Rugged Interdependency - Amaravati Buddhist Monastery

The Golden Stateferent order, he has been at the hermitage of New Camaldoli for the past eightyears. When the Camaldolese order was set up in the 11 th Century by St. Romualdthey were even then something of a reform movement. Eschewing leadershipby abbots (who already had an aura of power and worldliness), they establisheda unique pattern in Christian monasticism. Their life is divided into three basicstyles: that of the hermit; that of communal life in the Monastery, or cenobium; andthat of living in a house in the city. Each monastic spends varying periods of timein each situation according to their disposition.It was this unique blend that moved Father Thomas Merton to urge theCamaldolese to establish a Monastery in the USA. In his eyes, his own Trappistorder was too isolationist and rigid to fully serve the American people as he felta monastic community could. Unfortunately, by the time the New CamaldoliMonastery was founded, he was too valuable to be allowed to leave his own community.Thus he never got the chance to live with them in the stunningly beautifulplace they found, nestled on the hillsides overlooking the Pacific. However, that theMonastery exists today and is one of great vitality and ecumenicism, would probablyplease Father Thomas more than his own getting to live there.On their 800 acres they have a number of hermit monks living in the woods,and a main community of about 25 monks, novices and lay people, most of whomare a lot younger than the average resident of today’s Christian monasteries. Theyhave a small house in Berkeley as well, where a couple of monks reside whilstengaging in studies at the University of California.They still retain their traditional monastic habits and follow the Liturgy of theHours, but they have also made a number of adaptive changes – particularly in providingample facilities for women and men to come on solitary retreat, and in theecumenicism of their services and literature. Their emphasis is strongly towardscontemplative and mystical aspects of religion, and towards religious unification.The Prior, Father Richard, was instrumental in bringing about the recent meetingsbetween the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury. And Tibetan Buddhist prayerflags could be seen flying in the little garden behind his cell.•As contrasted with traditionalism, the modernist way takes its cue more from thecurrent attitudes and understanding of those interested in the teachings, than fromthe way the teaching has been presented and lived out in the past. The presentenvironment is of primary importance. This derives from the quality of UltimateTruth as “apparent here and now, timeless”, just as traditionalism derives from itsquality of being the source and foundation of all things.Here one finds, in the main, middle-class raised, educated, white Americans.The teachings are presented in their own language, by teachers from their ownkind of background, and in a familiar cultural context. The advantage of this wayis that it is easily adopted and used by people who have grown up in the West. Itslips into their value system and is absorbed comparatively painlessly. It is natu-17