The secular world has begun to embrace the inner technologies of the world’s contemplative traditions. Athletes, entrepreneurs, psychologists, neuroscientists, psychologists, doctors, cognitive scientists and cosmologists are learning from and implementing various forms of meditative practice. [2. Some examples (thanks to Joel & Michelle Levey at Wisdom at Work for many of these):
- This NPR story: “Meditation for a Stronger Brain”
- Brown University’s “Contemplative Studies Initiative”
- A collection of articles about the “Mind & Life Institute”
- Science and non-duality
- American Sports Institute
- Center for Contemplative Mind in Society » Research
- Center for Mindfulness at UMASS Medical School
- “Meditation and the Brain” at MIT Technology Review
- Lab for Affective Neuroscience
- UC Davis’s Shamatha Project : “Positive psychological changes from meditation training linked to cellular health”
]
But what of the outer, visible, measurable technologies of those contemplative traditions? How are we learning from those technologies that fit into what is broadly called monasticism? And how are we impacting them? This blog asks the question:
What can the secular world learn from monastic traditions?
Some interfaith and secular groups are already learning from monasticism. For example, I have lived in an ex-Franciscan convent in Labro, Italy with a community of artists called the Art Monastery, and I’m now working to create a new Art Monastery in the San Francisco Bay Area, where we will live together as “artmonks.” We are growing our own monastic order: the International Otherhood of Artmonks.
Why can’t anyone build or be part of an “otherhood”? Any community or movement—whether secular, interfaith, or of a single spiritual tradition—can choose to benefit from the wide array of monastic technologies that humanity has produced in the past 3000+ years.
This blog is about:
- secular monasticism,
- and high-tech monasticism,
- and humanist monasticism
- and art monasticism,
- and Unitarian Universalist monasticism
- and new forms of religious monasticism,
- and interfaith monasticism,
- and scientific monasticism
- and integral monasticism
- and pagan monasticism
- and celtic buddhist monasticism
- and more…
This is for:
- Artmonks and other Creative contemplatives
- “Re-monks” (part of the Christian “new monasticism” movement)
- Co-ops, cohousing and other intentional communities (member of intentional communities around the world)
- Benedictine, Augustine, Franciscan monks
- Neuroscientists, cognitive scientists, information scientists
- Doctors and medical professionals
- Secular buddhists
- Regular folks who want to add a little order to their lives
- Sufi fakirs
- Theravadan monks, Tibetan buddhist monks, Zen monks
- Advaita Vedantan monks, etc.
- …
About the authors
Nathan Rosquist (@nwr) is a writer, composer, occasional designer, and artmonk with the Art Monastery Project. He studied Mandarin Chinese and Linguistics at the University of Colorado, and has an MBA in Sustainable Community Economic Development from Bainbridge Graduate Institute. He is starting an Art Monastery in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Guest bloggers:
Phoebe Jevtovic is a soprano specializing in 17th century Italian music. She regularly performs with a variety of groups, including La Monica, Cançonier, Gamelan X and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. She is also an artmonk.
Want to contribute to In Otherhood? Have an idea for an otherhood you want to start? Email nathan@artmonastery.org.
Notes:
The secular world has begun to embrace the inner technologies of the world’s contemplative traditions. Athletes, entrepreneurs, psychologists, neuroscientists, psychologists, doctors, cognitive scientists and cosmologists are learning from and implementing various forms of meditative practice. [2. Some examples (thanks to Joel & Michelle Levey at Wisdom at Work for many of these):
- This NPR story: “Meditation for a Stronger Brain”
- Brown University’s “Contemplative Studies Initiative”
- A collection of articles about the “Mind & Life Institute”
- Science and non-duality
- American Sports Institute
- Center for Contemplative Mind in Society » Research
- Center for Mindfulness at UMASS Medical School
- “Meditation and the Brain” at MIT Technology Review
- Lab for Affective Neuroscience
- UC Davis’s Shamatha Project : “Positive psychological changes from meditation training linked to cellular health”
]
But what of the outer, visible, measurable technologies of those contemplative traditions? How are we learning from those technologies that fit into what is broadly called monasticism? And how are we impacting them? This blog asks the question:
What can the secular world learn from monastic traditions?
Some interfaith and secular groups are already learning from monasticism. For example, I have lived in an ex-Franciscan convent in Labro, Italy with a community of artists called the Art Monastery, and I’m now working to create a new Art Monastery in the San Francisco Bay Area, where we will live together as “artmonks.” We are growing our own monastic order: the International Otherhood of Artmonks.
Why can’t anyone build or be part of an “otherhood”? Any community or movement—whether secular, interfaith, or of a single spiritual tradition—can choose to benefit from the wide array of monastic technologies that humanity has produced in the past 3000+ years.
This blog is about:
- secular monasticism,
- and high-tech monasticism,
- and humanist monasticism
- and art monasticism,
- and Unitarian Universalist monasticism
- and new forms of religious monasticism,
- and interfaith monasticism,
- and scientific monasticism
- and integral monasticism
- and pagan monasticism
- and celtic buddhist monasticism
- and more…
This is for:
- Artmonks and other Creative contemplatives
- “Re-monks” (part of the Christian “new monasticism” movement)
- Co-ops, cohousing and other intentional communities (member of intentional communities around the world)
- Benedictine, Augustine, Franciscan monks
- Neuroscientists, cognitive scientists, information scientists
- Doctors and medical professionals
- Secular buddhists
- Regular folks who want to add a little order to their lives
- Sufi fakirs
- Theravadan monks, Tibetan buddhist monks, Zen monks
- Advaita Vedantan monks, etc.
- …
About the authors
Nathan Rosquist (@nwr) is a writer, composer, occasional designer, and artmonk with the Art Monastery Project. He studied Mandarin Chinese and Linguistics at the University of Colorado, and has an MBA in Sustainable Community Economic Development from Bainbridge Graduate Institute. He is starting an Art Monastery in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Guest bloggers:
Phoebe Jevtovic is a soprano specializing in 17th century Italian music. She regularly performs with a variety of groups, including La Monica, Cançonier, Gamelan X and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. She is also an artmonk.
Want to contribute to In Otherhood? Have an idea for an otherhood you want to start? Email nathan@artmonastery.org.
