Comment by splat | Hacker News Reader

Comment by splat | Hacker News Reader

Small nitpick: the Trappists are not the only Western order that practices the "vow" of silence. There are a couple of other orders which are smaller than the Trappists: the Carthusians, the Hieronymites, and the Monks of Bethelehem. (There might be more.)

The Carthusians, in particular, are quite rigorous and notoriously reclusive. Only family members are allowed to visit them, and even then, only once per year. There was a documentary made about them in 2005. The director asked the charterhouse if it would be possible for him to film them in 1984. The monks responded that they needed some time to think about it and replied sixteen years later that he could film them if he wanted. The Trappists, Carthusians, and the Catholic Church more generally, live on a very different timescale than we are accustomed to. Reading these interviews from them is wonderful.

Silence, and specifically unnecessary "chatter" is also a major tenet of the Benedictine rule. Some monasteries follow it more strictly than others. (I believe the Trappist and Carthusians in particular are "reforms" of Benedictine practice.)

The documentary was "Into Great Silence" by Philip Groning. For those of us who live "in the world" it can be a challenge to watch because it moves at a really glacial scale, but ultimately, I think, it's very rewarding to see that life doesn't have to be led with so much hustle and bustle.

Monks tend to live by a completely different sense of time than the rest of us. It's been said that they don't think in terms of years, but centuries. I've managed the site for a Benedictine monastery for almost 20 years, and I've long since learned that even the smallest things are very, very carefully considered. For example, it took them nearly two years from the time I proposed it to okay an email list for their publications. This is something that would have been a 24 hour decision for a "business." However, dealing with them and getting to know several of the monks pretty well (in person and via email), they've taught me that sometimes slowing down is definitely a good thing.

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