History of Religion
Thursday, December 18, 2014

Monasteries. Most of the major religions have them in one form or another, but two religions stand out in their wide-scale use above the rest. These two religions are Christianity and Buddhism. In an idyllic situation, there are definite similarities in the lives of the monks and nuns who dedicate themselves to the monasteries* of both religions. History shows us that the reality of what was practiced in the respective institutions of these two religions was often very different. There are, however, many differences in daily monastic life for Christians and Buddhists, but the greatest differences became manifest in what the ultimate goals of those monks and nuns who practiced monastic life in the name of Christianity and Buddhism. In both Christian and Buddhist tradition monastic life is defined as having a cloistered existence, forsaking normal life and taking religious vows. In both traditions, the vows that are taken are meant to be binding for life. In the case of some types of Buddhism most of these vows are to be kept even if one leaves monastic life, and in Christianity monastic vows are only a more specific reaffirmation of the vows taken by all Christians when they are baptized.[1] More specifically, Christians vow to reject Satan and to accept Christ, and monks do this for a second time when they receive the rite of tonsure, which is why this rite is often called the second baptism. The rite of tonsure is the cutting of hair and shaving of scalp, which has had many reasons over the ages, but is always a sign of submission to God. Buddhists also shave their heads when entering a monastery, but this done more as a surrendering of vanity, as there is no monotheistic “god” in Buddhist tradition. The most common and important vows that Buddhist monks take are: chastity; no stealing; no killing of any kind; no ying speech, or speech that may been seen as negative or leading to a negative action.[2] All of these vows are all held, in one form or another, in Christian monastic tradition, these main vows being poverty, chastity and obedience, and the only major variation being no killing of another person, rather than no killing of any kind. In addition, both traditions demand that monks hold no personal possessions, and what is owned by one is owned by all.
In both Christianity and Buddhism, monastic life is in some ways meant to reflect the actions and attitudes of some of the founders of the religions. More often than not, monks and nuns in both religions live in groups, helping to spiritually support and help each other grow. There have, however, been many examples in both religions of monks living as hermits in an attempt to achieve the ultimate separation from normal life. These hermits took their cues from earlier figures from in their particular religious histories. In Christian tradition, the Prophet Elijah and John the Baptist both spent most of their time alone in the desert, emerging only to preach and seek food and alms. Jesus himself was no stranger to the practice of hermitage, spending forty days and nights in the desert to fast, pray and meditate. In same story, Jesus is tempted by Satan with all the kingdoms of the world, but rejects this offer.[3] Similarly, the Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) spent years, often alone, in the wild, mediating and denying himself food and sleep. When he saw this was not providing results, he ate, and vowed to meditate until he found an end to sorrow. As he did so, he was tempted by demons, just as Jesus was. Once he found enlightenment, the Buddha began to attract followers.[4] In Christian tradition there is a figure who mirrors the Buddha almost exactly, a man called St. Anthony the Great. Following the example of Jesus and the Prophets, St Anthony retreated to the wastelands of Egypt, and lived an ascetic life, and tried to get closer to God through this and solitary prayer. Like the Buddha, this man began to attract followers, and is now largely considered the father of Christian monastic living.[5] The example of these men in both Christianity and Buddhism stood as the foundation of monastic life, and the temptations they faced served as a warning to all those who would seek to take monastic vows.
Another similarity between Christianity and Buddhism monastic life was, and is, how both often rely largely on the layman for support. While monasteries in Christianity and Buddhism are maintained by the monks themselves, they often rely on the financial support, and support by way of food, from the local populous or the church at large. In Christian practice, monasteries were usually supported financially by either the Vatican, or local churches. This means that they were paid for by the taxes the Church collected from its constituents, or by the money families had to pay to have a son entered into a monastery or priesthood.[6] Buddhist monasteries were supported in a similar way, albeit more directly, as the towns the monasteries were in would often support the monks and every morning the monks would come out to beg for food.[7] There are, however, examples of monasteries that were self-supporting. Many Christian monasteries grew grapes for the production of wine, or barely and hops to make beer. The invention of Champagne is credited to Dom Pierre Pérignon, a French Benedictine monk.[8] While Buddhist monasteries have a less notable of a tradition of goods production, towns often grew up around Buddhist monasteries. The laypeople and the Sangha (monks) lived in a symbiotic relationship, where the Sangha met spiritual needs of the laypeople and the laypeople met the material needs of the monks.
While both Christianity and Buddhism have had a Marshal tradition of warrior-monks, the reasons for these orders are extremely different. During the various Crusades, orders of warrior-monks were created for various reasons, such as protecting pilgrims in the holy land. Although often noble in conception, groups such as the Knights Templar, and the Knights of St. John, or Hospitallers often committed less then humanitarian actions to “infidels” in the name of God and Church.[9] The Tectonic Knights were arguably even more needlessly destructive in their Crusade against the pagan kingdoms in the lands now know as Poland and the Baltic states. Despite the harm they did, the Templar established something akin to international banks, and the Hospitallers created the western idea of hospitals. Although there are some exceptions, notably in Japan, most Buddhist practice of martial arts were for drastically different reasons from those of their Christian counterparts. One of the major reasons Buddhist developed and practiced these traditions were to train the human body to amazing things, the aim being to have control over their own existence, mind and body. Most famously, the Shaolin monks took Chinese martial arts and developed them, in order to protect themselves and their laypeople from bandits and other ne’er-do-wells.
In Christianity and Buddhism monastic life, and indeed in the lives of their lay people, sexual activity and libido are seen as sinful or as an obstacle to reaching nirvana. In both of these religions, women are seen as being more wanton then men, Christians citing Eve in the Bible, and Buddhists claiming that women are lesser spiritual beings then men because of increase libido.[10] The difference comes in practice, where as in Buddhism there are very few to none pre-modern cases of debauched groups of monks, although there were often individual cases of those who could not let go of their desires and were removed from the monastery. There is one case, on which the Buddha commented directly “Worthless man, sexual intercourse is unseemly, out of line, unsuitable, and unworthy of a contemplative; improper and not to be done.”[11] While Christian monastic cannon also does not allow for monks to have sex, there are many medieval cases of entire monasteries giving in to sexual deviancy, some of which was recorded in Henry VIII’s famous “Black Book” and used to condemn catholic monasteries. This same Black Book recorded the financial indulgences of monks in England, and their gluttonous consumption of food.[12] Being based on separating one’s self from the desire for material goods and excessive eating may explain why it is difficult to find similar such cases in Buddhist history.
While the way in which Christianity and Buddhism monastic life is lived may be similar, the ultimate goals of the two practices are different. Christian monks give their lives over to prayer and devotion to the almighty God, hoping to get into His good graces and get themselves, and possibly others, into heaven. Many also seek to understand His great design, His world and His plans for it. In Buddhism there is no God, or Gods in the Christian sense. Instead of appeasing and understanding a deity, Buddhist monks try to understand themselves and their connection to the rest of the universe, to understand what they are and that they are not. Where Christian monks crave immortality at the right hand of God, Buddhists wish for a release from Samsara, the infinite cycle of life, death and rebirth, to dissolve into the singular nothing ness that they believe the universe to be, and to stop being forever. These are the fundamental, and most important differences between Christianity and Buddhism monastic life.
Of all the world’s religions, Christianity and Buddhism monastic life are the most widespread and commonly practiced. These religions share many similar practices, and similar role models, but in the end their goals are what set them apart more than any similarity of difference in ritual or vows ever could.

[1] Macdonald, Fiona. How would you survive in the Middle Ages?. New York: Franklin Watts, 1995, page 37.
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5] Meyer, R. T. (1950). St. Athanasius: The Life of Anthony. ACW 10. Westminster, Md.: Newman Press.
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]