Namaste friends

At this early stage in the life of this blog, no doubt most visitors will really have only seen the Welcome and the About Me pages. The question I’m asking myself is what else can I tell you about myself and my life that you can’t see for yourself on those pages?

Well, I realized that I’d already, on another blog, shared some insights in a kind of miniseries of posts that speak about my philosophy of life as I call it. So, join me as I get into Part 1.

By now you probably worked out that I call myself a hermit. Perhaps I have explained what I mean by this somewhere else on this blog, but in a nutshell being a hermit to me means living a quiet life, without a lot of physical contact with other people; I visit shops and other businesses and so on, as little as I can manage. For example, I haven’t been to a cafe, restaurant, or other social gatherings for several years.

Of course there are more esoteric or spiritual aspects to being a hermit, and I’m very much aware that it’s this spiritual quest side of things that is really the driver for the way I live. A quiet life lived apart from the world, means less distractions, more quiet, more time. All are great helps.

Obviously given the times we are living in right now, I’m far from the only one living a hermit life. At least I am blessed in that my way of living is by choice. At the same time, I’m actually quite excited to watch as the people of the world begin to slowly get back out there and into life again.

As no doubt I’m mentioned somewhere else, I was born with a nomadic nature and soul. So in a real sense it’s a pilgrimage I’ve always been on anyway. So perhaps I might be back out there on the road sometime soon

It’s well known that many monks and nuns take a number of vows when they join their communities. Traditionally these vows are: Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience. In many cases the additional vow of Stability is added, binding the monk or nun to a particular community in a particular place.

I’ve never been comfortable with those vows, so I’ve never made them. But as I have progressed in my spiritual journey, I have taken vows of various kinds. Mind you my vow to silence is having a hard time of it with me! As for the love part of this vow: well, that’s also a work in progress.

Anyway, recently I’ve been reading about communities (some religious, some secular, but always made up of people sharing the same or similar values, goals, and missions) who, also uncomfortable with those traditional vows, have reinterpreted them in a way that sits more comfortably.

That renewed version is : Simplicity, Purity, and Accountability. In the place of the vow to stability, there is now what you could say is a more precise concept: Presence.

While I can’t say I have formally taken these vows, it has occurred to me that, put together, they do make up a fairly precise set of principles that could be said to apply already as I attempt to live authentically as hermit, monk, and pilgrim!

Please join me in Part 2 (appearing soon) when I will put this theory to the test.

Peace and love from me to you