Eastern Orthodox search for God: Mt. Athos

(harmony) He spent 70 years as an Eastern Orthodox Christian monk on the Holy Mountain in Greece, and this is what he said about God

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The "Holy Mountain"

Mount Athos [a] is "Holy Mountain" on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodox Christian monasticism.

Holy Mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed as an autonomous region in Greece by the monastic community of Mt. Athos, which is ecclesiastically under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.

The remainder of the peninsula forms part of the Aristotelis municipality. By Greek law and by religious tradition, women are prohibited from entering the area governed by the monastic community [2].

Like Mt. Olympus, gods, angels may rest here.

Mt. Athos has been inhabited since ancient times and is known for its long Christian presence and historical monastic traditions, which date back to at least the 9th century during the Byzantine era.

Because of its long history of religious importance, the well-preserved architecture of its monasteries, and the preservation of the natural environment of the peninsula, the monastic community of Mt. Athos was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988 [3].

NAMES: In the classical era, Mt. Athos was called Athos and the peninsula Acté (Latin) or Akté (Koine Greek Ἀκτή). In modern Greek, the mountain is Oros Athos (Greek Όρος Άθως) and the peninsula Hersonisos tou Atho (Χερσόνησος του Άθω), while the designation Agio Oros (Άγιο Όρος), translating as "Holy Mountain," is also used [4].

Some languages in the Eastern Orthodox tradition use names that translate as "Holy Mountain," including Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Serbian (Света Гора, Sveta Gora) [5] and Georgian (მთაწმინდა, mtats'minda) [6].

However, not all languages spoken in the Eastern Orthodox world use this name: In the East Slavic languages (Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian) it is simply called Афон (Afon, meaning "Athos"), while in Romanian it is called "Mount Athos" (Muntele Athos or Muntele Atos) [7]. More

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The Wayfaring Life

E.M. Hare (Rhinoceros Sutra, "Woven Cadences," PTS)

Put by the rod for all that lives,
Nor harm thou anyone thereof;
Long not for son — how then for friend?
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Love cometh from companionship;
In wake of love upsurges ill;
Seeing the bane that comes of love,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

In ruth for all his bosom friends,
A man, heart-chained, neglects the goal;
Seeing this fear in fellowship,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Tangled as crowding bamboo boughs
Is fond regard for sons and wife:
As the tall tops are tangle-free,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

The deer untethered roams the wild
Whithersoe'er it lists for food:
Seeing the liberty, wise man,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Casting aside the household gear,
As sheds the coral-tree its leaves,
With home-ties cut, and vigorous,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Seek for thy friend the deeply learned,
Dharma-endued, lucid and great;
Knowing the needs, expelling doubt,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

The heat and cold, and hunger, thirst,
Wind, sun-beat, sting of gadfly, snake:
Surmounting one and all of these,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Crave not for tastes, but free of greed,
Moving with measured step from house
To house, support of none, none's thrall,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Free everywhere, at odds with none,
And well content with this and that:
Enduring dangers undismayed,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Snap thou the fetters as the snare
By river denizen is broke:
As fire to waste comes back no more,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

And turn thy back on joys and pains,
Delights and sorrows known of old;
And gaining poise and calm, and cleansed,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Neglect thou not to muse apart,
'Mid things by Dharma-faring aye;
Alive to all becomings' bane,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

As lion, mighty-jawed and king
Of beasts, fares conquering, so thou,
Taking thy bed and seat remote,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

Poise, amity, ruth and release
Pursue, and timely sympathy;
At odds with none in all the world,
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.

"I know! No other is my guide!"
Fare lonely as rhinoceros.
Leaving the vanities of view,
Right method won, the Way

— Selected verses of the Rhinoceros Sutra from the Sutta Nipata, translated by E. M. Hare, published in Sacred Books of the Buddhists Series, Pali Text Society, excerpted in With Robes and Bowl (BPS) by Bhikkhu Khantipalo.

Inspiration for Monkhood Program

Dharmachari (WQ Buddhism worldwide)

Inspiration for Monkhood Program

DEC. 5-19, 2009

This is a pro-gram for lay men to get a feel for mo-nastic life at the edge of the forest.

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