Monastic Life Within the World

When Bawa came he taught us about a monastic life outside of the monastery. There was no monastery except for his home. We lived in the world, we married and had children, but he spoke to us and he petitioned us and he implored us to live as if we were within a monastic setting in the world. And that’s the interesting aspect of entering reality in the way that we were taught. The monastery is something you carry with you. It’s not some place that you go. You are the monastery. Your body is the home of the monastery, and your actions within that are those of a monk, monk meaning either female or male.