Check out Radiolab’s fascinating piece on the miraculous sixteenth-century creation of a clockwork automaton of a Franciscan.
*Actually, this monk robot is but an “early and very rare example of a self-acting automaton.” Please excuse the hyperbole.
Two things to notice in this Guardian profile of artmonkish architect Peter Zumthor: 1) what it takes to be called a monk by the architecture world, and 2) that it’s an insult, synonymous with “otherworldly” and “arrogant.”
You would be wise not to call Peter Zumthor a monk. He may be white-bearded and dark-clad and his office, in a secluded spot outside the Swiss town of Chur, may take the form of a cloister around a garden. His studio gathered there of young acolytes may have a superficial resemblance to a cult. He may be someone who talks with reverence about his craft and who inspires extreme reverence in other architects. He may carry with him a hushed aura, in his own speech, in the way others talk of him and in his buildings. He may sometimes rise at 4am to pursue his work. He may, in his oeuvre, have a certain number of chapels, memorials and other contemplative spaces, and he may like to talk of such things as the “mystery” of materials. But at the suggestion he might be otherwordly, he becomes vehement.
“There are these prejudices that have always been accompanying my whole career, which is first they said, ‘Yes he does these beautiful buildings, but they are up in the mountains and they are only possible in the mountains…’ Then they say, ‘You only build in wood’ or they’re saying you’re the monk or you’re arrogant.” He is, he insists, down to earth: “I design for the use of a building and the place and for the people who use it… the reputation for arrogance comes because when work is offered to me I look whether I can find a genuine interest in quality. If I only find an interest in using my name for economic reasons, or if I can see that this is a project that only deals with image and facade, of course I say no.”
In this excellent interview from dharmacafe.com (via @c4chaos), Alan Wallace says that what often gets translated from Buddhist texts as “renunciation” is something closer to “emergence,” as in when we emerge from childish strategies that don’t work toward something more authentic and fulfilling.
It’s more than a radical disillusionment, like Sartre or Camus… They’re renouncing something, but it ends in something pallid, something sterile and flat… Renunciation [or emergence] is recognizing the vanity of vain desires, the pointlessness of pointless behavior, a lot of which we get very fixated on, on occasion. It’s waking up, it’s growing up, and recognizing, “I yearn for a quality of genuine fulfillment, of meaning, of something that will provide me with some deep and lasting satisfaction.” And that doesn’t mean being chipper and happy all the time; for that you can just take a drug.
So the spirit of emergence: it’s emerging from childish desires… “When I was a child I spoke as child” and that sort of thing. [It's] growing up, and recognizing that I’m seeking fulfillment, satisfaction, happiness and meaning, and I’m not going to get it by more material acquisition and fame and wealth and sensual pleasures. It’s hopeless; I’ve awakened to the fact that that’s not there. That’s the renunciation aspect, but the spirit of emergence is that definitely, with confidence and certainty, we emerge out of childish desires and emerge towards (and that’s what’s often missing) authentic aspirations and ideals, an authentic way of life that does hold the promise of providing the fulfillment that we seek.
So it’s got to have the dual valence, but you’re right that this is what runs against the grain of modernity as a whole, which is trying to sell us on things you can buy, you can consume, that will keep the GDP growing, and keep us tapping the natural resources and making money for somebody. And [renunciation] is saying: to have enough, a car that runs, clothes that keep you warm, sufficient food that keeps you healthy, this is really quite sufficient. When you’ve got that much, then the world has done enough. That is, the mundane world has provided you to now focus your attention with all your strength, your soul, your might on that which is truly meaningful
—Alan Wallace on DharmaCafe.com (at roughly 1 hour 10 min of this video)
B. Alan Wallace from DharmaCafe.com on Vimeo.
A new job and a series of events more art than monk have kept me from posting much here lately. There will be time soon, I hope, for more of the interviews, reviews, articles, and other things that give modest life to this project.
For now, something from Jerzy Grotowski, whose work attracts me more and more, and whose artistic lineage lives on in a veritable art monastery in Pontedera, Italy 1:
The force of gravity in our work pushes the actor towards an interior ripening which expresses itself through a willingness to break through barriers, to search for a “summit”, for totality. The actor’s first duty is to grasp the fact that nobody here wants to give him anything; instead they plan to take a lot from him, to take away that to which he is usually very attached: his resistance, reticence, his inclination to hide behind masks, his half-heartedness, the obstacles his body places in the way of his creative act, his habits and even his usual “good manners”.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A New York man filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging that he was sexually abused at a Bronx church in the 1960s by a priest who went on to become abbot of a Minnesota monastery and helped found an institute to deal with the problem of clergy sexual abuse.
via NY man sues Minn. monastery, alleging clergy abuse – WSJ.com.
From the author of the Monk Manifesto, Christine Valters Paintner. Pre-order yours today.
Madhushala asks about the length and permanence of monastic vows in different traditions, and gets some interesting responses:
Monks for life?
There was a discussion on Twitter recently about the topic of monks disrobing. It is commonly thought that once monastic vows are taken they are for life. I did not think this was so as pretty well all the the temples of any Buddhist sect I have been to in Asia have a large number of younger people and very few older people.
My view was that a lot of the younger people come to get an education and many disrobe after that or as their families direct, hence the reason there are children there, and that many older people who do not become teachers retire.
So I put the question on Facebook to various monastic and priestly people and here are the responses I got.
Read more at Monks for life?
I’ll be here next weekend (May 7):
SHARE San Francisco, Saturday, May 7th, Hub SoMa
SHARE San Francisco is convening local leaders on Saturday May 7th for a day of connection, conversation, and action to strengthen the Bay Area as a platform for sharing.
Why SHARE SF?
Cities promise broad access to the resources citizens need to create great lives and contribute to the common good. Unfortunately, this promise is rarely realized.
However, an unprecedented opportunity to strive for freedom, prosperity and sustainability through sharing has emerged due to new technologies and sharing business models, intensifying urbanization, the empowerment of women and minorities, and a new generation’s preference for access versus ownership.
With this opportunity in mind, SHARE SF invites you to explore how to strengthen the Bay Area as a platform for sharing through an all-day unconference.
See you there?
Tibetan monks remaining at a restive Buddhist monastery in China’s Sichuan province are being forced to undergo a “grueling” routine of political re-education by Chinese authorities after 300 of their number were forcibly removed by Chinese security forces, sources said.
via Monks, Chinese Forces in Uneasy Peace.
Based on practices that we have been developing at the January 2010 & 2011 Artmonk Retreats in the Mojave Desert, these weekly (or semi-weekly) meetups will provide an opportunity for anyone in the Bay Area who is interested to explore the path of the artmonk.
May 5th, 5:30-7:30pm
1798 Scenic Avenue
Doug Adams Gallery/Badè Museum, in Holbrook Hall,
Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, CA
http://goo.gl/AR92d
Contact Nathan @ (510) 520-4747