Why in a monastery?

I will try to offer an answer to you and also to myself why one decides to go to a monastery.

Because of the human fallen nature, we are all captured by sin, and the point of this life is for us to release from sin and save ourselves. The point is to live an orthodox life, in our Lord Jesus Christ. My spiritual father says that unless we live for Christ, our life does not make any sense.

In order to cleanse from their passions, one has to undergo the three levels of spiritual life: cleansing of the heart, illumination of the mind, and perfection. The only way is by means of a spiritual guidance by a practiced guide, in obedience, reconciliation and prayer.

This can be done in the world as well, although with certain difficulties, because the spiritual father can not gain enough surveillance, as most of our time is spent in worldly worries. When one lives in the world, they cannot dedicate all of their time to the Lord, because unfortunately, today’s world teaches us to serve to the devil - unfortunately, today’s lifestyle is not orthodox.

On the other hand, in a monastery one can entirely rely on the guidance of the spiritual father, i.e. they “die” for this world and start treading on the narrow path. This is the path that goes through the three levels. In a monastery one can more readily live for Christ, each moment of the day is fulfilled with obedience, and the spiritual father has a greater opportunity for guidance, In fact, in a monastery there is a greater possibility to learn for Christ, for the faith and the church, simply because we do not serve to the world any more. Let us remember the Gospel: One cannot serve two masters…

Moreover, once you taste Christ and know a small bit of Him, once you reconcile with the thought that death is coming, that this life is just a lie and does not last, you cannot resist the urge to spend it serving to the Beloved, without stopping…If only you knew the heat of that flame…

It is really strange to me now when people choose life full of hatred, problems, worries, sorrow, unrest, absence of love, fear, injustice, killing… instead of a life full of reconciliation, prayer, love, peace…

Eventually, when one can clearly see just a single sin of theirs and repents, when one knows that they cannot enter Heaven and become one with their Creator without having repented, one gets fear from the Lord and feels sorry for everything they have done to Him, and knows that the Lord is good and wants them to spend their time weeping over their sins. But only those who have cleansed their hearts can weep in a true manner, which leads us to the beginning, i.e. one needs to cleanse from their passions, which means going over the three levels. This is possible only with a spiritual father, obedience, reconciliation, prayer, and it is easier to do this in a monastery…which makes a perfect circle.

The circle of truth.

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me.