Monasteries: Step one toward a new system

I know this may seem a little out there or uncomfortable for some of you but stay with me for a second… Building monasteries might be thing we can make now that can transition us into a new system while still operating in our current system.

The perfect legal loophole

In the US, our current zoning and building codes require us to keep building the way we’ve been building. It’s illegal to build in ways that might be better for humans and our planet. There are people working to change the rules (important but slow work), but in the meantime, I realized all the elements for creating a small complete community are present in the current zoning for monasteries—provisions that already exist in every state. In other words, we can go ahead and create small complete communities anywhere if we call them monasteries. In order to be considered a monastery, residents just have to take “religious vows.” Those vows could be to a new and simple religion with vows like: “While I am here, I will prioritize the flourishing of myself, my community, and the natural world.”

A great MVP

When we’re designing anything new, it’s smart to start iterating with the most barebones and basic version of the final outcome we can create—the Minimal Viable Product, or MVP. Since we are wanting to create complete, living communities, a monastery is actually a fantastic MVP of a complete community. The fact that this “organism” has stood the test of time across cultures, religions, geographies, and scale tells us it is a durable form and system.

The upside of being “religious”

I imagine the religion part is uncomfortable for many. That’s understandable for so many reasons. But if we embrace the root of the word, religion comes from the roots “re” and “ligio” which simply means to “reconnect” like, re-ligament. If we can see it as a systemic approach to reconnect our world, it’s so much more palatable. And, there is real work of consciousness raising that lends itself to the religious status that must coincide with the physical building and re-imagining. And significantly, I imagine, perhaps more boundary pushing on the legal front (trying to build more environmentally and socially conscious than current laws allow) may be possible under the banner of religious freedom than simply as citizens concerned about social or environmental justice.

More to come…

I have a LOT more thoughts on this idea and how it could work. (I’m building a whole new website on it.)

In the meantime, let me know if you want to talk more about these ideas or fund a new monastery or twenty. :)