unemployment have taught me that I do not need much though I do need some things. I can live without Coca-Cola but life becomes something of a blank without internet access. I have never yearned for money or power. For as long as I can remember, I have always only wanted peace. The funny thing is that I will not just let it rest. I say I want peace, but will not do what I need to do to get it.

I could be a hermit monk.. I dont need all the luxurys and technology and could easily do without to be able to live their peaceful lifestyle.

I think I'd have been an anchoress in another era, but not this one.

I'm quite outgoing in my own right, but, strange as it might sound, I think I could easily survive as a hermit. When I am out in a natural setting, I am usually never lonely (at least, not half as lonely as one can get when one is holed up in a tiny apartment in a large city), because I see nature as something to communicate with. Add constant communication with God through prayer, and one gets a lifestyle where loneliness would be pretty much out of the question.

In a sense, it feels almost like an ideal lifestyle for me. Outdoors a lot, lots of manual work, natural setting, a life of simplicity without any troubling excesses, quiet, possibly keeping and looking after animals as well. That I do not have the calling to be a nun is another question altogether.

I used to think of trying something like this but now there are too many other things I'd like to do and know. Besides, the whole lifetime of contemplation thing seems deep and noble at first, but really you're just spending your life thinking about yourself and your own perceptions, and when you put it like doesn't it seem kinda shallow and self-centered?

I think I could do it if I believed in something... Without belief though I think there would be something missing from a life like that.

You know, that's strange that you brought that up because I wanted to ask the same thing but was embarassed to. I've often wondered if many monks were ppl who had that conditon. I'm real sensative to noise and too much stimuli. It really gets to me at my job. The problem I would have of that is not being able to date. Even though I don't date much, I would eventually like to be with someone who's understanding of my space. I've always thought about that though. Problem is I tend to be real open-minded about religions. I don't like having a stigma attached to me if I were in one sect of religion. I'm more of a spiritual person, most ppl get confused when I say spiritual rather than religious. All religions to me speak of some truths. I get that strange feeling when I sit outside in the morning and it's all quiet except the sounds of nature which puts me in contenment. This sounds stupid but I get a huge high with the beauty of nature untouched by man. I guess that would mean I'm a tree hugger, oh well we can't be perfect.

You're all talking about a fantasy. The reality is totally different. Convents and monasteries are some of the most political, pecking order inflexible conventional and conformist places to be. Hell for aspies. Groups of any kind are hell for aspies. And if you think social """"skills""" and """"appropriate"""" behaviour problems won't get you kicked out or running for the city in a month or two, you're really looking only at the fantasy part. Convents and monasteries are social groups, even if not mainstream. And a social group where you have a time to pee, a time to talk to others, and everything has to be done a certain way, and understanding has to be reached with few words exchanged...paradise for aspies, ain't it?

I would love to be a hermit. I would enjoy living my life in solitude as long as I could write, listen to music, and play music. It would be nice if I could still communicate with the outside world at a distance through writing and music. I might miss some things about close relationships at first, but I'd get used to it, especially if I could live in a beautiful place and have some animals.