Causative Motives of Monasticism

Whatever the origin of religion itself, it is certain that it is man’s inalienable concern.  He is, as Sabatier says, “incurably religious.”  Of all the motives ministering to this ruling passion, the longing for righteousness and for the favor of God is supreme.  The savage only partially grasps the significance of his spiritual aspirations, and dimly understands the nature of the God he adores or fears.  His worship may be confined to frantic efforts to ward off the vengeful assaults of an angry deity, but however gross his religious conceptions, there is at the heart of his religion a desire to live in peaceful relations with the Supreme Being.

As religion advances, the ethical character of God and the nature of true righteousness are more clearly apprehended.  But the idea that moral purity and fellowship with God are in some way associated with self-denial has always been held by the religious world.  But what does such a conception involve?  What must one do to deny self?  The answer to that question will vastly influence the form of religious conduct.  Thus while all religious men may unite in a craving for holiness by a participation in the Divine nature, they will differ widely in their opinions as to the nature of this desirable righteousness and as to the means by which it may be attained.  Roman Catholicism, by the voice of the monk, whom it regards as the highest type of Christian living, gives one answer to these questions; Protestantism, protesting against asceticism, gives a different reply.

The desire for salvation was, therefore, the primary cause of all monasticism.  Many quotations might be given from the sacred writings of India, establishing beyond dispute, that underlying the confusing variety of philosophical ideas and ascetic practices of the non-Christian monks, was a consuming desire for the redemption of the soul from sin.  Buddha said on seeing a mendicant, “The life of a devotee has always been praised by the wise.  It will be my refuge and the refuge of other creatures, it will lead us to a real life, to happiness and immortality.”

Dharmapala, in expounding the teachings of the Buddha, at the World’s Parliament of Religions, in Chicago, clearly showed that the aim of the Buddhist is “the entire obliteration of all that is evil,” and “the complete purification of the mind.”  That this is the purpose of the asceticism of India is seen by the following quotation from Dharmapala’s address:  “The advanced student of the religion of Buddha when he has faith in him thinks:  ’Full of hindrances is household life, a path defiled by passions; free as the air is the life of him who has renounced all worldly things.  How difficult is it for the man who dwells at home to live the higher life in all its fullness, in all its purity, in all its perfection!  Let me then cut off my hair and beard, let me clothe myself in orange-colored robes and let me go forth from a household life into the homeless state!’”