HR2015 Volume PDF

h istor i a
r eligion u m
Direttore responsabile
Giovanni Filoramo (Università di Torino)
Comitato scientifico
Gustavo Benavides (Villanova University)
Philippe Borgeaud (Université de Genève)
Jean-Marie Husser (Université Marc Bloch, Strasbourg)
Bernard Faure (Columbia University)
Massimo Raveri (Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia)
Jörg Rüpke (Erfurt Universität)
Giulia Sfameni Gasparro (Università di Messina)
Guy G. Stroumsa (Hebrew University of Jerusalem · University of Oxford)
Emilio Suárez de la Torre (Universidad de Valladolid)
Redazione scientifica
Augusto Cosentino (Università di Messina)
Alberto Pelissero (Università di Torino)
Natale Spineto (Università di Torino)
Roberto Tottoli (Università degli Studi di Napoli ‘l’Orientale’)
*
« Historia Religionum » is an International Yearly Peer Reviewed Journal.
The eContent is Archived with Clockss and Portico.
*
Per i riferimenti bibliografici si invitano gli autori ad attenersi scrupolosamente alle norme
specificate nel volume di Fabrizio Serra, Regole editoriali, tipografiche & redazionali, Pisa-Roma,
Serra, 20092, in particolare al capitolo Norme redazionali, consultabile e scaricabile Online alla
pagina « Pubblicare con noi » del sito web www.libraweb.net.
*
Gli articoli proposti per la rivista devono essere inviati, per posta elettronica e in formato pdf,
all'indirizzo del Direttore: giovanni.filoramo@unito.it.
HISTORIA
RELIGIONUM
AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
7 · 2015
PISA · ROMA
FABRIZ IO SERRA E D ITO RE
MMXV
Amministrazione ed abbonamenti
Fabrizio Serra editore
Casella postale n. 1, Succursale n. 8, i 56123 Pisa
Tel. +39 050 542332, fax +39 050 574888, fse@libraweb.net
www.libraweb.net
I prezzi ufficiali di abbonamento cartaceo e/o Online sono consultabili presso il sito Internet
della casa editrice www.libraweb.net.
Print and/or Online official subscription rates are available at Publisher’s web-site www.libraweb.net.
I pagamenti possono essere effettuati tramite versamento su c.c.p. n. 17154550 o tramite carta
di credito (American Express, Visa, Eurocard, Mastercard).
A norma del codice civile italiano, è vietata la riproduzione, totale o parziale

(compresi estratti, ecc.), di questa pubblicazione in qualsiasi forma e versione
(comprese bozze, ecc.), originale o derivata, e con qualsiasi mezzo a stampa o internet
(compresi siti web personali e istituzionali, academia.edu, ecc.), elettronico, digitale,
meccanico, per mezzo di fotocopie, pdf, microfilm, film, scanner o altro,
senza il permesso scritto della casa editrice.
Under Italian civil law this publication cannot be reproduced, wholly or in part
(included offprints, etc.), in any form (included proofs, etc.), original or derived, or by any means :
print, internet (included personal and institutional web sites, academia.edu, etc.), electronic, digital,
mechanical, including photocopy, pdf, microfilm, film, scanner or any other medium,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
Proprietà riservata · All rights reserved

© Copyright 2015 by Fabrizio Serra editore, Pisa · Roma.
Fabrizio Serra editore incorporates the Imprints Accademia editoriale, Edizioni dell’Ateneo, Fabri-
zio Serra editore, Giardini editori e stampatori in Pisa, Gruppo editoriale internazionale and Istituti
editoriali e poligrafici internazionali.
Direttore responsabile: Fabrizio Serra.

Autorizzazione del Tribunale di Pisa n. 36 del 30/10/2007.
issn 2035-5572
issn elettronico 2035-6455
SOMM A R IO
sezione monografica
monastic transmutation. monks in the crucible of secular modernity
Giovanni Filoramo, Maria Chiara Giorda, Introduction 11
Stefania Palmisano & Isabelle Jonveaux, Transmutatio Between Old and New
Monasticism 17
Danièle Hervieu-Léger, Communauté et autorité : une double mutation
 
35
Maria Chiara Giorda, Between God and Mammon. Monastic Economy and Chal-
lenges of Secularization 45
Justin McDaniel, Beyond the Theravada : Monastics in Modern Southeast Asia
 
63
Hiroko Kawanami, Buddhist Monasticism and Female Monastics in the World
Today 75
Sara Hejazi, Going East. Buddhism as a New Frontier for Italian Monastics 87
Matteo Nicolini-Zani, Inter-Monastic Transmutatio : Monastic Identity Moulded
 
by Inter-Religious Dialogue 97
saggi
Enrico Montanari, Mircea Eliade : interprete di segreti, segreti di un interprete
 
109
Enrico Manera, Sugli scritti giovanili di Furio Jesi 125
Recapito dei collaboratori del presente fascicolo 143
Norme redazionali della casa editrice 145
SEZIONE MONOGR A FICA
monastic transmutation. monks

in the crucible of secular modernity
Monastic Transmutation.
Monk s in the Crucible
of Secular Modernity.
Introduction
Giovanni Filor amo, Mar ia Chiar a Gior da
« You must go another road, / […] / if you wish to escape this savage place »
   
Virgil to Dante, Inferno – I, 91-93
I n recent years monasticism has returned to be a focus of attention for analysts of

social life in contemporary society. This interest has been fostered by various related
aspects but is also linked to the profound transformations experienced by our society.
A growing number of people see monasteries – in their apparent isolation from the
world – as an alternative model of communal living, removed from the fast pace of
modern life, and offering an example of sustainable economy, governed by rules, val-
ues, practices like silence and prayer, able to offer both a temporary oasis of calm and
meditation for the visiting religious tourist, but also as forms of ascetic living that can
be adapted to daily life. At the same time, globalization processes have contributed to
the knowledge of other forms of monastic life like those of Hinduism and Buddhism.
Consequently we have witnessed the flourishing of comparative studies that usually fo-
cus on themes related to asceticism and its practices or, in a perspective linked to inter-
religious dialogue, aimed at an exchange of ideas to facilitate the meeting of monastic
traditions founded on very different religious principles.
Continuing this line of inquiry, this monographic issue of Historia Religionum pur-
sues a different aim : trying to understand, through seven essays by specialists of Bud-
 
dhist and Christian monasticism, the way this monasticism has responded to a series of
challenges in secular life today. Modernity – or rather multiple modernities in continu-
ous development, characterized by different forms of secularization that continue to
change the face of our society – has not left unscathed even a phenomenon like that of
monasticism, which ideally is seen as a utopian society detached from the world and
its contradictions. Globalization processes, if we limit the chronological span of the
analysis to recent decades, have further accelerated this transformation.
In effect, the challenges the monastic world encounters today, in the East and in
the West, have never been so radical, precisely because they go to the root of mo-
nastic life : “fuga mundi”, the utopian attempt to build individually but above all
 
collectively, a pathway to perfection in order to enter the restricted field of religious

virtuosos, of those “saved in life”. These challenges affect the cornerstones on which
monastic life has been built for centuries : the absolute authority of the abbot as a
 
living incarnation of the Rule itself ; a strict separation of genders, with the tendency
 
for nuns to be considered subordinates ; forms of community life where the space for
 
the choices and creativity of the individual is sacrificed to the collective good ; mo-  
nastic space and time characterized by a special sanctity intended to preserve them
12 giovanni filoramo · maria chiara giorda
from the threat of earthly life ; a monastic economy geared to the rule of autonomy
 
and sobriety, which by definition stands as an alternative to a capitalist economy

subservient to the law of profit. These and other pillars of monastic life are radi-
cally questioned today : the walls of monasteries can no longer act as a protective
 
barrier, selective with regard to non-spiritual life. The Web has created a new type
of communication between monastery and outside world, with mobile phones and
Internet weaving a network of interconnections that may have advantages but also
bring the danger of creating a new, unexpected figure : the interconnected monk and
 
nun. Individualism, with its claims of freedom but also with its corrosive anarchy,
increasingly permeates monastic life and imposes its rules and rights, starting – of
course – with gender issues. In the essays that follow readers will find illuminating
examples of this.
To try to interpret this comparison, which may prove to be creative but also risky, the
researchers have resorted to different metaphors and concepts, such as “re-invention
of tradition”, “expansion”, “adaptation”, and “immersion in the world”. These defini-
tions are unsatisfactory for various reasons. The “re-invention of tradition” captures
only one aspect of the process, however significant, while the others point in a direc-
tion but do not capture the significance. For this reason we preferred to use a different
image of alchemical origin : transmutation. This has the merit of underscoring how
 
the encounter and clash of different elements is not a heterogeneous and poorly as-
sembled collage, but a true metamorphosis, a renewal in the continuity. Depending on
the circumstances, on different contexts, of the traditions at play, the new situation that
emerges can be more creative and promising, or more dangerous and menacing for the
continuity of that same tradition.
Alchemists believed that the entire universe was inclined towards a state of perfec-
tion, and gold was considered the substance closest to perfection for its intrinsically
incorruptible nature. It contains the concept of evolution and revolution together ; it  
is a liberation in life from the trusses of mortality and, in this case, extinction. It is a
path that ensures and does so in a spiralling pathway : the “intus”, introspection, trac-
 
ing back the steps of history and building a memory, closely tied to the “intra”, namely
fulfilment of a relationship that must be established with all that is “extra”, alien, for-
eign, remote ; opposite and conflicting forces trigger new visibility. Monasteries and
 
monks are the keys for reading the ambiguity of modernity and secularity, how this
changes the behaviour of the individual and the community, its acting on space in terms
of response to urbanization and centrifugal force, and on time, in terms of response to
fragmentation. The essays that follow illustrate this situation, addressing first Western
Christian monasticism, then Buddhist monasticism.
The contribution from Stefania Palmisano and Isabelle Jonveaux on the Italian and
Austrian situation, points out that today the transformation of monastic life covers two
main areas : the renewal within the traditional monastic families also in the light of in-
 
novations promoted by the Second Vatican Council, and new forms of monasticism
which – especially in Italy – are reaping some success. In the former, using J. Séguy’s
metaphorization concept, the authors show the transformations affecting traditional
aspects of female monastic life (at first sight unchanged) like seclusion, also because of
the effect of gender issues. For the new monasticism, the most obvious distinguishing
feature is that these are not ecclesiastically and legally recognized religious orders but
associations of public or private believers, generally composed of laypeople, who wish
monks in the crucible of secular modernity 13
to differentiate from a type of monasticism they consider old and outdated, and so they
encounter the issue of difficulty in achieving ecclesiastical recognition.
A key aspect of the transmutation attempts that have characterized traditional mo-
nasticism over several decades is the change concerning the authority of the abbot.
As Danielle Hervieu-Léger shows in her essay, these attempts constitute a particularly
valuable indicator for understanding in depth the nature of the transformation taking
place. While before the famous model applied after the revival of Benedictine mo-
nasticism in the nineteenth century, a conception of absolute monarchic authority
prevailed, this pyramidal structure declined following the decline of the primacy of
authority in the broader social context. Nowadays the Abbot is a “primus inter pares”
who acts as a pivotal figure for the unity of communal life.
One of the most promising areas of research for a better understanding of the
transformations taking place in monastic life – in turn mirroring changes in the more
general socio-economic context – is monastic economy. In her contribution, Maria
Chiara Giorda analyses this twofold process by observing the economic life of two
Cistercian monasteries, one in France and one in Italy. Monastic economy is gov-
erned by a dual systole and diastole process, inwards and outwards : on the one hand,
 
the monastery’s need for self-sufficiency through a series of productions ; on the oth-
 
er, the opportunity for lay visitors to find alternative and more sustainable forms of
life and consumption. The dividing line between these two movements oscillates be-
cause the monks must be able to keep the substance of their traditional ways of life,
while still meeting new consumer demands that continually threaten identity and
integrity. Through the two selected examples, the author tries to answer the ques-
tion of if, and to what extent, post-industrial capitalist consumerist-driven aggres-
sion, with its traits of rationality, efficiency, productivity, etc., does finally permeate
even the current economic meanders of the monasteries. The traditional concept
of a monastic economy as a haven of peace, detached from capitalistic influences, is
belied by the analysis of the economy of these two monasteries, which also proves
there is no monastic economy model.
For Buddhist monasticism, the contributions of Justin McDaniel and Hiroko Kawa-
nami analyse the dynamics existing today in the transformations that this monasticism
is experiencing, especially in its country of origin. Focusing on a number of individual
cases, McDaniel shows how there is no longer pure Theravada Buddhism in these ar-
eas but there are multiple reciprocal influences even with Mahayana Buddhism. The
identification factor becomes not belonging to a community but the relationship with
a particular teacher. These monks have explored various ways to be both Buddhist and
modern, how as meditation, practical and protector magic, and teaching make evi-
dent. Enlightening in this respect is the presence of nuns (generally underestimated),
which grew during the twentieth century and whose role is changing. These nuns give
a significant contribution to monastic life, contributing in this way to changing their
institutional role of subordination to monks, as seen in the central role they have ac-
quired in studies on Buddhism. In addition, since this type of Buddhism also admits
a temporary commitment to monasticism, it is important to study the role of the lay
members, which is often overlooked. Lastly, there is a process which is simultaneously
regionalization (need to entrench Buddhism more deeply in a national tradition) and
internationalization, fostered by globalization. Kawanami, in turn, having focused on
the case of the nuns and the problems they still encounter today when making their
14 giovanni filoramo · maria chiara giorda
choice, examines economic transactions – which are not allowed – to show how cer-
tain new developments (credit cards) make it possible to circumvent this veto, which is
now impossible to apply. Another interesting aspect of the ongoing transformations is
the case of temporary initiations, which seem to be a popular phenomenon in contrast
with that of the few Buddhists women taking full monastic vows.
It is no secret that a new type of Buddhism is found in Europe today, the outcome
of now well-established processes that have undergone several waves of penetration,
initially reserved for an intellectual elite. From the 1970s they engaged broader layers
of the population, giving rise to the phenomena of conversion and foundation of mo-
nastic life forms inspired by the various families of Buddhist monasticism. A type of
Buddhism that now involves the history of transformations of contemporary Western
religious expression, and which should be distinguished from the various types of Bud-
dhism brought by immigrants. Sara Hejazi’s contribution examines this phenomenon
through a particularly significant Italian case study : the Fudenji Monastery founded
 
by Fausto Taiten Guareschi, disciple of Taisen Deshimaru Roshi, a Japanese master of

So¯to¯ Zen Buddhism and founder of the International Zen Association. Today, Italians
are attracted to this type of Buddhism by reasons other than those of the past. Purifica-
tion of the mind, search for harmony, and forms of altruism are the reasons that per-
suade many to approach this new form of monasticism. For the author, the monastery
studied was, in the final analysis, a new ascetic and monastic space showing the advent
of a new religious pluralism in Italian society which had been a slave to the Catholic
monopoly for so long.
The story of the exchange and inter-religious dialogue between these two differ-
ent monastic traditions is a further aspect of the transmutation affecting the monastic
field today. In his contribution, Matteo Nicolini-Zani, also in the light of his own dia-
logical experience, illustrates its phases and key aspects. The author describes how, in
the last decades – thanks to the more positive attitude to other religions inaugurated
by Vatican Council II – different forms of contact, exchange, and exploration among
the representatives of the various traditions brought Christian monastics into a closer
and deeper contact with Hindu and Buddhist ascetics. A new process of a new self-
understanding vis-à-vis the world and “otherness” was inaugurated ; the dimension of
 
inter-religious dialogue between monastics belonging to different religious traditions

that has emerged from the inter-monastic conferences in Asia in the 1960s was later
further developed and gave birth to a new institution, namely the dim/mid, « Dialogue
 
Interreligieux Monastique/Monastic Interreligious Dialogue ». The author focuses on

 
some peculiar steps (i.e. the topic of monastic celibacy) of this path, from the late 1970s
to nowadays, during which dim/mid commissions have spread all over the world and
their activities have grown in different directions.
Today, the challenge facing monasticism is therefore radical since it is confronted
with choices that are the result of reflections on the individual imposed by modernity
and which question profoundly the identity of the monk. Today monks are constantly
– consciously or not – questioned by modernity about themselves and the sense of a
traditional monastic lifestyle, however contemporary it may be. Monasteries have an
economic conception and economic practice that is often (self-) defined as just, moder-
ate, healthy, sustainable, of high-quality, alternative compared to external models, but
there is no lack of point of conflict and contact with what is on the outside. Indeed,
their very survival depends upon it.
monks in the crucible of secular modernity 15
As the essays in this monographic issue show, monasticism is a “laboratory” of anal-
ysis : it is not possible to investigate the monastic phenomenon regardless of the society
 
that helps produce the monastic forms and practices ; conversely, studying monasticism
 
may be a useful way of understanding the society in which it is organized.

TR A MSUTATIO BETWEEN OLD
A ND NEW MONASTICISM
Stefania Palmisano, Isabelle Jonv eaux
1. Towards a map of contemporary monasticism
C ontemporary Catholic monasticism is dominated by two main groups : the pre-

Conciliar – or “Old Monasticism” – and “New Monasticism”. Three streams can
be traced in « Old Monasticism » :
     
 
a) “Traditional” or “classical” communities are those which were founded throughout

the history of monasticism and up Vatican II. They have been renewed – with varying
degrees of “liberalism” in their interpretations – in line with the Council’s recommen-
dations. 1 Most of them observe one of the great historic Rules (Benedict, Clara, The-
 
resa or Augustine) and belong to a congregation and/or an order. 2 They are also statis-  
tically the most numerous in the monastic landscape. In Italy, for instance, there are 82
female Benedictine communities and 49 male, and a total of more than 350 monasteries ;  
b) “Traditionalist” or “conservative” communities which, although they existed be-

fore the Council, reacted to its proposals by maintaining or re-introducing previous
liturgical forms, customs, and traditions. Some of these communities also belong to
the Benedictine order and will serve as an example. 3 Starting in the 1960s, some of
 
them set up – in France, Italy and the United States, where such experiences were
most frequent – new foundations whose aim was to restore those monastic customs
which, according to them, were in danger of being flooded by the wave of moderni-
sation : ascetic practices, the Liturgy of the Divine Office, 4 strictly enclosed life, total
   
fuga mundi, the monastic habit and the tonsure. But the sociological datum which most
While the article is the fruit of collaboration between the two authors, the division of labour was as follows :  
sections 1, 3 and 4, Palmisano ; sections 2 and 5, Jonveaux.

 
1 To give an example, whereas the Camaldolese order adopted the Council’s pronouncements liberally, (which
explains the changeover to a totally Italian-language liturgy, the opening of monastic spaces to oecumenical and
interreligious hospitality, and abandoning the monastic habit in private), other congregations chose more pru-
dent updating limited to minor aspects of their monastic physiognomy while, at the same time, being careful not
to take liberties with the Council’s texts.
According to the Canonical Law (1983), monastic orders, begging orders, regular clerical and canonical cleri-
2 ��
cal (I. Frank, Lexikon des Mönchtums und der Orden, Stuttgart, Reclam, 2013). In particularly, a monastic order is
set up of different congregations. Congregations correspond either to a reform process or to a geographic area.
Each congregation has its constitution. For instance in Italy, the Order of Saint Benedict (OSB) is represented by
monasteries from the Congregation of Subiaco, the Congregation of Vallombrosa, the Congregation of Camal-
doli and the Congregation of Cassian.
3 I give some examples of the group here described, including the names of exemplary exponents of it : Mo-  
nastero di San Benedetto - Norcia (Italy) ; Monaci eremiti di Minucciano (Italy) ; Monaci Benedettini dell’Imma-
   
colata Villatalla (Italy) ; Abbaye Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux (France) ; Abbaye Notre-Dame de Randol (France) ;
     
Abbaye de la Garde-Dieu (France) ; Abbaye Notre-Dame de Triors (France) ; Abbaye Notre-Dame de Donezan
   
(France) ; Abbaye Notre-Dame de Fontgombault (France) ; Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey (USA).
   
4 All the prayer time spread out over the monks’ day : according to the Rule of Saint Benedict (cap. XLIII De
 
his qui ad Opus Dei vel ad mensam tarde occurunt), it is divided into seven “hours” plus night rising – that is to say,
monks, after having gone to sleep, wake up in the middle of the night to go to the chapel and pray. In the monas-
tic world it is also called opus Dei, while the Church in general calls it The Liturgy of the Hours.
18 stefania palmisano · isabelle jonveaux
distinguishes conservative monasticism is the preference for the liturgy according to
the ancient Roman rite, including the Tridentine Mass and the primacy of Gregorian
Chant. Although neither social sciences nor history has hitherto taken much interest
in this phenomenon – involving a small minority in the monastic world – it should not
be neglected because statistical data on the communities’ numbers and the novitiate
situation reveal a rapidly-growing movement ;  
c) “Ultratraditionalist” communities. The “ultra-traditionalists” counterpoint the

“traditionalists”. The most notable differences can be found in their ecclesiological po-
sition and their relationship with the heritage of Vatican II : whereas the latter are in
 
communion with Rome and do not contest the Council’s innovations, the former are
in open disagreement with Rome, with the papal magisterium and the Council’s legacy,
especially with its oecumenical and liturgical changes. 1  
The second group, called “New Monasticism”, is made up of communities which grew
up after the Council and are not part of pre-existing orders, congregations or move-
ments, although adopting, and freely adapting, their Rules of Life. We can find in Italy
alone no less than 45 new monastic communities. Here too, although dealing with a
minority phenomenon, we need to distinguish among three orientations :  
d) « Innovative » New Monastic Communities which, in tune with the Council, renew
   
monastic life by emphasizing and radicalising the most innovative and disruptive theo-
logical aspects which they identify in its conclusions. Some curial studies describe these
communities as attempts – often borderline – at monastic life, founded by priests, reli-
gious and laypeople who are critical of classical monasticism, bound, in their opinion,
by obsolete customs and rules. The most innovative elements of these communities
are perceived in the facts that : first, they are mostly “mixed », which is to say consisting
   
of monks and nuns living « under the same roof » : secondly, they accept lay members,
     
whether single, married or families, residing in private dwellings more or less close to
the monastery : thirdly, they reject enclosure and contemptus mundi, limiting collective
 
prayer time in order to increase that available for labour, for evangelization and volun-
tary social work, often outside the monastery : finally, they are actively involved in oe-
 
cumenical and interreligious dialogue, and harbour scarcely concealed sympathy with
oriental religions, from which they sometimes adopt beliefs and practices ;  
e) “Ultra-innovative” New Monastic Communities. They are labelled « ultra-innova-  
tive » because their experiments in the theological, doctrinal and liturgical fields seem, in
 
the view of ecclesiastical authorities, so audacious and unwise as to cause anathemas and
condemnation : some communities are thus not recognized by the Vatican or, like the Bé-
 
atitudes in France, need a long process to reach this recognition as religious community ;  
f ) “Traditional” New Monastic Communities which, born as reaction to the Coun-

cil, re-introduce anterior liturgical forms, customs and traditions. Although they grew
outside the Ordo monasticus, these communities imitate that organizational model with
the aim of rapidly becoming institutionalised in officially-recognized canonical forms.
For this reason they are monosexual communities, which is to say either exclusively
male or exclusively female. 2  
1 Some examples of this group are : Abbaye Notre-Dame de Bellaigue (France) ; Monastery of Santa Cruz-
   
Nova Friburgo (Brasil) ; Monasterio de San José, Santa Sofía- Boyacá (Colombia) ; Our Lady of Guadalupe - Silver
   
City (USA) ; Kloster Reichenstein - Monschau (Germany).

 
2 Examples are : Famiglia monastica di Betlemme, Assunzione della Vergine Maria San Bruno (Italy), and Les
 
Petits Monastères de l’Agneau (France).

tramsutatio between old and new monasticism 19
The conceptual map outlined hitherto highlights the internal conflicts regarding
post-Conciliar monastic renewal and reveals quite variegated political geography, driv-
en by opposing ideological impulses. In short to the classical monastic tree, may be
added, on the one hand, innovative communities pregnant with radical experimenta-
tion and, on the other, the traditionalist ones which look to the past as a means of re-
sistance to and criticism of modernism.
This article deals with only two types of monastic communities : classical monastic  
communities and new monastic communities, based on two respective field inquiries.
The former has been carried out from 2005 until now in five European and two African
countries : and the Italian research was conducted in 2006 and 2007 in five male Bene-
 
dictine monasteries through interviews with monks and ethnographical observation. 1  
As far as research methodology for the study of New Monastic Communities is con-
cerned, privileged observers (bishops, bishops’ vicars, scholars of monasticism, priests,
monks and ex-monks) were a great help in gaining access to the Italian field. Thanks
to their references, twenty communities were studied between 2007 and 2014 by taking
part in courses of Bible studies, liturgical ceremonies and manual work, interviewing
superiors and members and examining the documents they produced.
Whatever the degree of faithfulness of these communities to tradition, and al-
though society often thinks that monasteries are models of traditional life which have
not changed since the Middle Ages, monastic life is not independent of social and eco-
nomic evolutions. This article seeks therefore to study the different orientations of
transmutation in traditional and new monastic communities which search to establish
equilibrium between the exigencies of the present and those of monastic tradition. As
we shall see, these two kinds of monastic communities give different answers to the
questions of conservation, or inscription in the monastic tradition, and adaptation to
social evolutions. After having explored the different areas of transmutation in con-
temporary traditional and new monastic communities in Italy, we synthesize different
interpretations of tradition and modern recompositions.
2. From tradition to traditions : Old monasticism 
and its modern recompositions

Monasticism is not a monolithic reality constant in time and in space. Since its appa-
rition in the deserts of Syria and Egypt, monasticism has adapted itself to the social
situation of various countries and historical periods. Therefore the so-called traditional
communities have been undergoing massive changes since the decade previous to Vati-
can Council II, in order to adapt themselves to the characteristics of modern society.
According to Jean Séguy : « In other words, “practiced” monastic utopia has its limits,
   
the very same as those of the structures or systems of plausibility of an epoch or of

a place ». 2 It means that although it belongs to the definition of the monastic utopia
   
to be at variance with society, it nevertheless has to remain plausible in order to be ac-

cepted by society and to attract potential recruits. Even if tradition plays a relevant role
1 ��
It has not been possible to study female monasteries in Italy because all requests remained without a posi-
tive answer. These refusal are also interesting to analyze and can be explained by their strongest enclosure and a
mistrust for all what comes from the world. Female communities are also often older than male communities and
nuns often have less studied than monks, which can explain a less interest and comprehension for my work.
2 J. Seguy, A Sociology of Imagined Societies : Monasticism and Utopia, in Sociology and Monasticism, edited by I.
 
Jonveaux, E. Pace, S. Palmisano, Leiden, Brill, 2014 (« Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion », 5), p. 293.
   
in the monastic identity, these communities are not independent of socio-economic
evolutions but are part of a society, although Max Weber describes them as « out of the  
world ». As an Austrian monk says, monks are accompanied by the « Zeitgeist ». 1

       
2. 1. Transmutations to a new individualism in traditional monastic life

The main transmutation in traditional monasticism in the last five decades – that is
to say parallel to the foundations of new monastic communities – concerns the in-
fluence of individualism in coenobitic communities. Although « The Christian ascetic  
movement of the first centuries presented itself as an extremely strong accentuation

of the relation of oneself to oneself but in the form of a disqualification of the values
of private life : and when it took the form of coenobitism, it manifested an explicit re-
 
jection of any individualism that might be inherent in the practice of reclusion » 2. But    
the individualisation of modern society does not save monasteries which re-organize
their way of life according to new needs arising from this configuration. Individualisa-
tion of monastic life can first of all be observed in material areas. To give only some
examples, we can quote the mutations of monks’ personal space caused by the aboli-
tion of dormitories (in some Trappist communities only in the 1990s) and the intro-
duction in some monasteries of private bathrooms in each monk’s or nun’s cell. The
new technologies of information and communication are also changing monastic life.
Mobile phones and laptops offer new ways of communication between the individual
in the monastery and the outside world. The possibility nowadays of having a person-
al Facebook profile also allows monks independently to communicate publicly about
themselves and their community. 3 These material changes are either a consequence
 
of the individualisation process that is already taking place in monastic life (cells with
bathroom en suite) or they emphasize it by the possibility offered by new technologies
of living what was previously community life on the individual level.
Individualisation also affects the daily routine and the community’s perception. In
line with the Greek etymology of the term « monos », the monk or the nun is theoreti-
   
cally united in his or her person.

A monk is one who wants to unify one’s life, that is to say who renounces all that is
a source of division, of dividing, not only in external activities, but also – and primar-
ily – in psychic life. 4  
The unification of life, however, is not only understood as continuous contempla-

tion, but also as the monk’s personal leisure time. In the Benedictine abbey of Praglia
(Italy), for instance, on Thursday afternoons the prayer of None is cancelled to create
free time for the monks and their personal activities, which can take place in or outside
the monastery (exhibitions, a visit to a city...). In Austria monks are also free to devote
themselves to a hobby such as football, trekking and the cinema. Another novelty in
post-Conciliar monastic life is the possibility for monks and nuns to spend holidays
outside their community. Depending on which monastery, these holidays can be spent
in another community, with the family or in a hotel in another country, even in Club
1 B. Eckerstorfer, The Challenge of Postmodernity to Monasticism, in Church, society and monasticism, edited by
E. Lopez-Tello Garcìa, B. Selene Zorzi, Roma, EOS, 2009, p. 117.
2 M. Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Volume 3 The Care of the Self, New York, Vintage Books, 1988, p.43.
3 I. Jonveaux, Dieu en ligne, Paris, Bayard, 2013.
4 A. Guillaumont, Aux Origines du monachisme chrétien, Pour une phénoménologie du monachisme, Bégrolles-en-
Mauges, Abbaye de Bellefontaine, 1979 (« Spiritualité orientale », 30), p. 83. Our translation.
   
Med. Although since the sixth century pre-Conciliar monastic life has been more and
more concentrated on the importance of the community 1 in which individuality is dis-  
solved, we observe new tendencies of individualism in modern monastic life.

The possibility of nuns and monks to enjoy leisure time or spend holidays outside
their community also illustrates a new conception of enclosure. Enclosure was offi-
cially legalised by a letter from Pope Boniface VIII in 1298 underlining two points : ac-  
tive enclosure which forbids nuns to leave their monastery and passive enclosure which
strictly limits the entry of lay people into the monastery. Its origin can be found during
the earliest days of monasticism in the interdiction against women to enter male mon-
asteries (Rules of Pachomius and Basil). After the Council monastic enclosure became
more elastic although Canon Law did not really change its definition. Monks are freer
to go out, to practise their hobbies, go on holidays, visit their family and friends and
communicate with the outside world without being controlled by their superiors. 2  
What are the implications of this for the definition of monastic enclosure ? At the be-  
ginning of the Middle Ages monastic enclosure was physical (i.e. with walls) and later
became more and more visible with railings and opaque curtains in the parlours of
female monasteries. Nuns should neither see nor be seen. In this material acception
monastic enclosure is now practically obsolete. Most of the time, the only mention
of enclosure is to delimit the private space of monks, for example cells are now more
« private » than « enclosed ». But this holds more for male monasteries than female mon-
       
asteries where enclosure has historically always been stricter. Now monks are freer to
leave the monastery than nuns are, and in general the structure of enclosure is more
flexible in male monasteries – although the 1983 Canon Law reminds us of the impor-
tance of enclosure for both. That is why the Italian jurist Lisi asks the question : « Why    
do the nuns have to be subjected to a different – stricter – discipline of enclosure than

monks, although they are following the same rule ? ». 3 Does the relaxation of monastic
     
enclosure mean that it has disappeared from European monasteries ? Following Jean  
Séguy’s conception, Danièle Hervieu-Léger speaks about a « metaphorization of en-  
closure ». 
The mainspring of his argument is that traditional religions themselves are subject
to the effect of metaphorization, through the ever-increasing intellectualisation and
spiritualisation of the beliefs upon which they are based. 4  
Asceticism is generally more and more metaphorized in modern monastic life while
enclosure conserves a material aspect even as it becomes more and more invisible.
More than a metaphorization of enclosure, we notice a redefinition which does not
mean that this principle no longer exists. New technologies, for instance, introduce
new forms of asceticism into monastic life, and new forms of enclosure influenced by
conscious limitation of Internet research. The apparently new freedom for monks to
do what they want and go where they want also emphasizes the question of the con-
tinuation of enclosure outside the monastery and maybe even without the habit, for
instance on holiday.
1 A. de Vogüé, Les Règles monastiques anciennes (400-700), Turnhout-Belgium, Brepols, 1985, p.19.
2 Still in the 50s, letters of novices were opened and red by the master of novices. This was me also told about
a new female monastic community in France.
3 E.M. Lisi, Gli Istituti Monastici nel nuovo Codice Canonico, in Lo Stato Giuridico dei consacrati per la professione dei
consigli evangelici, Città del Vaticano, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1985, p. 167. Our translation.
4 D. Hervieu-Léger, Religion as a chain of memory, Cambridge, Polity Press, 2000, p. 68.
This leads us to tackle the symbolic question of the monastic habit. In monastic life,
the habit was always thought of as a kind of enclosure they could wear all the time
even outside the monastery. The question of the importance of the habit varies from
community to community and sometimes from monk to monk. The prior of a big
abbey close to Rome said he wore the habit all the time, even on trains, because it be-
longed to his identity as a monk. But others, for instance in the Camaldoli monastery,
affirm that « cucullus non facit monachum ». In this community, cowls are worn only
   
for prayer and only one old monk wore the traditional white habit in the monastery.
One monk in this monastery told me in an interview that a journalist wanted to do a
filmed interview for television and insisted on his wearing the habit because it was the
image of a monk that people wanted to see. But he refused, arguing that in real life he
did not wear the habit inside the monastery. In some communities monks argue that
they do not need a habit to be a monk because the Council refocussed on authenticity
rather than symbols. It can be a strategy of “normalization” of monastic life but may
also express desire not to draw attention to oneself in the streets in the framework of
a secularised society. At the same time some communities have chosen to conserve the
habit in monastic daily life, but adopted another form which can be worn in almost all
situations (work, community times) and outside the monastery because it is discreet. It
is a short waist-long habit with a hood and often of another colour than the traditional
blue or grey habit. As an answer to practical constraints (changing the habit several
times per day for instance), monks are therefore ready to change one of the traditional
characteristics of monastic life.
The cohabitation of monks and nuns « under the same roof » allowed in new mo-
   
nastic communities is an impassable barrier for traditional communities, where sexual

segregation in separate monasteries is a constant we can find almost everywhere in
monastic history. It was thought of at the beginning as a possibility to transcend the
natural characteristics of human beings and of sexual identity.
Neither doctrine nor the coenobitical institution seems to take a particular interest
in the question of the sexes, or in the establishment of a dividing line between the spe-
cifically feminine and the specifically masculine. On the contrary, they tend to weaken
the significance of sexual identity, which is considered an effect of the propria voluntas
whose roots have to be eradicated at all costs in order to create a new type of individual
conforming to the monastic model. 1  
But the fact that traditional monasticism does not accept mixed communities does
not mean that we cannot also observe recompositions in gender relationships. These
rapports are still asymmetrical – for instance, in the division of work, the repartition of
authority and economic inequality, and we can still see traces of the ancient masculine
domination in female monasticism. But at the same time some communities or indi-
vidual monks and nuns develop new kinds of friendships or collaboration which would
not have been allowed in the 1960s. This accompanies a new affirmation of sexual iden-
tity in monastic life, especially in female communities. An Italian Benedictine nun says :  
« The renunciation of marriage on the part of a consecrated woman no longer signifies

 
renunciation of one’s own femininity or of relations with the other sex ». 2 This affirma-    
1 N. Pancer, Au-delà du sexe et du genre. L’indifférenciation des sexes en milieu monastique (VIe-VIIe siècles), « Revue
 
de l’histoire des religions », 219, 2002, p. 322. Our translation.

 
2 B. Zorzi, La vita monastica a 40 anni dal concilio. Valutando il post-concilio : istanze accolte e disattese, sfide e pro-
 
spettive (di “genere”), in Church, society and monasticism, p. 337. Our translation.
tion of « femininity » can be found for instance in the new custom observed by Caroline
   
Lardy among Carmelites 1 i.e. the possibility to wear cosmetics and dye their hair. This
 
has also to be understood as a new affirmation of the independence of female monas-

ticism from the masculine monastic structure and especially from masculine concep-
tions of female religious life.
2. 2. How socio-historical context builds monasticism

Parallel to the internal evolutions of particular communities, we should also outline
the specific tradition of each kind of monasticism in each country. Each national mo-
nasticism is the fruit of a long religious and social history which leads a distinctive form
of monastic life. The degree of secularisation or, in other words, the importance of
religion in each society also plays a relevant role in the way monasticism evolves.
Let us give some examples of the construction of these differences and what leads
monastic communities to change elements of their tradition. France and Austria are
antithetic cases. France has a turbulent religious history which gave rise twice (the Rev-
olution and the 19th century) to suppressions of monasteries accompanied by the con-
fiscation of their goods, which have never been fully recovered. Monastic parishes were
also suppressed within the context of the Revolution. The refoundations at the end of
the 19th century opened up a different form of monasticism compared with before the
Revolution. As Danièle Hervieu-Léger notes, 2 almost all refounders are priests (Dom
 
Guéranger, Jean-Baptiste Muard, etc.) and had a very romantic and idealized image of
monasticism from the Middle Ages as a model which in reality never existed. This ex-
plains the present model of French monasticism which is very contemplative and had
to develop a new form of economics with small enterprises inside the monastery.
Monasteries in Austria underwent a very different evolution. Already in the 15th cen-
tury, Benedictine monasteries experienced a reform (the Melk Reform), giving greater
space to study and cultural activities in monastic life. The motto of Benedictine mo-
nasticism became « Ora et labora et lege » and monks chose to change their habit (for
   
instance renouncing the hood) to one better reflecting their choice of intellectual ac-
tivities. Three centuries later, the emperor Joseph II, influenced by the theories of the
French economist Quesnay, decided to abolish communities which did not have a « so-  
cially useful activity ». It is for this reason that monasteries tried to open more schools
 
and take charge of more parishes. They also had to accept parishes from the state and
evolutions in their monastic life (prayer for example) required by the Emperor. Nowa-
days in Austria it is difficult to distinguish between the ways of life of monastic and
apostolic communities. And it is also for this reason that we can find only one female
contemplative Benedictine community (and two apostolic ones) because the other
ones were shut down. The current degree of secularisation – in the sense of separation
of the spheres and the decline of traditional religions – also plays a relevant role. For
instance, we cannot compare France with Italy or Austria where the Catholic religion
is still prominent in the public sphere and the percentage of attendance is high. In this
context new monastic communities founded by French nuns and monks, such as the
Communauté de l’Agneau and the Petites Soeurs de Bethlehem, are – along with Car-
mel – almost the only monastic communities in Austria which are really contemplative.
1 C. Lardy, Travail et vie monastique : enquête filmique dans un Carmel de France, Atelier National de reproduction
 
des thèses, 2004. 2 Research in progress.

In France we find very contemplative monasticism still presenting traditional forms
of asceticism (fasting, for instance) even if asceticism, activities within the monastery
and greater fidelity to the habit and enclosure are also redefined. Austrian monks, on
the other hand, do not always live in their communities because of their parish activi-
ties, are free not to wear the habit, to go to the cinema, saunas and so on. Ascetic prac-
tices such as fasting have almost disappeared from these communities. It would be in-
teresting to investigate practical differences in the ways of same-order (and sometimes
same-congregation) monasteries in different European countries.
2. 3. Tradition as legitimisation
As monasticism does not claim to have been founded by God, tradition is its main
instrument of legitimisation : « If the Church derives from divine institution, monasti-
   
cism can base its authority only on the Rule and precepts. […] Monks cannot use such
a system to establish their authority in their various institutes. They therefore have to
resort to Tradition ». 1    
This faithfulness to tradition is present under different guises in traditional commu-

nities. First of all, we can observe systems in monastic daily life which ensure its con-
tinuity. In Benedictine monasteries a chapter of the Rule is theoretically read each day
and in communities where this is no longer the case, the abbot reads and comments
on a chapter once a week. The reading in the refectory or chapter on monks’ birthdays
and anniversaries of profession, and anniversaries of deaths or significant dates for the
congregation, also contribute to building the community’s collective memory. An in-
teresting example is that of the monastery of Agbang in Togo, founded in 1984 by a
Togolese monk who wanted to build an African monasticism for Africans and joined
the Benedictine Congregation of Saint Ottilien (Germany) in 1995. Each day after din-
ner in the refectory, in the middle of the bush, a monk recalls the memory of the
congregation with birthdays and the deaths of German and other monks. Recommen-
dations for novices to read the texts of the Fathers of the Desert or great figures of mo-
nastic history also ensure the continuity of a particular community within the history
of monasticism. Although each congregation and each country has its own monastic
tradition, as we have already noted, each community also seeks to join in the history
of monasticism in general and to unite its memory with that of the order in order to
prove its legitimacy. Buildings also play a relevant role in the community’s collective
memory. 2 As a Benedictine monk in Praglia said in an interview, he would not have
 
been willing to enter a community which lives in new buildings because the memory
of the place was a determining factor for him. The identity of monasticism is therefore
based on this tradition toward which today’s monks and nuns wish to remain faithful.
Nevertheless, this does not mean that traditional monasteries do not change their
daily life. As already mentioned, mutations in monastic life are the fruit of two kinds of
influences. First of all, main changes are often not initiated by monks themselves but
are rather a consequence of socio-economic developments. This can be observed, for
instance, in the evolutions of work and economy in monastic life. 3 Here monasticism  
has to adapt itself and recompose its religious justifications in order to integrate new
1 B. Delpal, Le Silence des moines, Les Trappistes au XIXème siècle, Paris, Beauchesne, 1998, p. 15. Our transla-
tion. 2 M. Halbwachs, La mémoire collective, Paris, Albin Michel, 1997.
3 I. Jonveaux, Le Monastère au travail, Le Royaume de Dieu au défi de l’économie, Paris, Bayard, 2011.
forms of work and economy in the monastic project. A relevant example is the re-or-
ganization of prayer time to leave more space for work. A lot of communities have re-
duced the number of offices or combined one of them with mass so that the monks do
not need to interrupt their work too often. A second kind of mutation comes from the
will of monks themselves to make monastic life plausible in their socio-historical con-
text. But in all these transmutations monks and nuns try to keep monastic life as close
to tradition as possible. This is why we can observe strategies of recomposition aimed
at integrating these mutations into monastic tradition, without changing the tradition
itself. One argument for this is that it is a return to a more authentic monastic life, clos-
er to the original. Monks, to give an example, emphasize that the habit was initially a
working garment in tune with the society of the time. Distance from society increased
over time, and the short habit or rejection of the habit can be seen as a return towards
its original meaning. Since the Rule cannot be modified, congregations use another
instrument called « constitutions » which allow them to adopt the rules of monastic life
   
to the present time. General chapters, which gather abbots and representatives of each
community every four years, also vote on possible changes to these constitutions.
3. New Monasticism. An ouverture

Owing the scarceness of national and international census data, it is impossible to be
precise about the number of NMCs existing in the world. This lack can be imputed to
three factors : first, NMCs have a high infant-mortality rate : second, many of them are
   
so small that they are practically unknown outside a restricted local area : and third,  
researchers are not in agreement about the precise definition of « monastic » among    
the broad range of « new religious communities ». 1 The only mapping at our disposal
     
– which is only partial as it represents a preliminary reconnaissance sortie – shows that

NMCs are concentrated principally in the United States and in Europe. 2 In Europe they  
flourish above all in France, Italy and Spain. On the basis of my definition of NMC, and
founding my analysis on this survey, I can state that in France there are about 50 NCMs,
in Italy 45 and in Spain 10. 3  
Vatican II is a symbolic point in the « authorized biography » of most NMCs. Never-

   
theless, while it is true that it modified the institutional context by creating the terrain
where NMCs’ chances and plausibility are rooted, it is equally true that the communi-
ties’ founders based their interpretation on the « Spirit of the Council » rather than on
   
its documents. More specifically, their Weltanschauung – recognizable in their theologi-

cal, spiritual and political choices – is grafted onto an understanding of certain Council
principles influencing the theology of religious life which is as enthusiastic and radical
as it is creative and personal. 4  
1 According to G. Rocca, Primo censimento delle nuove comunità, Rome, Urbaniana University Press, 2010, one
of the very few scholars in this field, they are organizations with the following characteristics : they are based on
 
celibacy, whether they take a vow or are bound by other bonds : they adopt communal life, either wholly or in
 
part : they contribute (almost) all their resources to a common fund : they accept internal control on the part of
   
assembly-elected authorities : they live autonomously as a community of the consecrated or associates of a move-
 
ment : and they may count among their members celibate, unmarried and married members.
 
2 Rocca, Primo censimento delle nuove comunità.

3 See also S. Palmisano, Exploring New Monastic Communities, Farnham, Ashgate, (forthcoming).
4 It was not only the indications of the Perfectae Caritatis decree so much as other post-Conciliar principles
which have nothing to do – at least directly – with religious orders that stimulated the development of NMCs
(Lumen Gentium, Gaudium et Spes, Unitatis Redintegratio, Orientale Lumen…).
In order to understand the distinctiveness of NMCs, one should also bear in mind
that impulses towards change find fertile ground in men and women more or less close
to « new theological thought ». 1 This intellectual stream – designed to update Christian-
     
ity in the context of modern culture and new scientific cosmology – has achieved an
epoch-making change in Catholic theology by redefining many fundamental concepts
of traditional doctrine (e.g. the soul, original sin, eschatology) in a symbolic-allegorical
sense. The theology of NMC founders becomes relevant on a practical level too, in
terms of the ethical principles which spring from it. In other words, that orientation
has driven them to adopt many instances described by sociologists as typical of ad-
vanced modernity such, as individualisation, subjectivisation, gender sensitivity and
self-fulfilment.
My thesis is that even if, as we have seen in the previous section, important changes
are taking place in traditional communities, in sociological perspective there is at least
one fundamental difference between New and Old monasteries : while the ideal-type  
characteristics of New Monks (Rule of Life, assiduous prayer, vows, more-or-less radi-
cal separation from the world) are similar to those of traditional monks, what is new
is that whereas in classical monasticism management of those aspects is entrusted to
an institution safeguarding respect for traditions, in NMCs they are controlled by the
founders and their followers who develop them creatively, inspired by the tradition
which grants them legitimation.
In other words, by virtue of their genesis, NMCs wish to remain outside the Ordo
monasticus, from which they keep their distance in the conviction that they are differ-
ent from – if not better than – them. This autonomy marks an important juridical dis-
tinction. In contrast with classical monastic orders, which are recognized as religious
orders, NMCs are mainly recognized as (private or public) Associations of the Faithful.
This recognition, which is in practice the responsibility of the bishop of the diocese
where the community resides, canonically approves its lay character. 2 Canon lawyers  
explain that NMCs cannot be recognized as religious orders because they demonstrate
characteristics which distinguish them radically from the consecrated life known hith-
erto and they are not compatible with the Canon Law in force. Mixed communities
– men and women « under the same roof » – are the ones which suffer most from this
   
point of view because their co-presence delegitimizes their claim to be institutions of

consecrated life, unless they reform the community by dividing it into two separate
and distinct branches. 3  
In the next section, moving from empirical research on Italian NMCs, 4 I shall exam-  
ine what is still plausible for monks today and what, on the other hand, is subject to re-
appraisal or refutation. Thus the section is divided into three parts, designed to answer
the following questions. What innovations have been introduced ex novo, causing clear
1 This expression indicates the direction given to post-World War II French theology by a large group of
priests : it is characterized by a summons to return to historical study of theological questions outside the meta-
 
physical designs of scholastic philosophy, by particular sensitivity towards patristic Greek themes and consider-
able openness towards modern thought. Some exponents were H. de Lubac, J. Daniélou, H. Bouillard and Y. de
Montcheuil. 2 S. Recchi, Novità e Tradizione nella Vita Consacrata, Milan, Ancora, 2004.
3 A. Neri, L’ istituto unico maschile e femminile di vita consacrata, Rome, Lateran University Press, 2002.
4 Since the universe of new communities has faint and shifting boundaries – many of which have drifted into
sectarianism, prompting ecclesiastical authorities to sanction or even suppress them – I have chosen to examine
only those whose “Catholicism” is demonstrated by canonical recognition or at least by ecclesiastical authorities
recognizing them as such.
discontinuity with traditions ? What traditional elements have been re-interpreted, and
 
in what way(s) ? What elements have been rejected, and why ?

   
3. 1. Innovations
NMCs have introduced three important innovations which radically distinguish them
from traditional monastic communities, both from the spiritual-liturgical and organi-
zation-juridical points of view :  
1. The “bricolage” Rule of Life. In classical orders the Rule is the text, usually dating
back to the founder of the stream of tradition the monastery belongs to, which con-
tains the community’s life plan. 1 Since NMC refuse to be part of the Ordo monasticus,
 
they do not adopt these traditional Rules. They create their own Rules which have
a « composite » character. Although every Rule may be considered composite to the
   
extent that it draws upon teaching and experience from different sources, those of
NMCs are even more so. As Landron notes for the French, 2 in many cases they com-
 
bine Catholic sources (monastic rules, writings of the saints) with non-Catholic ones
( Judaism, Eastern Churches, Pentecostal-Charismatics, yoga, zen and Transcendental
Meditation), careless of the theological dissonances that spring from mingling such
different visions of the world, humanity and God. Italian NMCs’ Rules confirm this in-
terweaving, although their do-it-yourself – influenced by Italian Catholic monoculture
– is tendentially nourished from a limited range of non-Christian sources :  
2. Charismatic leadership. NMCs are different from classical ones because whereas the
latter are governed by an abbot/abbess or a prior/ess duly regularly elected (legal pow-
er), the former are guided by a charismatic leader whose word often means more than
the community Rule. The latter, as distinct from priors and abbots who by Canon Law
must be priest, may be lay. Secondly, NMCs are usually organizations in the state of
being born, that is movements supported by effervescence and spontaneity rather than
institutions inspired by a formalized bureaucratic principle. This implies a short hier-
archy and a flat structure, characteristics theoretically favouring broad participation
of the members. Nevertheless, it must be noted that the excessive weight attributed
to the founder may also obstruct participatory governance. What’s more, the absence
of the « elders » – who, in traditional monasteries, act as a counterweight to the abbot’s
   
« excessive power » – impedes effective control of the leaders’ exercise of power and, as
   
a consequence, they may abuse their power causing the communities’ ruin :  
3. Mixité. As distinct from classical monastic communities, which provide for exclu-
sively male or exclusively female communal life, NMCs are « mixed » because – in many
   
cases – they are made up of male and female monks who live « under the same roof »    
and admit lay members (single, married couples or family) who live close to the mon-
astery or further away in private dwellings. Finally, these are “mixed” communities also
in the sense that their ecumenical commitment has induced some of them to institute
the cohabitation of different Christian denominations : Catholic, Protestant and Or-
 
thodox.
It is well known that neither the cohabitation of monks and nuns nor the presence of
laymen is a novelty in monastic history. With regard to living together, while it is true
1 To give a shining example, Benedictine, Trappist and Cistercian monasteries all refer to the Regula Benedicti
which governs the material and spiritual aspects of their lives.
2 O. Landron, Les Communautés nouvelles. Nouveaux visages du catholicisme français, Paris, Cerf, 2004.
that there have been experiences of mixed monasticism – such as the dual monasteries
of the late Middle Ages – in those days the male and female branches were largely sepa-
rate. 1 In the NMCs, by contrast, monks and nuns pray, eat and work together. In Bose
 
community – one of the most important in Italy, made up of male and female monks
from different Christian denominations 2 – every day monks and nuns share their meals
 
while conversing : they sing the Divine Office in polyphony : they cooperate in the mon-
   
astery’s main professional activities, from hospitality to gardening and from cooking to
printing. From the beginning, this cohabitation has been criticized by external observ-
ers (e.g. bishops, clergy, guests, single-sex monastery monks) who are worried about
possible infatuation. Interviews with brethren and sisters, however, reveal that, rather
than sentimental relationships, it is inter-gender-related tensions which threaten com-
munal life. As in family life, so also in monasteries different sensitivities may conflict,
to the extent that cohabitation between monks and nuns is unanimously defined by
interviewees as « expensive grace », « squaring the circle », « making the impossible pos-
         
sible ». Conflicts may break out in both the material and spiritual spheres. In the former
 
case the casus belli can be found in the ordinary management of daily life, and analysis
reveals the emergence of stereotypes of women as becoming more ruffled than men
by sudden change but with greater ability in interpersonal relations and in listening. 3  
In the latter – spiritual matters – interviewees point out some basic differences which
they consider the cause of misunderstanding, from the introspection of men, who are
« more sober and reserved about spiritual matters », to women’s greater need « to mea-
     
sure themselves, for a longer period, against various aspects of their own life of prayer ». 4    
With regard to the admission of laypeople, if one examines the oblate system in clas-
sical monasteries, one realizes that the phenomenon of laypersons flexibly affiliated
with monks has been around for a long time. Nevertheless, they have little influence
on the core of the institution and their role is recognized by everybody, themselves in-
cluded, as being secondary to that of the monks. In the NMCs, by contrast, the weight
of the lay members can be preponderant, not only because they are sometimes more
numerous than the monks (in many Italian NMCs up to 80 per cent of the members),
but also because they usually play an active role in the community. Yet the admission
of laypeople into monks’ life is not unanimously accepted. Some NMC founders who
have refused to open a lay branch in their community maintain that cohabitation be-
tween monks and family is a potential source of failure in monastic life because of the
« miscegenation of two different anthropological models ».
   
1 G. Andenna, Uomini e Donne in Comunità in Età Medioevale, in Nuove forme di vita consacrata, a cura di R. Fu-
sco, G. Rocca, Rome, Urbaniana University Press, 2010, pp. 163-77.
2 Research on Bose cannot ignore the fact that, among all the NMCs born in Europe in recent decades, it is
one of those which has achieved greatest fame, visibility and prestige, not only among believers but also among
a wider – not religiously oriented – public. At present Bose consists of 79 members (46 monks and 33 nuns), of
whom 66 are professed, 5 probands, 5 novices and three postulants. Although the great majority are Italian, some
come from other countries, including France, Spain, Switzerland and Sri Lanka (Palmisano forthcoming).
3 A curious stereotypical example of the difference between male and female attitudes is given by one of the
monks interviewed. He asserts that if one tells a kitchen worker that today, because of an oversight, there will be
300 guests instead of the expected 150, a monk takes it in his stride, whereas a nun loses her cool.
Even though insofar no NMCs has failed under the conflict between men and women, the question of au-
4 ��
thority, or who should or could command in a mixed community, is becoming an hot issue, not confined within
the monastery but also of interest to Canon Law experts. Some of them claim that now is the time for Catholi-
cism to face up to the matter because the situation – not envisaged by Canon Law – could arise in NMCs where
a nun becomes hierarchically superior to monks and priests
Interdenominational mixité gives rise to even more dramatic problems. Again in
Bose – the only Italian community of its kind – it is the theological-liturgical dimen-
sion which is the potential bone of contention. When the community was still in its
infancy, the prior faced the necessity of getting Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox to
pray together. For this reason he wrote a personal document, Oecumenical Liturgy of
the Hours, drawing on those in use in other European oecumenical communities. This
text, updated and expanded, is that which still today inspires the community’s prayer.
The main innovation is that, although the liturgy maintains the Latin structure, the
text – litanies and prayers – are derived from various Eastern and Western churches, in
addition to influences from Sufi and Hebrew prayers. According to the monks, oecu-
menism is a source of enrichment as well as reason for disagreement. An example of
oecumenical mediation – arrived at by the monks after serious conflict – is the feast of
Mary the Daughter of Sion, substituting that of the Immaculate Conception celebrate
by the Catholic Church on December 8th :  
Until fifteen years age, The Catholic members went to Mass in the parish church and the non-
Catholic members did not celebrate Mass. Then we realised that the Virgin Mary should not
divide us, so for December 8th we invented the feast of « Mary the Daughter of Sion » which
   
has deep Biblical Roots and so offers us the possibility of celebrating it toghether. This does
not mean that the Catholics do not believe in the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. On
the contrary, the Catholics celebrate Mary’s other feast-days, such as the Assumption and the
Nativity... (B. 14 Feb 2013).
3. 2. Re-interpretation
New Monks preserve some consubstantial practices of monastic life, but – similarly to
traditional communities – they adapt them so that they are plausible in their eyes. In
this section we focus on Italian NMCs’ revision in the prayer life and in the organiza-
tion of work.
Monastic life of every kind and in every age incorporates the practice of personal
and communal prayer. The Benedictine tradition has contributed to the diffusion of re-
citing the divine office according to Opus dei’s pattern, which expects monks to pray to-
gether seven times a day plus night rising. Many NMCs all over the world have chosen
to restrict the time spent in collective prayer and extend that spent in personal prayer
similar to some famous Benedectine communities who have done the same, but not
without some tensions. 1  
In the Italian communities, rationalisation of collective prayer times has meant

lengthening personal prayer times which are entirely organized by the individual. Here
a Bose monk describes how the management of personal morning prayer is left to their
own direction and that there is no control on its practice :  
In the morning instead of divine office we do individual lectio divina, everyone in his/her own
cell. The time suggested is between 4.30 and 5, but if I need to sleep an extra half-hour I can do
it later (G.).
1 The Saint André monastery in Bruges, Belgium, is particularly interesting. When – after Vatican II and the
introduction of the vernacular into the liturgy – the francophone group was invited to found a new community
in Louvain-la-Neuve, the monks of the new foundation (including eminent liturgists and biblists) considered it
desiderable to have only three daily common officies. An interesting evolution shows that they turned in the two
last decades to a more traditional monastic structure. There are now at least four offices together and two meals
are now in silent (breakfast and then most of the time dinner with a lecture). The liturgy also turned to a more
traditional form. (Field inquiry I.J. April 2014).
There is no control… we have total responsibilization. In this way everybody may open
his heart and say to his Master of novices :  
Listen, I’m having trouble praying in the morning… I pretend that I wake up at 4.30 but really
I only turn on the light so that people who see the light think that I’m reading the lectio divina,
but in truth I’m still asleep. (B.)
The decision to concentrate communal prayer into three points of the day is justified
not only on a spiritual level. The NMCs claim that this rationalization makes more
time available for the work which is – as distinct from classical communities of the
patrimonial kind – their main source of income. The livehood of the Italian NMCs is
based on three main sources of income : hospitality, sell monastery products nor exer-
 
cise professions outside the walls. Although classical monasteries have the same means
of subsistence, there are some noticeable differences. The most important is that while
in the classical monasteries usually one kind of occupation dominates – for example,
the production of beer, cheeses or liqueurs – various activities co-exist in NMCs, at
least in the larger ones. The most lively Italian NMCs show this variety : from skilled  
trades (icons, candles, ceramics) to oeno-gastronomic products (wine, oils, jams, sauc-
es) : from publishing (translations, Gospel commentaries, writings on spirituality) to
 
making bread and biscuits. Secondly, although there are exceptions, NMCs are more
open than classical communities to working outside the monastery, not only for eco-
nomic reasons but also to add value to the monks’ academic and professional curricula.
These differences are symptomatic of a reinterpretation of work not only as a means
of asceticism but also as personal fulfilment – a change however which, as we have seen
in the previous section, is also taking place in many classical communities.
3. 3. Rejection
New Monks reject some consubstantial practices of monastic life which are also partly
disappearing from traditional communities. But, differently from these latter, NMCs’
refusals, like their innovative characteristics, reveal the logic of challenge guiding new
foundations in their protest against previous monastic institutions. 1 As I have already  
pointed out, this contestation is linked with the need to return to ideal primitive mo-
nasticism, a mythical past (a more authentic wellspring) by which the innovators claim
to be inspired. An analysis of the refusal of enclosure, fuga mundi and habit will help us
to understand this conflictual drive.
Although some notable differences can be seen in the NMCs’ Italian sample, all of
the leaders, both men and women, declare that they observe no kind of enclosure in
their houses. Enclosure, often referred to as « the desert », assumes the nature of self
   
discipline applied through judicious management of time rather than of space with
the aim of facilitating interior reflection. Since this idea is also increasingly widespread
in traditional communities, and since NMCs too preserve a private space which is for-
bidden to outsiders, one might argue that there is no difference between old and new
monasticism. But this conclusion is erroneous, at least for the Italian context in which
interviews with traditional monks reveal that abbots do not usually encourage their
1 J. Séguy, Les sociétés imaginées : monachisme et utopie, in « Annales. Économie, Sociétés, Civilisation », 26, 1971,
     
2, pp. 328-54.
members to eat out, go to the cinema, to an exhibition or to book holiday singularly
in typical touristic places. Empirical analysis supplies evidence that NMCs’ rejection of
enclosure results in more serious consequences for community life than its metaphor-
making in traditional communities. 1 This is because such a rejection forms an integral
 
part of New Monasticsm’s (more-or-less explicit) challenge to the old order.

In order to clarify these differences, I shall pause on the experience of NMCs which
have allowed atypical freedom of movement. In Bose, for example, enclosure is not
observed. The prior makes no effort to conceal his aversion to the enclosure, arguing
that it has cultural, historical and sociological reasons but evangelical. Surprisingly, and
decidedly counter to the most Italian open monasteries, and thriving on the economic
wellbeing which the community enjoys today, he encourages both brethren and sis-
ters to leave the monastery occasionally for pleasure and relaxation. They are allowed
monthly time off for recreation : a dinner, a concert or an exhibition to be paid for with
 
their monthly « pocket money », which they are free to use as they wish :
     
Every monk and nun is entitled to €50 « pocket money ». It’s not much but if s/he wants to go
   
to a pizzeria one evening, s/he does not have to go begging to the bursar : « Please let me have   
€20 for a Margherita and a beer ! » It’s not much, but it does allow a certain amount of freedom.
   
I believe this approach combining trust and freedom is more productive, it teaches them how to
become responsible of their own behaviour (Vice-prior 24- 09-2013).
Among NMCs only a meagre majority wear the habit. This renunciation can be inter-
preted as a synedoche of a more general stripping of the « frills » traditionally associ-
   
ated with the ideality of monks, but which today have no meaning even for those who
choose cloistered life. Even if their desire not to distance themselves from lay society
is the main motivation for refusing the habit, interviews reveal two further intercon-
nected reasons. The first concerns the monk’s humanization itinerary : removing the  
habit, as with any formal gear, helps him to be aware of his « normality », of his « sinful
     
nature », of his not being « holier than thou ». Secondly, refusing the habit means re-
     
jecting the ceremonial uniformity expected in pre-Conciliar convents and monasteries.

Monks and nuns stress both their individuality and their distance from the Church. The
garment is refused because it stands for their membership in the Church and thus for
their social rather than personal identity.
4. Discussion
The NMCs seek to position themselves as (re)invention of tradition, which is though
as a radically break with traditional monasticism. But the difference between New and
Old communities is not only a matter of degree : thus the hiatus is not noticeable if we
 
simply compare the daily-life practices of the two, trying to find the authors of the most
audacious changes. The attempt is destined to fail because – as we have seen in the pre-
vious sections – traditional communities today are much closer (in practice if not in the-
ory) to the new communities than either of them would be willing to admit. We shall
now summarise the three main reasons helping to explain this tendential convergence :  
1. In the wake of the Second Vatican Council, traditional monasteries have changed
profoundly in order to adapt to modernity, introducing important innovations which
1 D. Hervieu-Léger, « Tenersi fuori dal mondo » : le diverse valenze dell’extramondanità monastica, in « Etnografia e
       
ricerca qualitativa », 2, 2012, pp. 185-202.

 
went in the same sense like some orientations of the NMCs and thus reduced the prac-
tical difference between both of them. Monasticism – as we by now clearly understand
– is not exempt from the transformations assailing society as a whole. So it is not a
surprise that the individualistic impulses of advanced modernity have not stopped at
the monastery gates :  
2. Particular NMC innovations have proved to be founding characteristics of tradi-

tional communities outside Italy. While it is true that Italian NMCs radicalise changes
which have been only tenuously adopted by most traditional Italian monasteries, it is
also true that traditional communities can be found in Europe where the style of life
closely resembles that of NMCs. Examination of contemporary European monasti-
cism shows up marked differences in the organization of communities’ lives, mainly
explained by the variable of each individual country’s social and religious history. To
give but one example, abandoning enclosure in favour of work outside the monastery
is considered typical of NMCs, one of their primary innovative aspects. But a study of
traditional monasteries in Austria demonstrates that most of their work takes place
outside the monastery, either in schools or in parishes. 1 External work, far from being a
 
novelty, has its roots in the eighteenth century when the emperor Joseph II, in line with
the theories of the French economist Quesnay, promulgated a law closing religious
communities which did not make a profit for society :  
3. The biggest and most prosperous NMCs are facing a process of institutional in-
tegration and operative routinisation which has the effect of eroding innovative traits
characteristic of the original effervescence. As a consequence they end up resembling
traditional communities. The history of Bose is an example of this process. This com-
munity, born out of a radical return to the origins of monastic life (austere poverty,
small size, work outside the monastery, no habit, sober liturgy), experienced rapid so-
cial and economic development leading it gradually to abandon its original nature for
the traditional monastic model (monumental buildings, work inside the monastery,
liturgical habit, polyphonic and, sometimes, Gregorian psalmodic chants).
To sum up, we are witnessing an intersecting movement : while Old communities are
 
changing to become more like the New, the latter are becoming institutionalised and as-
suming forms and patterns of the former. Well then, in the light of this tendential con-
vergence, how can we explain the difference between them ? Our answer in this paper  
has been that it is not a matter of degree but of changing perspectives. Goffman’s met-
aphor of « frame » as « definition of the situation » helps to make this point clear 2. Work-
         
ing within a framework implies taking for granted (or at least sharing) the assumptions,
rules and values of a given interaction context. Modifying the frame means calling it
into question, problematizing it or changing it. Monastic tradition may be interpreted
as a frame to the extent that it institutes common sense with regard to how a monk’s
or a nun’s life can be put into practice : a reworking intended to judge or modify its
 
basic assumptions means changing the frame. We maintain that NMCs have launched
a paradigm shift, which claim is particularly supported by two research findings :  
1. NMCs were born polemically outside the Ordo monasticus. Whereas traditional
communities introduce innovations which do not, however, invalidate monasticism’s
1 I. Jonveaux, Redefinition of the Role of Monks in Modern Society : Economy as Monastic Opportunity, in Sociology
 
and Monasticism, cit., pp. 71-86.

2 E. Goffman, Frame analysis : An essay on the organization of experience, Cambridge-Mass., Harvard University
 
Press, 1974.
basic assumptions (which remain in the frame), NMCs question these assumptions (in
which sense they are changing the frame) and they redefine the very identity of monas-
ticism. It is time to give some examples. No matter how hard Benedictine communities
try to update the Regula Benedicti, they do not abandon it : on the contrary, their loyalty
 
is ensured by almost daily reading of a chapter. No matter how much they encourage
collaboration between monks and nuns in neighbouring monasteries, they have no
interest in initiating experiments of cohabitation « under the same roof ». Ultimately
   
Benedictine monks wish to preserve tradition because they see in it the source of le-
gitimacy of monasticism itself. Therefore to integrate the changes which they make,
they develop strategies of recomposition (for instance, as Jonveaux notes, they invent
religious-type justification for professional and economic innovations). In any case, the
changes – often imposed by the necessity of adapting to transformations of society or
market imperatives – are registered in monasticism’s chain of memories. Briefly, the
principal divergence between Old and New communities is their ideological position
vis-à-vis tradition, which marks a watershed : in Old Monasticism the institution is the
 
guarantor of tradition, instilling respect for its basic assumptions, whereas in New Mo-
nasticism founders interpret tradition liberally, developing it creatively by modifying
its basic assumptions.
2. The discomfort of ecclesiastical authorities tasked with validating NMCs’ authen-
ticity confirms the gap between Old and New monasticism. Bishops are reluctant to le-
gitimate them because they subvert the traditional requisites of religious life : in other
 
words, they change the frame. Apart from the problems that bishops have to face in
managing their dioceses, the mountain of work under which they are buried and the
lack of directives with respect to new communities, it is the audacity and disruption of
NMCs’ innovations (mixité, oecumenism, temporary vows) which slow down and de-
lay the recognition procedure. In essence it is the variable principle determining their
ambiguous legitimacy which is the radical novelty of NMCs.
5. Conclusion
Comparing Old and New Monastic Communities is a promising field of study reveal-
ing various dynamics of tradition and adaptations to present social evolutions. Monas-
tic life in Europe is not homogeneous, especially not in its relations with society, the
institutional Church and the history of monasticism. New communities founded after
the Council adopt a position of rupture with tradition whereas Old communities con-
sider it as a pillar of their identity and their justification. But joint evolutions of New
and Old communities are reducing the practical differences between them.
Variegated patterns can therefore be observed, constituting an unstable set which is
open to evaluation according to external criteria. It would be interesting to explore the
factors accounting for why New communities flourish in some societies (for example,
Italy and France) and not in others (Austria) which welcome New communities found-
ed in other countries. Founding New Communities is closely linked to a country’s reli-
gious circumstances and Old Communities’ contemporary orientation.
CommunautÉ et autoritÉ :  
une double mutation

Danièle Herv ieu-Léger
C es réflexions procèdent d’une enquête conduite dans les monastères bénédictins

et cisterciens français (masculins exclusivement). Cette enquête est le pivot d’une
recherche en cours sur la confrontation – dans le « laboratoire » du monachisme – entre
   
le temps chrétien et le temps du monde, objet d’un ouvrage à paraître.
« Il y a cinquante ans, on ne parlait pas de communauté… »

   
De tous les thèmes évoqués par les moines eux-mêmes au fil des entretiens, celui de la
centralité de la communauté et de la vie communautaire dans la définition même de la
vie monastique est un de ceux qui vient au premier plan. Cette insistance porte, avant
tout, sur la qualité relationnelle de cette vie communautaire, et sur le témoignage de
paix et d’harmonie qu’elle doit offrir à l’extérieur. Il n’y a rien là qui devrait en principe
susciter l’étonnement : la vie en commun caractérise en propre les cénobites auxquels
 
s’adresse la Règle de Saint-Benoît, et celle-ci met fortement l’accent sur l’attention fra-
ternelle qui doit prévaloir entre eux. La pratique de cette charité entre frères est, par
ailleurs, tout entière encadrée par les liens de l’obéissance que chacun et tous doivent
à leur abbé, dont l’autorité attentive doit garantir une gestion des relations interper-
sonnelles adéquate au but ultime de la vie monastique, qui est la recherche de Dieu.
L’ordre communautaire instauré par la relation d’obéissance à l’abbé est inséparable
de l’attention que des moines qui « aiment leur abbé d’une charité humble et sincère »
   
se doivent les uns aux autres, en conformité avec le même impératif évangélique de la
charité. Le rapport de chaque moine à l’abbé, expression directe du rapport qui le lie au
Christ lui-même, entraîne dans son sillage, comme un des fruits spirituels témoignant
de la qualité de ce rapport, la sollicitude fraternelle qui doit lier entre eux d’authenti-
ques disciples.
Sur cette trame qui tisse ensemble la question de l’autorité et celle de la communau-
té se sont nouées des problématiques et des pratiques très diverses de la vie commu-
nautaire, selon les contextes sociaux et culturels, et selon la personnalité des abbés eux-
mêmes. Mais la séquence contemporaine – des refondations du xix e au monachisme
d’aujourd’hui – semble avoir été celle d’une mutation telle, en ce domaine, que les plus
anciens des moines d’aujourd’hui (ceux qui sont âgés de 75 ans et plus) sont unanime-
ment portés – quels que soient par ailleurs leur ordre, ou bien le style et l’orientation
du monastère auquel ils appartiennent – à la désigner comme la plus caractéristique et
surtout la plus lourde d’implications concrètes, parmi les évolutions considérables qu’a
connues la vie monastique depuis les années 60.
Au cœur de ce changement, il y a la montée en puissance saisissante du thème de
la « vie fraternelle en communauté » dans la définition du « témoignage monastique »
       
produite par les moines eux-mêmes. Cette approche donne une valeur proprement
spirituelle à la qualité affective du souci que les moines ont les uns des autres dans tous
les aspects de la vie commune, dans ses aspects domestiques ordinaires autant que dans
36 danièle hervieu-léger
les conjonctures décisionnelles plus lourdes d’implications pour la vie du monastère.
La qualité de la vie communautaire n’est pas, dans cette perspective, une expression
dérivée d’une vie monastique authentique entièrement ordonnée à la recherche de
Dieu : elle en est le fondement et le principe d’authentification aux yeux du monde.
 
Nombreux sont les témoins qui, en soulignant ce transfert, insistent aussitôt sur les
occurrences évangéliques multiples permettant d’établir la coïncidence parfaite de la
recherche de Dieu et d’un souci du prochain mis en œuvre, dans le cadre du monas-
tère, à travers toutes les relations de chaque moine avec ses frères. Cette « révolution »
   
n’affecterait donc pas, in fine, le sens profond de la vie selon la Règle. La puissance
de l’impératif de la continuité s’impose ici, comme dans toutes les circonstances de
la vie religieuse : l’évidence du changement doit nécessairement être rapportée à une
 
« fidélité à la tradition » parfaitement préservée. Néanmoins, tous s’attardent, en même

   
temps, sur la transformation intervenue dans le style des relations communautaires,

en marquant presque toujours le lien que cette transformation entretient avec une
conception et une pratique renouvelée de l’autorité abbatiale.
Certains n’hésitent pas à présenter la mutation comme une sorte de renversement :  
la préoccupation de la communauté n’était pas vraiment à l’agenda des monastères

dans les années 50, sinon en lien avec le soin scrupuleux de sa régularité observante
sous la gouverne de l’abbé ; elle est aujourd’hui au cœur de la définition même de la
 
vie monastique. Evoquant un livret de présentation du monastère préparé par de jeu-

nes moines dans les années 75-80, livret dans lequel « le mot abbé ne figurait pas, mais
 
où il était question de la communauté à toutes les pages… », le P. Louis, ancien abbé

 
de Landevennec concluait sobrement ainsi : « Il y a cinquante ans, on ne parlait pas de

   
communauté ». La formule est abrupte, mais elle offre un parfait raccourci d’un propos
 
couramment tenu par ceux dont le parcours monastique a accompagné la mutation

pendant plusieurs décennies. Propos confirmé, par ailleurs, par la lecture des écrits des
fondateurs du xixe et plus encore de ceux de leurs successeurs immédiats : si le thème
 
de la « famille » formée par les moines autour de leur abbé y est extraordinairement
   
présent, la référence à la « communauté », avec ce qu’elle implique de relations inter-

   
subjectives entre égaux en son sein, fait presque entièrement défaut. Le monastère
dans lequel étaient entrés, dans les années 45-55, ceux qui confirment le plus fermement
aujourd’hui l’étendue du changement, était encore imprégné du modèle pyramidal de
la familia romaine, avec, à son sommet, l’abbé représenté en pater familias.
Ce souci communautaire envahissant, et les emphases spirituelles auxquelles il peut
donner lieu, font parfois l’objet de commentaires un peu ironiques de la part des plus
anciens. Mais, même chez les plus volontiers moqueurs, l’approbation donnée à ce
changement de cap est générale. Quelques prises de distance mesurées ne remettent
jamais en question les jugements par ailleurs très positifs qui accompagnent régulière-
ment le constat : pour tous sans exception – parmi ceux évidemment qui ont accepté
 
d’exprimer auprès de moi leur évaluation des tendances et perspectives actuelles du

monachisme – la dimension humaine et spirituelle de la vie en communauté a gagné
en qualité. La plupart du temps, cette insistance est aussitôt associée à l’exemple de la
première communauté apostolique et à cet amour des frères les uns pour les autres
qui manifestait au monde leur amour pour Dieu. Mais, on imagine bien que, selon les
monastères, selon les formes d’insertion de la communauté dans le tissu local, social
et ecclésial, selon le style d’exercice du pouvoir mis en œuvre par l’abbé, le contenu
de ce témoignage comporte évidemment bien des variantes. Moins que l’identification
communauté et autorité: une double mutation 37
de ces variantes, c’est le lien qui associe la « révolution communautaire » du présent à la
   
mutation radicale de la problématique de l’autorité qui nous intéresse ici.
« Autrefois, on parlait à l ’ abbé à genoux... » : de l ’ abbé maître

     
et monarque à l ’ abbé garant de l ’ unité de la communauté

Celle-ci est passée en effet par une redéfinition théologique majeure de la figure de
l’abbé (et, par voie de conséquence, des significations données à l’obéissance). Cette
mutation de la figure de l’abbé est clairement explicitée et mise en œuvre dans les mo-
nastères assumant (selon la formule consacrée) une « ouverture » à la culture contempo-    
raine ou, pour le dire autrement, chez ceux qui prennent en charge comme un devoir
collectif de rendre compte de ce qu’ils sont dans le monde tel qu’il est. Mais elle est
également au travail, de façon plus silencieuse (et parfois en dépit des affirmations en
sens contraire), même dans les monastères qui revendiquent de porter à ce monde le
témoignage inchangé des « moines de toujours ».
   
Cherchant à me signifier de la façon la plus parlante possible l’ampleur de la mu-

tation du rapport à l’abbé intervenue depuis les années 50-60 qui furent celles de leur
noviciat et de leurs premières années dans la vie monastique, plusieurs de mes inter-
locuteurs eurent recours à la même formule : « Vous imaginez ? On parlait au Père
     
Abbé à genoux ! ». Cette pratique était générale, dans les monastères trappistes aussi
   
bien que bénédictins. Une photographie (n°57) d’un ouvrage publié en 1957 sous le
titre Silence dans le ciel (avec une préface de Thomas Merton) 1 en offre une attesta-  
tion éclairante : on y voit un jeune moine, à genoux à côté de la table où son abbé
 
est en train d’écrire, attendant patiemment la note ou la lettre que celui-ci – on peut
le supposer – s’apprête à lui remettre. La photographie n’illustre pas une interaction
entre le moine et l’abbé suggérant expressément la soumission du premier au second,
comme l’aurait fait par exemple une image du moine s’adressant à genoux au Père
Abbé debout devant lui. Elle ne donne d’ailleurs pas à voir directement la posture
agenouillée dans laquelle se tient le moine : elle la laisse deviner, en faisant apparaître
 
le visage de celui-ci à la hauteur du coude de l’abbé, un peu au-dessus du plateau de la

table. Le Père Abbé ne regarde pas le jeune moine : il est entièrement occupé à écrire,
 
et celui-ci se contente d’attendre qu’il ait terminé, les bras le long du corps, avec un
visage parfaitement tranquille. Illustration de la vie ordinaire plutôt que mise en scène
d’une relation de dépendance, la photo s’applique à dédramatiser l’enjeu du rapport
inégal que suggère la posture du moine, en lui donnant le sens d’une manifestation de
l’« affection humble et sincère » que tout moine doit à son abbé. 2 Les moines qui ont
     
fait état aujourd’hui devant moi de la généralité de cette pratique n’étaient en général
guère portés à en endosser cette interprétation euphémisante. Cependant, si certains
en faisaient en contrepoint d’un récit personnel critique, parfois violent et occasion-
nellement amer, des conditions de l’inculcation de l’habitus monastique mise en œu-
vre dans ces mêmes années, la plupart ont souligné aussi la nécessité de tenir compte
d’un « contexte culturel » ou d’un « héritage historique » qui la leur faisait vivre, en leur
       
temps, comme « normale ».    
1 Ouvrage produit à l’abbaye de la Pierre-qui-Vire et édité chez Arthaud, à Paris.

2 Regula Sancti Benedicti LXXII. Cette citation de la Règle sert précisément de légende à la photo. Elle est
complétée par le commentaire figurant sur la page en vis-à-vis : « A l’écoute du Père. Toute la vie du moine dépend
   
de son Abbé “qu’il regarde comme le représentant du Père” (Règle) »  

Reste que tous retiennent aujourd’hui cette pratique comme un exemple typique de
ce qui n’est « simplement plus imaginable ». On ne saurait, sans aberration, imaginer
   
d’y faire retour. « Peut-être que les “tradis” reviennent à ce genre de chose, notait en
 
riant un de mes interlocuteurs, mais cela fait partie du folklore qu’ils prennent pour la
tradition ! ». En tout état de cause, aucun des abbés que j’ai rencontrés ne m’a dit pou-
   
voir se représenter faire lui-même l’objet d’une telle marque de déférence, considérée
par tous comme l’expression d’une conception de l’autorité abbatiale définitivement
révolue. « Plusieurs gestes de respect pratiqués au temps de ma jeunesse monastique
 
ont également été laissés de côté sans que cela signifie une quelconque dépréciation du
rôle de l’abbé », notait Dom G-M. Dubois, après avoir expliqué pourquoi, en ce qui le
 
concernait, il avait toujours préféré « laisser aux évêques l’usage de la mitre » : « autres
       
temps, autres mœurs ! ». 1 « Aujourd’hui, on tutoie l’abbé », commente un bénédictin de

         
l’abbaye de Belloc. « On vit sur un tout autre modèle que celui de la Cour royale que j’ai
 
connue quand je suis entré ». « On a désacralisé l’autorité du supérieur – remarque en

   
écho un moine de Landévennec – le sens de l’obéissance n’y a rien perdu, au contraire ».  
On est très loin, en tout état de cause, de la figure de l’abbé, docteur, évêque, mais aus-
si monarque dans son monastère, dont l’autorité était concrètement signifiée en une
multitude de gestes minuscules dont les moines se souviennent aujourd’hui : « Quand    
j’ai été élu abbé en 1952 – note le P. Denis Huerre, ancien abbé de La Pierre-qui-Vire où
il est entré en 1945, et ancien Abbé général de l’Ordre bénédictin – un convers faisait
mon lit ! L’abbé était un prince… Cela, c’est vraiment fini. Le Père Abbé reste le frère
 
untel ».  
Pour autant, dans aucun des monastères visités, ce style familier de l’exercice abba-
tial n’a été présenté comme comportant le risque d’une sorte d’affaiblissement ou de
dilution de l’importance du rôle spécifique de l’abbé et de son autorité dans la commu-
nauté. La critique largement partagée de la figure de l’abbé monarque et le rétrécisse-
ment de l’apparat entourant l’exercice quotidien de la fonction abbatiale semblent au
contraire inviter les moines à exprimer fortement leur conviction quant à la centralité
de la charge d’abbé, non seulement pour le bon fonctionnement de la vie communau-
taire, mais pour la définition même du monastère comme « communauté ». L’abbé,    
selon une formule entendue partout, est le « garant de l’unité de la communauté ». Il    
n’assure pas ce rôle en veillant à simplement la régularité des décisions prises au sein de
la communauté (en faisant respecter le point de vue d’une majorité, en préservant les
droits d’une minorité) ; il est le garant de l’unité communautaire parce qu’il demeure
 
celui qui assume seul un choix à la préparation duquel il a associé – de façon plus ou
moins active – son conseil et l’ensemble de la communauté. De ce point de vue, la
révolution de l’autorité dans la communauté ne saurait être caractérisée comme une
« révolution démocratique » au sens politique du terme, ni même rapportée seulement
   
à une imprégnation démocratique à travers laquelle les communautés monastiques,

le voulant ou pas, finiraient par se conformer aux valeurs politiques dominantes. Si
ce processus d’acculturation démocratique a évidemment sa part dans les évolutions
observables dans l’exercice de l’autorité abbatiale depuis cinquante ou soixante pas, il
transite par deux mouvements conjugués : la réinterprétation théologique de la place
 
de l’abbé dans la communauté d’une part, et la mutation du modèle familial d’autre

part.
1 G-M. Dubois, Le bonheur en Dieu. Souvenirs et réflexions du père abbé de La Trappe, Paris, Laffont, 1995, p. 214.
Redéfinition théologique et mutation culturelle

de l ’ autorité abbatiale
Pour entrer, de façon plus précise, dans la logique de cette réinterprétation, un article
publié en septembre 1968 par Dom Vieilleux, abbé du monastère trappiste de Scour-
mont, en Belgique, offre un repère efficace. 1 On y trouve en effet une synthèse particu-
 
lièrement claire des enjeux théologiques impliqués par cette mutation, et ce n’est pas
un hasard s’il y a été fait référence à plusieurs reprises dans les entretiens menés en ter-
rain bénédictin, autant que cistercien. Le point de départ de la réflexion d’A. Vieilleux
sur l’abbatiat cénobitique est extrêmement concret : il concerne la présidence des cé-
 
lébrations eucharistiques quotidiennes, qui ont pris depuis 1965, dans presque tous les
monastères, la forme de la concélébration. Doit-elle obligatoirement revenir à l’abbé,
dès lors qu’il est physiquement présent dans le monastère ? Peut-il au contraire se mêler
 
aux concélébrants et laisser la présidence à l’hebdomadiaire en charge de la conduite de

la liturgie ? Doit-il partager cette fonction présidentielle avec ce dernier ? Constatant la
   
diversité des solutions pratiques adoptées dans les différentes communautés, Armand
Vieilleux associe cette diversité à la définition même de l’autorité de l’abbé : il s’emploie  
ainsi à reconstruire le spectre des conceptions de la fonction abbatiale qui s’établit, avec
diverses formules intermédiaires, entre deux pôles typiques :  
- Le premier est celui – hérité des refondations du xixe – qui met tout l’accent sur
la figure de l’abbé, chef hiérarchique (comme l’est l’évêque dans son diocèse) de
cette Eglise locale qu’est le monastère. Inséparable de la vision de la communauté
comme agrégation des moines autour d’un maître spirituel à qui chacun se rap-
porte individuellement, à la manière des premières communautés du désert, cet-
te approche conclut à l’impossibilité que quiconque puisse présider la célébration
en présence de l’abbé dans son monastère. Il doit donc présider lui-même toutes
les concélébrations.
- Le second, qui s’inscrit dans la conception ecclésiologique conciliaire d’une com-
munauté témoignant de l’unité du corps du Christ dans les liens qui unissent ses
membres entre eux, voit l’abbé comme un primus inter pares, désigné par ses frères
pour assurer la communion entre eux et les guider dans leur recherche de Dieu.
La célébration sacramentelle eucharistique n’est pas le lieu par excellence de la
manifestation de son autorité dans la mesure où celle-ci, à l’inverse de celle de
l’évêque, n’a précisément pas un caractère sacramentel. Aucun obstacle, dès lors,
ne s’oppose à ce que la responsabilité de la présidence de la célébration eucharis-
tique revienne à d’autres que lui, même en sa présence, selon les circonstances.
Les legs de deux traditions

Pour justifier sa claire préférence en faveur de la seconde option, A. Vieilleux propose
un détour par l’histoire longue de l’abbatiat cénobitique. C’est l’idée ancienne d’une
évolution linéaire du stade anachorétique au stade cénobitique – repérée dans les pre-
mières communautés d’Egypte, formées d’ermites, à qui Pacôme, puis Basile auraient
donné ultérieurement leurs premières formes d’organisation communautaire – qui
1 A. Vieilleux, La théologie de l’abbatiat cénobitique et ses implications liturgiques, « Supplément à La Vie spiri-
 
tuelle », 86, 1986, pp. 230-249.

 
a conduit, selon lui, à définir le cénobitisme comme un regroupement de solitaires
autour d’un maître charismatique. Cette insistance sur le rôle fondateur de l’abbé com-
me père spirituel au principe du cénobitisme peut aujourd’hui être remise en ques-
tion à partir des travaux des historiens et exégètes qui soulignent l’existence, dans tout
l’Orient ancien, d’un autre courant, immédiatement cénobitique (et non pas dérivé de
l’anachorétisme), de la vie ascétique en communauté.
Ce courant a procédé de l’émergence précoce de groupements de virtuoses reli-
gieux au cœur même des communautés ecclésiales. Les membres de ces groupements,
qui étaient dépourvus de supérieurs autonomes par rapport aux évêques, demeuraient
soumis, comme tous les autres chrétiens, à la juridiction ordinaire et immédiate de la
hiérarchie locale. Des phénomènes de constitution du cénobitisme par renforcement
des liens communautaires entre disciples qualifiés au sein d’une même Eglise locale
étaient attestés en Syrie, chez les fils et filles du Pacte, et en Cappadoce, dans les milieux
basiléens urbains. Les mêmes traits caractérisaient déjà le cénobitisme pachômien, ap-
paru antérieurement (mais sans influence attestée sur Basile) dans le contexte spirituel
judéo-chrétien de la Haute-Egypte : s’y développait un idéal communautaire intégral,
 
justifié par le seul baptême de ceux qui s’engageaient volontairement dans cette voie,
et fortement référé au modèle de la communauté apostolique de Jérusalem.
Il n’est pas douteux que, dans l’ensemble de l’Orient chrétien des premiers siècles,
les deux traditions – semi-anachorétique et proprement cénobitique – ont cohabité
partout et se sont croisées de multiples façons. Par delà la discussion aussi serrée que
technique des spécialistes à propos des influences réciproques de ces différents mouve-
ments, le point important est l’éclairage qu’elle apporte à l’émergence d’un dispositif
de double éthique au cœur même des premières communautés chrétiennes d’Orient :  
certains de leurs membres désireux de partager un degré particulièrement exigeant

d’ascèse (pauvreté, jeûne, continence absolue) se regroupaient en fraternités au sein
même de ces communautés, sans se retirer pour autant dans la solitude du désert. Cet-
te tradition cohabitait avec celle du retrait au désert qui réunissait des ascètes autour
d’un formateur charismatique.
La mise en parallèle (et potentiellement en concurrence) de l’autorité abbatiale et de
celle de l’évêque procède, pour une part, de la fusion que Cassien – lui-même passé par
les centres semi-anachorétiques de la Basse Egypte – a opéré au v e siècle entre la tradi-
tion cénobitique et la tradition anachorétique dans son entreprise de réforme, engagée
en Provence à la demande de l’évêque d’Apt, pour organiser la prolifération d’ermites
et de petites communautés instables repérable un peu partout en Gaule. La formalisa-
tion monastique qu’il opéra dans ses Institutions et Conférences procède directement de
son expérience personnelle d’une tradition orientale présentée comme reçue directe-
ment des apôtres. On doit ainsi à Cassien la pensée occidentale du monachisme com-
me « école de formation », qui a stabilisé dans le cadre d’une vie communautaire per-
   
manente le rapport de maître à disciple, et d’inférieur au supérieur qui prévalait dans la

relation des solitaires rassemblés au désert autour de leur formateur charismatique. Le
charisme personnel du maître spirituel se trouve dès lors institutionnalisé dans le cha-
risme de fonction du supérieur, inscrit, comme l’évêque, dans la lignée des « docteurs »
   
qui procèdent des apôtres eux-mêmes. L’assimilation de la hiérarchie monastique à la

hiérarchie de l’Eglise rendue possible par la conception de l’« abbé-docteur » posée par
   
la tradition cassinienne, a été poussée dans toutes ses conséquences par la Règle du Maî-
tre, qui a fait prendre pleinement corps à la figure de l’abbé-pontife. Celle-ci assimile le
supérieur à l’évêque dont il revêt progressivement – à la consécration près, puisque la
bénédiction abbatiale n’a pas de caractère consécratoire – les insignes (la mitre) et les
fonctions liturgiques.
En retrouvant la source pachômienne d’un monachisme qui pense la communauté
comme une fraternité, inscrite comme une cellule dans le dispositif hiérarchique de
l’Eglise, et dotée en propre d’un type d’autorité ordonné au seul service de la com-
munion fraternelle, il est possible de construire une toute autre vision du statut et du
rôle d’un abbé. L’autorité de celui-ci (qui n’a rien de sacramentaire, il faut y insister)
procède du choix des frères, tous égaux dans le baptême. Ceux-ci désignent au milieu
d’eux celui qui doit être le pivot de leur unité. Cette formule fournit en même temps
la solution au dilemme posé par la présidence des concélébrations communautaires :  
toute célébration eucharistique requiert la communion avec l’évêque, assurée par la

présidence d’un ministre dûment ordonné. Tout prêtre peut donc assumer cette prési-
dence. Le reste – la préséance donnée au plus ancien ou au supérieur – relève dès lors
du seul respect, et n’a donc aucun caractère absolu. La solution à trouver est question
de convenance, d’opportunité et de circonstances locales.
Les tensions du moment conciliaire

Si l’on a choisi ici de prêter une attention particulière à l’article d’A. Veilleux, c’est
parce qu’il éclaire directement la part qu’a eu l’approfondissement des sources de la
tradition cénobitique, dans une conjoncture de changement (celui de la réforme litur-
gique conciliaire) dans laquelle les communautés soucieuses de s’inscrire dans ce mou-
vement étaient placées devant la nécessité d’inventer de nouvelles manières de faire. Il
leur fallait, en même temps, argumenter le bien-fondé de ces innovations, afin de faire
aux résistances parfois violentes surgies en leur sein même. Les années 65-75 ont été,
dans bien des monastères, des moments de vifs débats internes, engageant, par delà les
enjeux liturgiques en cause, la définition même de la vie cénobitique. Il n’est pas un
monastère où je n’ai entendu évoquer l’existence et même la violence d’affrontements
internes qui mettaient aux prises des ecclésiologies divergentes, mais qui condensaient
avant tout des réactions émotionnelles associées à l’ouverture même de la possibilité
de changement au sein de communautés établies dans la permanence sacralisée de leur
forme de vie. Il est difficile, de l’extérieur, de mesurer l’angoisse et l’incompréhension
qui ont pu saisir, en amont de toute prise de position théologique ou politique, des
hommes et des femmes confrontés au vacillement de leur univers entier : leur identité
 
personnelle et spirituelle était en jeu. Mais il en allait également de l’existence de ceux

qui, en attente de ces réformes, vivaient les atermoiements ou les blocages comme
autant de régressions insupportables. Dans les monastères, dont certains ont été au
bord de la rupture, on a gardé mémoire des « grands abbés » qui surent gérer avec doigté
   
ces situations potentiellement explosives. Ce processus d’accompagnement du change-

ment requérait la construction d’argumentaires suffisamment puissants pour contrer le
« postulat d’éternité » supposé fonder la permanence des formes : le retour aux sources
     
bibliques et patristiques, nourries par les avancées d’un travail exégétique et historique
mené au sein des monastères eux-mêmes, a, sans aucun doute, constitué le ressort ma-
jeur de cette entreprise de légitimation des innovations. L’article d’A. Veilleux retenu
ici en offre une parfaite illustration.
Mais cette mise à jour de la pluralité des traditions cénobitiques n’aurait pas eu d’effet
social en elle-même si elle n’avait pas croisé des attentes et des recherches – en cours au
sein de certains monastères dès l’après-guerre – auxquelles la mutation ecclésiologique
opérée à Vatican ii (et à laquelle ces recherches avaient directement contribué) a permis
de se révéler. La « révolution de l’autorité » qu’évoquent les moines d’aujourd’hui est
   
passée aussi par la rupture de la logique politique qui avait précisément produit l’oc-
cultation de la pluralité des traditions cénobitiques : celle de l’absorption, au xixe siècle,
 
de la représentation théologique de l’abbé-pontife/docteur dans la représentation po-

litique de l’abbé monarque/pater familias. La « révolution de l’autorité » est bien, de ce
   
point de vue, une révolution inséparablement théologique, politique et culturelle.
La métamorphose culturelle de la figure paternelle de l ’ autorité

Ces deux dimensions se rejoignent en un point précis : celui de la compréhension de
 
ce que doit être le « rôle paternel » que l’abbé, selon les termes de la Règle, doit jouer
   
à l’égard de ces moines. C’est aussi en ce point, on peut s’en douter, que les réglages
concrets de l’exercice ordinaire de l’autorité, reconfigurée à la lumière de la valorisa-
tion de la communauté caractéristique des années 60-70, se sont opérés. En effet, selon
la manière dont chaque abbé – en fonction de ses dispositions personnelles et quoiqu’il
en soit de ses orientations théologiques et/ou politiques – se rapportait lui-même aux
attributs « paternels » de sa fonction, le style et le mode d’imposition de son autorité
   
ont varié substantiellement. La « révolution de l’autorité » dont on vient de repérer les

   
enjeux n’a évidemment pas eu le même cours et la même amplitude dans tous les
monastères, non seulement parce que tous n’entraient pas de la même façon dans la
dynamique des changements, mais aussi parce que les titulaires de la charge abbatiale
entretenaient des rapports personnels fort différents à l’autorité dont ils se trouvaient
investis. Ces variations n’affectent pas le constat de la transformation radicale qui a af-
fecté, en quarante ou cinquante ans, la compréhension monastique de la « paternité » de    
l’abbé. Pour en prendre la mesure, il faut lier cette mutation à la révolution culturelle
qui a affecté l’institution familiale elle-même, au tournant des années 60-70.
L’affaire porte évidemment plus loin que le seul dossier du monachisme. Ces trans-
formations radicales et irréversibles sont, depuis un demi-siècle, au principe de la dés-
tabilisation générale du catholicisme dans tous les pays démocratiques. Pour compren-
dre le reflux actuel de l’influence du catholicisme (et le désarroi qui lui correspond au
sein de l’institution) dans toutes les sociétés occidentales, il est indispensable de sou-
ligner le lien structurel qui le lie à l’ébranlement d’un modèle familial dont l’Eglise a
fait, depuis deux siècles, le pivot de sa pastorale, et de sa politique. 1 Cet ébranlement se
 
joue essentiellement dans l’inclusion progressive des liens familiaux – entre les sexes et
entre les générations – dans la logique générale de la contractualisation démocratique
de tous les liens sociaux. La famille se diffracte désormais en une série de configura-
tions mouvantes qui s’établissent et se défont à partir des affinités et des choix partagés
par les individus qui la composent. La famille relationnelle, élective, au sein de laquelle
priment les relations horizontales, a pris définitivement le pas sur la famille verticale,
hiérarchique, définie par la chaîne généalogique de la transmission qu’elle organise. Ce
n’est plus désormais le mariage qui instaure le couple : c’est le couple, dans sa réalité
 
affective et familiale concrète, qui fonde le mariage. La légalisation du mariage homo-

sexuel et la reconnaissance du droit des couples homosexuels à fonder une famille ne
1 Cf. sur cette question, D. Hervieu-Léger, Catholicisme, la fin d’un monde, Paris, Bayard, 2003.
sont rien d’autres que le point d’aboutissement logique de cette mutation culturelle et
de ses implications juridiques.
Il serait parfaitement absurde d’imaginer, au motif que les moines ne fondent pas
de famille, que cette révolution, accélérée depuis les années 70, laisse les monastères
en dehors de son orbite. La première raison de cette implication de la vie monastique
dans le cours des mutations de la famille tient d’abord à ce qu’avant d’être moine, on
naît et vit dans une famille où se jouent les expériences premières et fondatrices de la
socialisation. Quoiqu’il en soit de leur volonté de se passer de la famille de la terre, les
moines, aujourd’hui comme hier, ont importé dans la vie monastique les expériences,
les références, les valeurs du monde familial réel dont ils étaient issus. Les transforma-
tions affectant ce monde ont diffusé silencieusement à travers celles des attitudes, des
comportements et des attentes des générations successives. La question de l’individu,
de ses requêtes émotionnelles et de son aspiration à l’autonomie personnelle a fait son
entrée, par ce biais, dans les monastères. Le désir de retrouver, au sein de la famille
monastique, quelque chose du primat des affects vécu dans la famille relationnelle par-
ticipe de ce mouvement.
Ce désir rencontre – et c’est la seconde façon dont la réalité familiale contempo-
raine s’est imposée dans les monastères – la manière dont les moines en charge de la
socialisation des jeunes (supérieurs, maîtres des novices, responsables de la formation)
revisitent eux-mêmes la responsabilité d’« accompagnement » qui leur incombent. Il est
   
intéressant de suivre, dans tous les entretiens où la question de la formation des jeu-
nes a été abordée, l’alignement remarquable du propos sur les valeurs et thèmes qui
constituent la doxa présente de l’éducation « bonne » : celle qui « fait grandir », celle qui
         
prépare des individus à l’autonomie, celle qui fait droit à leurs potentialités et à l’épa-
nouissement de leurs talents. Le déplacement massif de la figure patriarcale du père,
monarque dans sa famille, vers celle, contemporaine, du père attentif, affectueux et
« maternant » va de pair.
   
Ceci ne signifie évidemment pas que toute forme d’autoritarisme abbatial ait disparu
de l’horizon des monastères contemporains, ni que les abbés d’aujourd’hui aient tous
renoncé à conduire des stratégies de pouvoir, dans leur monastère, dans leur Ordre, au
sein de l’Eglise et dans la société. On peut néanmoins observer, de façon très générale,
que les relectures contemporaines du chapitre II de la Règle touchant à « ce que doit
 
être l’abbé » s’établissent désormais pour l’essentiel entre deux pôles de représentations :
   
celles, devenues omniprésentes dans la théologie et la pastorale, du « Père du ciel » ten-

   
drement accueillant à chacun comme à son fils prodigue, d’une part ; celles du « père
   
relationnel », sensible avant tout au bien-être affectif de sa progéniture, d’autre part.

 
Entre ces deux pôles, la figure de l’abbé en majesté s’est progressivement évaporée eu
profit de celle de l’abbé « un parmi les siens », en charge de l’unité de sa communauté.
   
BETW EEN GOD A ND M A MMON.
MONASTIC ECONOM Y A ND CH A LLENGES
OF SECULA R IZATION
Mar ia Chiar a Gior da
R etracing the history of Cistercian monasticism and observing the monasteries of

the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception (Rougemont in Canada ; Lérins
in France ; Prà d’mill in Italy), this essay aims to reflect on the various ways of interpret-
 
 
ing economy (from paradigm to rational choice, to degrowth) in the contemporary

monastic world, taking as examples the transformations experienced by a significant
branch of monasticism.
Starting from a theoretical and empirical study, the essay seeks to highlight how, in
relation to economy and to the relations it generates, monks were, and still are, chil-
dren of the time in which they live, having introduced categories such as efficiency,
rationality, self-sufficiency, consumption, accumulation, donation ; but also inferring 
from and comparing with the rationale of the outside world.

This analysis makes it possible to examine the solidity of the transmutatio paradigm,
the transformation process that is simultaneously development and profound revolu-
tion, in order to analyse the complex relationship between monks and secular modernity.
Contemporary monastic economies.

Two case studies : Dominus Tecum and Notre-Dame
 
1. An unavoidable preamble
Within the framework of the complex relationship that exists between monastic and
economic life, and which has characterized the entire history of traditional Christian
monasticism, the intention of this paper is to re-read the usual way of relating monas-
ticism and economy. In this article I will analyse, above all, the economic relations that
exist among monks, monasteries and lay people – in terms of work offered and orga-
nized – in two contemporary monastic communities.
Monks and monasteries could have the status as “lenses for social theory” 1 and  
among social dynamic changes introduced by monks are an interesting topic, never-
theless or as a consequence of the process of secularization and modernization. 2 In  
this sense, investigating contemporary monasticism as a way of life allows us to ques-

tion and challenge the dynamics and rules of society, and we will set out to understand
whether and through which strategies monks have fostered innovation in economic
terms, creating a new conception and “spiritual practices” of labour. On the other
hand, it is not possible to understand the economic weight of the monasteries without
a social and economic frame of reference.
1 S. Sassen, The Global City : New York, London, Tokyo, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2001.
 
2 M. Burchardt, M. Wohlrab–Sahr, Multiple Secularities : Towards a Cultural Sociology of Secular Modernities,

 
in « Comparative Sociology », 11, 2012, pp. 875-909.

   
46 maria chiara giorda
In an attempt to sidestep the risk of trivialization and “profanation” of the sacred
dimension of monastic life, and « the resignification by secular society of monastic re-
 
jection of the outside world », 1 especially in the economic topics I would like to address
   
here, 2 first of all we need to consider the continuous interaction between the monks
 
and the lay community. In economic terms it creates the opportunity for monasteries
to find sources of funding and financial resources to be allocated in various ways to
the community and to the monastery, renovating, enlarging and circulating outside its
walls a certain kind of knowledge or a spiritual message. On the other hand, secularists
(according to many who have done so) who interact and spend periods of time in the
monasteries, relating to the monks, experience a sense of wellbeing, which is a differ-
ent form of repose and tourism.
On the other hand, the outside world has a hyper-stimulating effect on monaster-
ies, emphasizing – like a mirror reflecting by contrast to negative social behaviour – a
testimony of an alternative way of life that flies the banner of different values and life-
styles, even in outright opposition to those prevailing in the contemporary world. Slow,
stable, frugal, independent of money, in nature, in silence, and also newer concepts
(in a sense very much in vogue these days) like sustainability, organic (thus pure) food
production, seeking « production know-how » (jam, textiles, furnishings, distillates etc.)
   
that connect seamlessly with the past, and also standard bearers of high quality stan-
dards. 3 Thus, in a sense, monasteries become contemporary places of production and
 
consumption, 4 where the lay community seeks comfort for its dissatisfaction, but will
 
also find alternative production management models. The need to live a better qual-
ity of life appears on the horizon, seeking an alternative model of production, a need
which contemporary monasteries are actually meeting.
Today, monasticism is facing a radical challenge because consumerism is one of the
indicators of individualism (the true challenge) that thus manifests itself as a new, cor-
rosive dimension of current monastic economy. In this way, modern-day monks are
constantly – overtly and covertly – asked to question themselves, not only in the tra-
ditional sense, about the meaning of a typical monastic existence, however contem-
porary it may be. Monasteries nurture an economic theory and practice that often
(self-) defines itself as the correct, restrained, healthy, sustainable, quality alternative
to external models, but there are many conflicting and contact points with what is on
the outside. Indeed their very survival depends on it. How could the community sur-
vive without pilgrims to host, books and products to sell, without a website that will
pinpoint it and reveal it to the world, without various attractions for spiritual tourists,
without offers, without investing in the stock market ? The deep-rooted problem is
 
whether this relationship with the outside world, in other words with culture, has now
made a quantum leap, and how the study of contemporary monastic economy can
help to identify this change of pace.
The relationship between consumption, economics and monasticism was spotlight-
ed by recent studies, especially those undertaken in the sociology of religion environ-
1 D. Hervieu-Léger, « Tenersi fuori dal mondo ». Le diverse valenze dell’extramondanità monastica, « Etnografia e
     
ricerca qualitativa », 5, 2012, 2, pp. 185-202.

 
2 Spazi e luoghi monastici. Geografie del sacro, a cura di M. Giorda, S. Hejazi, « Humanitas », LXVIII/6, Brescia,
   
Morcelliana, 2013, pp. 917-987. 3 Hervieu-Léger, “Tenersi fuori dal mondo”.

4 C. Chiurato, S. Palmisano, Nuove comunità monastiche. La re-invenzione di una tradizione, « Etnografia e ri-
 
cerca qulitativa », 5, 2012, 2, pp. 217-240.

 
monastic economy and challenges of secularization 47
ment, 1 aiming to demonstrate the complexity and the influences of external models
 
also in monasteries. 2 Despite these results being sustained by the scientific environ-
 
ment, public opinion continues to prefer a vision of monasteries as strongholds that

contest and protect themselves against capitalist spirit, as havens of radical defiance
of consumption, defenders of a certain vision of work and money. 3 In this perspec-  
tive, monastic life (for centuries one of the possible models for using resources and for
social aggregation) might discover a “revolutionary” role in this moment in time. The
foundations would be community organization, the relationship between the work-
ing and the spiritual dimension, the economic and social culture running counter to
individualistic, capitalist and consumerist mind-sets widespread in the outside world.
Those who share this reading think that new economic and production models can be
built by starting from the example of monasteries, founded on human relationships
based on cooperation and solidarity. Monasteries can be considered practical examples
of self-sufficiency, energy and food production, equitable redistribution of resources,
even of degrowth. 4  
In the light of the theoretical context that the transmutatio paradigm provides, the
essay’s aim is to investigate whether there is a (single) monastic economy, and whether
and how monasteries have a company/production location alternative to the preva-
lent economic model, in the sense of degrowth, resistance to capitalism, challenge of
mainstream economy.
To answer these questions it is necessary to understand the relationship the monas-
teries enjoy with the social territory and surrounding economic environment, and to
what extent they offset or confirm and internalize a number of external cultural and
social aspects. In other words, my goal is to understand if the monks were and are
today (more than ever) “offspring of the times in which they live”, having absorbed
categories such as efficiency, rationality, self-sufficiency, consumption, accumulation,
donation, inferring them from or comparing them with the rationale of the outside world.
Indeed, elements of continuity and irresolution mark the history of monastic econo-
my, along with new elements which have characterized it for several decades.
The essays focuses on two Cistercian monasteries of the Immaculate Conception
Congregation founded in 1867 (the abbey of Notre-Dame, on the island of Saint Hon-
orat in the archipelago of Lérins, in France ; Dominus Tecum monastery, at Prà D’mill
 
in Italy), with some references to the case of Rougemont, in Canada. 5  
1 I. Jonveaux, Le monastère au travail. Le royaume de Dieu au défi de l’économie, Paris, Bayard, 2011.
F. Gauthier, Primat de l’authenticité et besoin de reconnaissance. La société de consommation et la nouvelle régulation
du religieux, « Sociology Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses », 41, 2011, 1, pp. 1-19.
   
2 Chiurato, Palmisano, Nuove comunità monastiche.

For an Italian example that triggered a lively debate and attracted the curiosity also of journalists on monas-
3 ��
teries as places for informed tourism, see M. Pallante, Monasteri del terzo millennio, Torino, Lindau, 2013.
4 T. Jaccaud, Un orto, una comunità, la fede, in Per un nuovo paradigma. Il messaggio di Edward Goldsmith, a cura
di G. Pucci et alii, Firenze, Libera Editrice Fiorentina, 2011.
5 7. CONGREGATION OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION : http ://win.ocist.org/pdf/statistiche_
   
monasteri_Maschili_2014.pdf
in the order : Abbey Professed monk Temporary professed Novices Total in 2014
 
07-01 Lérins 20 1 21
07-01-01 Sénanque 5 5
07-01-02 Prà d’mill 11 1 1 13
07-01-03 My¯ Ca 25 12 12 49
07-02 Rougemont 8 1 9
TOTAL 68 14 14 96
2. Historical traces : “the” monastic rule over the economy

 
Among the various contributions referring to opinions and economic practices of mo-
nasticism, 1 a starting point to be considered is the demise of the cliché of absolute di-
 
vestment and poverty. Indeed the development of a monastic economic vision and the
spread of different activities in the monasteries of the early centuries has been amply
demonstrated. 2 Without wishing to condense centuries of Western monasticism in a
 
few lines, we can say, however, that the golden rule of « ora et labora » has accompanied
   
monastic history. It is sufficient to quote Chapter 48 of the Benedictine Rule, concern-

ing daily manual labour : « idleness is the enemy of the soul, therefore the monks should
   
be occupied at certain hours in manual labour and again, at fixed hours, to studying the
Word of God ». Everything is established with order and discipline, and times must be
 
defined. With regard to the study of the Word of God, it is reiterated that « certainly  
one or two of the seniors should be deputed to go about the monastery at the hours
when the brethren are occupied in reading and see that there be no lazy brother who
spends time in idleness or gossip and does not apply himself to reading, so that he is
not only unprofitable to himself but also distracts others ». 3 The enemy to fight is idle-
   
ness, which induces the monks to negligence. In addition to devoting themselves to the
work of God, in monasteries the monks work the land, read, study, eat, and sleep.
Over time the activities of the brothers have multiplied and diversified : pottery, gold-  
smithing, printing, production of fruit juices, fruit jelly and colognes, liqueurs, biscuits,
pharmaceutical products, candles, rubber, coffee roasting, book binding and work-
shops for restoration of antique books and manuscripts, management and supervision
of museums, producing records. 4 Often the geographical position of the monasteries
 
allows the monks to work on the production of food and drink, exploiting the natural
resources at their disposal. A good example is the monastery located on the island of
Saint Honorat in the Lérins archipelago, where soil and climate favour the cultivation
of olive trees and vineyards of excellent quality.
The ethics of monastic poverty are totally at odds – at least in the original principle
– with the conception of economic logic. Personal property is excluded from monastic
organization : indeed, the Benedictine Rule points out repeatedly that monks should
 
own nothing. For example, Chapter 33, referred to personal belongings, states : « This    
vice especially is to be cut out of the monastery by the roots. Let no one presume […]
to have anything as his own – anything whatever ». Personal possession is therefore ex-
 
cluded from the monastic economic circuit, but the community itself is not subject to
poverty. So accumulation at community level may survive and grow, even if personal
property is prohibited.
1 Jonveaux, Le monastère au travail ; I. Silber, Monasticism and the ‘Protestant Ethic’ : asceticism, rationality and
   
wealth in the Medieval West, « British Journal of Sociology », 44, 2012, 1, pp. 103–23 ; M. Weber, Economy and Society,
     
Berkeley, University of California Press, 1978, p. l-169 ; M. Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,
 
New York, Schribner’s, 1958. S. Palmisano, Exploring New Monastic Communities. The Re-invention of Tradition,
Ashgate, Aldershot, 2015.
2 P. Brown, Through the Eye of a Needle. Wealth, the fall of Rome, and the making of Christianity in the West, 350-550
AD, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2012. M. Giorda, Economie monastiche : scambio di “buone pratiche” tra
 
due tipologie di famiglie in Egitto (iv-vii secolo), in « Rivista di Storia del Cristianesimo », 8, 2011, pp. 329-356.
   
3 G. Holzherr, La Regola di San Benedetto : testo integrale latino/italiano, Casale Monferrato, Piemme, 1992. See
 
comment by Bernard Jedrzejczak, Un cammino di libertà. Commento alla regola di san Benedetto, Torino, Lindau,
2013. 4 L. Moulin, La vita quotidiana secondo San Benedetto, Milano, Jaca Books, 1991, p. 58.
Recent studies conducted on the history of monasticism 1 encourage us to reflect 
on the various kinds of monastic orders, both from in an historical and geographical
perspective. With respect to the topic of this essay, this is an excellent caveat that sug-
gests we analyse the array of monastic economies and take differences into account as
we do so.
A good example of this can be seen precisely in the economic history of the Cis-
tercian order, useful because the monasteries taken as examples here are part of this
order. From the classic vision that showed them as operating extensive reclamation of
abandoned and unusable lands, bringing civilization to barbarians, but always isolated
from the world, the brothers have developed into social players and economic innova-
tors through their relationship with the lay community. 2  
The case of the Cistercians is exemplary for its combination of ascetic discipline,
rational organization, and rapid economic expansion, a combination which inevitably
invokes Weber’s aforementioned analogy. 3 What the Cistercians did was to reverse
 
the traditional balance of production, consumption and donations. They were eager
to free themselves of the tangle of feudal constraints so they replaced the feudal sys-
tem with the use of lay brethren, immediately achieving strong productivity. Reject-
ing the use of costly liturgical ornaments they continued to accept donations, with
the exception of goods under feudal obligations. In general, the twelfth century was
a time of rapid economic and technological progress in western Europe. Among the
agents of this expansion, surprisingly, were the monks of the Cistercian order : they  
were significant players in the development of economic structures such as pawning,

leasing, establishing clear title of ownership, judicial arbitration of civil disputes, and
bequests in trust. The existing records show an integration of the monasteries into
the surrounding regional economies, partly based on ties of kinship – nearly all the
Cistercians were of the local nobility – and partly on the entrepreneurial instincts of
the monks. The Cistercians also used the wealth that came to them entrepreneurially,
carefully maximizing the agricultural production of their fields by consolidation into
granges which could be cultivated efficiently by the “conversi” – the lay brothers of
the monastery who came largely from the lower classes of the region. The Cister-
cians were “scientific” farmers, pioneers in wetland reclamation, sustainable forestry,
and planned marketing of surpluses. Rather than withdrawn hermitages of unworld-
ly holiness, Cistercian monasteries were communities of collectivist enterprise. Even
holiness itself was a marketable product, since burials, intercession by prayers, and
memorial masses were all traded for land, tax privileges and rebates, rents, and ma-
terial benefits. All transactions, however, were highly mutual and communitarian in
spirit, serving not only to enrich the monasteries but also to integrate them with the
secular world, for the benefit of all. 4  
1 G. Filoramo, Il Nuovo Monachesimo In Italia, « Humanitas », 2014, 3, Brescia, Morcelliana.

   
2 Silber, Monasticism and the ‘Protestant Ethic’, pp. 103-23.

3 C.V. Graves, The Economic Activities of the Cistercians in Medieval England (1128–1307), « Analecta Sacri Ordinis
 
Cisterciensis », Rome, 1957, pp. 32-45 ; J.A. Raftis, Western Monasticism and Economic Organization, « Comparative
     
Studies in Society and History », 3, 1961, 4, pp. 452–469.

 
4 C.H. Berman, The Cistercian Evolution : the Invention of a Religious Order in Twelfth-Century Europe, Philadel-
 
phia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000. Id., Medieval Agriculture and Cistercians Monks, Philadelphia, Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania Press,1986. C.B. Bouchard, Holy Entrepreneurs : Cistercians, Knights and Economic Exchange
 
in Twelfth-Century Burgundy, Ithaca (NY), Cornell University Press, 1991. M. Newman, The Boundaries of Charity :  
Cistercian Culture and Ecclesiastic Reform, 1099–1180, Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1996.
So Cistercian business expansion can be attributed to the monks but also to the lay
brethren, who became the best means of contact between the monastery and the mar-
ket. The Cistercian order evolved into a complete system in itself, with full autonomy
and the first true international organization in Europe. 1  
Consequently we may read the Cistercian experience – in its attempt to explore the
economic opportunities of those times – applying Weber’s dialectic of “budgeting” vs.
“profit-making”. 2 As has been suggested, while the first generation can be connected
 
more to the former, the second – not without some tension – ventured along the paths
of the latter model and never left it. 3 A story with a rocky, perhaps even contradictory
 
progression, always rooted in its historical and geographical context, which allows us
to think not in terms of rupture but of transmutatio related to social and cultural chang-
es brought by modern times : how much and how did monastic economies change
 
with the changing context ?  
3. Revenue and expenditure in two contemporary monasteries

If we assume the operating definition of economy to be a set of social relationships
and the description of their penetration of the three areas of production, circula-
tion and distribution of goods and services, via aspects like currency (in particular
in its function as a reserve of value and connection with donations), credit, financial
products, 4 the aim of this paper is to try to understand how these exchanges occur in
 
the monasteries chosen as case studies, and the underlying logic. We are not about
to analyse the work in Cistercian monasteries, 5 but how money enters, exits and
 
circulates there, through different tools, of which we should also mention work. As
for the two case studies taken into consideration, this paragraph is dedicated to the
description of economic activities and will comment specifically on revenue : what  
is produced, how much is earned, how money is handled, and how the money is
spent.
The Dominus Tecum monastery, currently comprising thirteen monks, was found-
ed in 1995, is in Bagnolo Piemonte. It is part of the Congregation of the Immaculate
Conception, with the mother-house located on the island of Lérins, which is one of
the oldest monasteries in existence, founded in the fifth century, and which now has
twenty-one monks. 6 The congregation also includes the monastery of Sénanque (Vau-
 
cluse), the nunnery of Notre Dame de la Paix (Castagniers, Nice), a monastery at Rou-
gemont in Québec, and a monastery in Vietnam (My Ca, Nha Trang).
First, it must be remembered that even before the birth of the monastic commu-
nity, the Dominus Tecum monastery of Prà d’mill was a non-profit association called
“Dominus Tecum”. It was founded on 12 April 1988 7 with an act drawn up by Notary
 
Grassi Reverdini of Turin for the three founder members : Father Cesare Falletti of  
Villafalletto, Giancarlo Miola (a Lérins monk), and Claudio Gazzola (Brother Isaiah of
1 See the second part of the Silber article. 2 Weber, Economy and Society, pp. 86–90.
3 Silber, Monasticism and the “Protestant Ethic”, p. 115 ; G. Despy, Les richesses de la terre : Citeaux et Premontre de-
   
vant l’economie de profit aux XIIe et XIIIe siecles, in Problemes d’Histoire du Christianisme, vol. 5, 1974-1975, pp. 50-80.
4 See Religioni ed Economia. Idee ed esperienze, a cura di Maria Chiara Giorda, Stefania Palmisano, Maria Grazia
Turri, Milano-Udine, Mimesis, 2014.
5 The theme of monastic work was analysed in depth by Jonveaux, Le monastère au travail.
6 M. Labrousse, Y. Codou, J-M. Le Gall, R. Bertrand, Histoire de l’abbaye de Lérins, Bégrolles-en-Mauges,
Abbaye de Bellefontaine-ARCCIS, 1999. 7 Dominus Tecum association statute, 12 April 1988.
Lérins). It took the name “Dominus Tecum” as an homage to the page of the Book of
Revelations read at Prà d’mill for the first time on 23 September 1984.
The Dominus Tecum association, with registered offices in Turin, at 22 Corso Tas-
soni 1 had the following aims :
   
a) to create a place suitable for worship, prayer and meditation ;  
b) to buy, accomplish and manage works and infrastructure required to achieve the
above purpose ;  
c) to cultivate land, pastures and woods ;  
d) to buy, renovate, erect buildings and facilities necessary for farming, livestock and
forestry, with all infrastructure necessary for the purpose ;  
e) to buy and raise livestock ;  
f ) to rent, buy, and manage agricultural machinery to meet the needs of the asso-
ciation ; 
g) to apply to state, regional and other authorities, and public and private bodies, for
contributions, loans and mortgages necessary for the association’s activities ;  
h) activities join and cooperate with associations with similar or parallel purposes ;  
i) in general, activities conduct all activities recognized as useful for achieving the
purposes stated by the association.
The association had a mutual fund comprised primarily of annual payments by each
of the three members of ten thousand Italian lire, as well as goods purchased with con-
tributions by these persons or voluntary contributions, bequests, donations, funding
or any kind of sum disbursed by the state, regional and other authorities, and public
and private bodies. The association deed was amended on 10 November 1988 2 when  
the headquarters of the foundation moved from Turin to Saluzzo and, above all, with
changes to Article 3), applicable to the aims of the association.
In the new text, which invokes association articles, the stated aims are :  
a) to promote and support activities of religion and worship ;  
b) to promote and support the creation of a Cistercian monastery in the village of

Prà d’mill in the municipalities of Barge and Bagnolo, making over to the future mon-
astery any real estate in this locality purchased by the associations in any capacity ;  
c) to join associations or bodies characterized by similar or parallel purposes ;  
d) to apply to state, regional and other authorities, and public and private bodies, for
contributions, loans and mortgages necessary for the activities of the association ;  
e) to acquire, create and manage the works and infrastructure suitable to the fur-
therance of association objectives ;  
f ) to perform all activities related to the achievement of the above purposes ;  
g) in general to conduct all activities recognized as useful for achieving the purposes
stated by the association.
The aims stated are different from the previous version, narrowed down and more ap-
propriate for monastic life. On 2 December 1991 the Ministry of the Interior considered
the foundation suitable for the pursuit of “institutional goals”, 3 and on 7 January 1992 4
   
1 I was able to carry out research in these monasteries from 2012, flanking a study based on archive documents
and bibliographic sources, interviews, workshops and round tables with the brothers.
2 Dominus Tecum Association, amendment to the association statute, 10 November 1988.
3 Ministry of the Interior document dated 2 December 1991.
4 Gazzetta ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana document, dated 7 January 1992 “Erezione in ente morale dell’asso-
ciazione Dominus Tecum, in Saluzzo, ed autorizzazione alla stessa ad accettare alcune donazioni”.
finally recognized the Dominus Tecum association as a charity, authorizing it to ac-
cept donations that enabled the renovation of the buildings of the fledgling monastery,
which would then become the subject receiving donations for the monastery.
The farm was set up in 2007 by two founder monks, whose corporate scope was
mixed open-air cultivation of general and speciality vegetables, flowers and nursery
products, with initial company capital of ten thousand euros. 1 A reading of budgets
 
and balance sheets made available, which are typically “Italian” for the simplicity of the
entries according to declarations made by the Lérins bursar, the total revenue (income
from donations, the only entry for 1988 2 to which residues, interest and donations have
 
been added over the years) and expenditure (insurance, operating expenses, mainte-
nance, property donated, payments, taxes, utility bills, equipment purchases, loans,
healthcare) balance was thirty million Italian lire in 1988, doubling in 1991, and reaching
one hundred and fifty million in subsequent years, recording three hundred and fifty
thousand euros in 2005. 3 Revenue and expenditure for the Dominus Tecum association
 
are indicated in “financial management” documents, which then become budgets and
balance sheets, always in the black. Since 2006 there is also a – separate – balance sheet
for the farm, while that of the guesthouse is included in the Dominus Tecum associa-
tion accounts.
The assets of land, farm buildings, movable objects, and a post-office account with
thirty-eight million Italian lire in 1988 rose to four million euros or so in 2005, with the
increased value of real estate. 4 The religious guesthouse had to meet obligations aris-
 
ing from the fact that it had to accommodate 350–700 pilgrims and visitors a month.
Thus all the problems related to the safety of the structure, registration of guests and
donations (a free amount usually placed in an envelope left in the rooms or in the store
mailbox, or sent by bank draft). 5  
Lérins Abbey, however, is a religious association, whose main member is the monas-
tic congregation, composed of different companies : one for wine and spirits and their
 
sale through the store on the island and online ; the hotel business, which deals with
 
incoming guests ; two boating companies (together making up the holding or service
 
company that handles taxation), and the restaurant, “La Tonnelle” 6 (see : Appendix).    
The financial statements (balance sheet and income statement) of Lérins monastery
show that in 2013 it was worth almost eighteen million euros in production and owned
assets worth three hundred and fifty thousand euros.
With regard to revenue, in an interview with the brother managing hospitality at the
Prà d’mill Dominus Tecum monastery, 7 it was suggested that we might consider a kind
 
of triple division, comprising work (first of all sale of products), donations, and pro-
ceeds from the guesthouse. Their proportion varies from monastery to monastery and
certainly on a territorial basis, so while each item in an Italian monastery represents
approximately one third of revenue, in Lérins donations only account for 20%, and are
as low as 4–5% in a monastery like Rougemont, in Québec, given the country’s level
1 Deed of foundation of the farm : ordinary partnership under private agreement.

 
2 Note that the associations business activities precede the foundation of the monastery in 1995.
3 Data taken from Dominus Tecum Association accounts.
4 Documents relating to the Dominus Tecum Association balance sheets.
5 Interview with Father Amedeo, 29 August 2014.
6 Interview with Brother Marie Pâques, monastery bursar, 8 August 2014.
7 Interview on 29 August 2014.
of secularization and de-Christianization of the countryside. 1 Of course, the varying
 
impact of these items affects how work activities are conceived and implemented.
The various activities that monks have performed for centuries include farm work
and processing of agricultural products, which make the monastery a place of pro-
duction, promotion and experimentation of food and wine. It is thus worthwhile to
provide an overview of which tasks are actually carried out in these two monasteries,
as seen from the first visit to their websites : http ://www.dominustecum.it/attivita (no
   
online purchase is available, however) and http ://excellencedelerins.com/ (purchases

 
can be made and a virtual tour illustrates the contents of the monastery cellar).
The huge range and sheer variety of products is the result of familiarity gained
through tradition, long journeys undertaken by the monks and exchange of knowl-
edge on farming and crops of various kinds. Production responds to an ideal of self-
sufficiency nurtured by the monastery, which is also found in the documents and in the
constitutions of congregations following the Benedictine rule. Moreover, the monas-
tery should be organized, if possible, so that it has on hand everything it needs, namely
water, a mill, a vegetable garden and various workshops. 2  
Two of the most typical and typifying Cistercian monastic productions – beer and
cheese – are not made by the monasteries examined because the climate is unsuitable.
Furthermore, breeding of cattle, sheep and goats required for dairy production is now
a marginal activity in the Cistercian monastic network. 3 Brother Amedeo explained
 
that in the past Prà d’mill reared chickens and rabbits (about forty) which were then
slaughtered. This was a task undertaken by monks who had grown up in the country-
side and thus knew how to do it. From the late 1990s, it was abandoned as too challeng-
ing and the returns from the activity were decidedly limited.
Brother Amedeo added that nonetheless, the monastery’s various plans included
one to start breeding grazing stock (sheep), which would decrease the time required to
maintain the meadows around the monastery. 4 This project involved training the broth-
 
ers in stock rearing and building of appropriate structures (folds, stalls). On the other
hand beekeeping and honey production (from development of bee families to packag-
ing the end product) was a concept embraced from the start of the monastic commu-
nity. Prà d’mill produces poly-flora honey, in other words made from mixed flowers.
Thanks to the progressive flowering in this valley, the honey produced is unique and
typical of the area. The beekeeper is Brother Isidoro, managing about thirty hives and
the whole process of honey production. 5  
Besides Prà d’mill’s honey production, the monastery also makes jams and mar-
malades, initially managed by Brother Gabriele and now by Brother Amedeo (from
peeling the fruit to labelling the jars). Gabriele explained that before starting large-
scale production of a type of jam or marmalade, it is sampled by the other monks and
they fail to give a vote of confidence, production does not go ahead. If a type of jam
or preserve does not sell well, its production is halted : in-house market survey. Today
 
there are twenty-three types of jams. 6 In order to work efficiently, in 2008 a workshop
 
1 Interview at the community of Rougemont, Father Abbot, 13 September 2013.

2 Holzherr, La Regola di San Benedetto. 3 Moulin, La vita quotidiana, p. 50.
4 In 2014 a first tangible step (clean meadows in exchange for fresh pasture) was taken in this project, partnered
by local breeders who are friends of the monks.
5 Brother Isidoro interview with Prà d’Mill monastery, 10 December 2012.
6 Brother Gabriele interview with Prà d’Mill monastery 10 December 2012.
and boiler were set up to make jams and preserves. Thanks to this development, pro-
duction times for jams and preserves are shorter and quality has improved. The scale
of production is not huge but the monks say it is closely supervised and preserves are
organic. 1
 
A wide range of fruit is used at Prà d’mill, including citrus for marmalade and pur-
chased fruit (from Saluzzo and Busca), or donated and treated with the monastery’s
own methods. Much of the fruit used comes from the valleys around the monastery :  
chestnuts, then the redcurrants, blackberries, blueberries, “ramassin” (a type of wild

plum), as forest berries are a traditional local crop. The presence of many orchards in
the area (as far as the climate and terrain permit) means a continuous supply of fruit
and the monastery only has one hundred trees of its own. Everything – jams, fruit jel-
lies, hazelnut pastes, dried fruit with honey – is produced only and if it satisfactory for
the community and the buyers.
About three tons of fruit are processed each year, of which a part is consumed di-
rectly by the monks during meals and the rest is sold outside the monastery at about
four or five euros per jar. Then there are approximately five tons of honey each year,
selling at five euros per jar.
Jams, preserves and honey are sold in part directly in the monastery (visitors may
buy them on the spot), while another part is sold by stores across Italy that have con-
tacted the monastery because they are interested in sale of monastic products. The
monks of Prà d’mill are also in contact with the Chamber of Commerce and with the
Unione Agricoltori farming association for accounting support and for keeping up-to-
date with new regulations.
Production has grown continuously over the years and Brother Amedeo de-
scribed how the fruit (grown, harvested and donated) reached large quantities. This
was not consumed within the monastery because there was too much of it, so the
farm business was set up, allowing the brethren to begin producing jams with the
excess fruit. Applicable legislation was for structures (workshop and spaces dedi-
cated to storage compliant with applicable hygiene legislation) and revenue was
implemented.
So this farm was set up and from an informal activity it took shape as something more profes-
sional, increasingly a way of making a living. It’s profitable for the monastery, so then we built
a special workshop to make everything compliant. 2  
There are professional figures at the farm who advise the monks and the architects who
built the monastery, under the direction of Maurizio Momo, were then also involved in
bringing the workshop (tiles, flooring, suction hoods) to correct compliance levels.
Winemaking, widespread in many monasteries (France, Italy, Hungary, Switzerland)
is key to the work of Saint Honorat. Originally it was intended to supply churches with
the wine needed for mass and for external buyers. In countries where grapes could be
grown it was the most popular drink in the monasteries, approved by the Benedictine
Rule, albeit with some limitations. Indeed, the Rule states that each day a monk might
consume a “hemina”, an amount that experts calculate to be 0.75 litres. This was served
to each monk in a small earthenware jug and the same amount would have to suffice
1 Interview with Brother Amedeo, 22 February 2013.

even on days of double refection. Where the climate was colder, the wine was replaced
by beer or cider. 1  
Annual production is around forty thousand bottles, of which seven–eight thousand

are sold to Japan, thanks to the active involvement of a quality dealer in Tokyo. 2  
The two monasteries have quite different productions, not only of type but also in
know-how : training courses, spiritual practices, along with books, brochures, collec-
 
tions also found in their virtual stores and internet sites. The monks offer the lay public
a spiritual dimension and this category of activities includes welcoming pilgrims to the
sacred areas, supporting and flanking in material and spiritual aspects those men and
women who do not belong to their community.
The guesthouse business is important in both cases as monasteries are also tourist
venues. Booking can be managed online for both monasteries, through the website.
Visitors who come by ferry to the island of Lérins find a huge sign telling them that the
island is owned by the monks and that they decide how it can be accessed. In addition
to the spiritual offering, visitors are drawn by the chance to work for the monks and
alongside the monks, dealing with various types of task and making their contribution
to monastery life : employees, temporary workers, volunteers. The work for the mo-
 
nastic community involves people of all ages at all times of year.

Some of the expenses shouldered by the monks include, first and foremost, main-
taining the brethren (food, medical expenses, transportation) and the monasteries,
which are often sites of important artistic and architectural heritage. The manage-
ment, maintenance, restoration, and promotion costs are significant and high enough
to constitute a substantial part of expenses.
The Abbey of Lérins has expenditure of about five million euros a year, of which
two million are wages and expenses for the monks (the monthly cost of living per
capita is about four–five thousand euros a month on the island of Saint Honorat with
transport, renovation and maintenance, compared with four–five hundred euros at Prà
d’mill), 3 about eight hundred and fifty thousand euros for the island, and two and a
 
half million for charity. A tool at the disposal of Lérins Abbey is the Fondation des Mo-
nastères d’Utilité Publique (created in 1974, after pension contributions became man-
datory in France, in the late 1960s), which must meet fiscal obligations for the monks
and as a foundation may be defiscalized. 4 This makes it possible to receive and make
 
tax-free donations and bequests to associated religious congregations, helping cover

expenses, tax obligations and costs for maintenance of artistic and cultural heritage in
the monasteries (direct aid, with a budget of two million euros per year, and indirect
aid that varies depending on the donors).
Social security costs are taken from the salaries of the monks for legal and tax obli-
gations to be met, although there is a big difference among the monasteries : France,  
given the different social security contribution system, requires a mandatory payment
because the clergy has its own benefits fund, and the community pays seventy–eighty
thousand euros per person/per annum. Contributions in Italy (and Québec) are very
different as there is no special provision for clergy or religious orders.
1 L.J. Lekai, The Cistercians. Ideals and Reality, Kent, Ohio, The Kent State University Press, 1977.
3 Interview with Brother Abramo (Prà d’mill) and Brother Marie Pâques (Lérins), August 2014.
4 Activities, history and areas of action can be found on the site : http ://www.fondationdesmonasteres.org/
   
The use of external paid workers, and not volunteers, is more consolidated in Lérins
than in Italy, where everything except the major renovations, 1 is undertaken by the  
monks : updating of the website, electrical installations, kitchen management. There

 
are no longer lay brethren at Lérins or in any other Cistercian monastery. There are
paid workers who can be as many as eighty during the summer, of whom about half
work in the restaurant. 2 The monastery payroll lists manual workers, cooks, waiters,
 
professionals of various kinds who have flanked the monastery and helped it to grow.
4. Monastic capitalism : a paradox ?

   
The economic activities of both monasteries are the concrete result of a vision that the
community develops during monthly chapter meetings devoted to work activities. It is
deliberate to a certain extent and more or less explicit. According to the monks, work
is technically the finishing point of prayer, perceived as natural and healthy, flanking
the asceticism that is preparation for divesting from the social and human perspective.
Work becomes prayer and prayer becomes work, so the application of categories nor-
mally used to judge work is irrelevant, in continuous tension – as monastic life is – be-
tween “otium” and “negotium”. 3  
In the pages of the book En quête de sens : crises, affaires, spiritualité, and throughout
 
the course of the interview, the bursar of Lérins calls himself a fervent defender of
capitalism. He is « a monk, a priest and a company leader ». He is the bursar and a “good
   
manager”, and he cannot imagine an alternative economy, since freedom of enterprise

and development are decisive and the company (therefore the monastery, which is also
an enterprise) is the place for fulfilling the Kingdom of God. 4 Having capital and the  
possibility of investing that capital is a sign of freedom : without capital and without
 
investment there is no economy, although capitalism must be regulated by law and by

charity.
The monastic capitalist enterprise is at the service of God and the community, and
revenue must be shared among all. Personal wealth and accumulation are avoided by
organizing charity and making donations with any surplus. There is a profound differ-
ence between work and economy/money : work is the task at hand, then there is pro-
 
duction and sale, trade and – finally – sharing of the proceeds to meet the needs of the
community, investment and donation. According to the monks interviewed, develop-
ment is required as it is a global, complex strategy that does not lose sight of the com-
mon, values that are being lost, and the need for charity. The results of an efficient en-
terprise prove that it is a successful business that must respect nature and people, both
the workers and the customers. The Lérins bursar stressed that development must be
holistic and sustainable, able to welcome and embrace every aspect of the person.
The goal of the monks is, in fact, to earn the money required to pursue the aims of
monastic life : resurrect, baptize, acquire disciples, evangelize and teach. The mission
 
is growth because growth represents the Kingdom of God (which means growing in
number and in sanctity). 5  
1 Interview with Brother Abramo, 29 August 2014.

3 Interview with Brother Zeno, 29 August 2014.
4 See the interview En quête de sens : crises, affaires, spiritualité, published by Abbey of Lérins in 2012.
 
5 En quête de sens : crises, affaires, spiritualité.

 
Concepts like “capitalism” and “rationality” recur frequently in the words of the
Lérins bursar : monastic enterprise is virtuous and effective, and since the monks are in
 
a period of investment, like all businesses it is thus particularly prone to failing. Con-
trary to what was stated by the monks of the Italian monastery, there is a continued
insistence on the trademark, a brand for marketing monastic life to grow the commu-
nity and which should attract young people : « Abbaye de Lérins. Une île des frères, un
   
grand vin ».
 
Monastic marketing is based on the fact that communication is a Gospel message, a

promise of salvation. If the church’s job is to spread the Word of health and salvation,
communication and not only the content of the message must be addressed.
The enterprise is therefore the home of God’s Kingdom and the monastery is thus
God’s Kingdom by virtue of the fact that it is a virtuous enterprise. The Lérins bursar
explained the necessity of entering the capitalist system, which is the only one possible,
despite having to be wary of misuse and remain true to moderation, which is an im-
portant value. In this way the world will see that true wealth is of the other sort. People
must eat, drink, work, but with method and without excesses.
In addition to the rules (primarily, do not work and make money illegally, do not pay
protection money for certain services, recalled for the restaurant on Saint Honorat),
there are limits to how money can be earned (for instance, renting the island out as a
film set, advertising, hosting wedding receptions in the restaurant, wine cellar visits . .
.) because the monks are forbidden to do so. As the abbot says, monastic life is “with-
out price”. What those limits are and the criteria for defining them are not at all clear,
except that they are chosen, as required, when the community chapter meets.
So, while it can be said that the monks are not anti-capitalist, they do have rules, lim-
its, and some typically monastic traits. One of the most obvious reversals of age-old
models is the lack of adequate (and much less hyper) work specialization. The survey
performed for this paper in the two monasteries revealed that the employment of com-
munity members before they entered monastic life is fairly random with respect to
the tasks now performed, and there seems to be no connection with skills previously
acquired. In the monastery a former surveyor may become a farmer, and an engineer
an expert jam packager, a priest becomes an accounting assistant, a manual worker will
be a beekeeper. Despite the indications of Chapter 57 of the Rule (« If in the monastery
 
there are brothers experts in an art or a craft, let them work with the utmost humility,
provided the abbot allows it »), the paradigm of shared responsibility and rotating roles
 
is often worth more than the skills of the individual. Certainly, at Prà d’mill the monks
follow a more professionalizing path than those at Lérins. Social cohesion fosters (con-
tinuous) mixing of different tasks for men who come from different educational and
socioeconomic background. As the research has indeed revealed, in monastic commu-
nities, 80% of members are not university graduates and come from families of medi-
um-low social status. The few who started and/or completed higher education are also
those from wealthier families : again, a mirror of Italian and French society. 1
   
As shown by the case of Prà d’mill beekeeping, food production (in this case honey)
is entrusted to a monk trained in the field and who applies traditional methods, namely
no use of modern technologies. In their narratives there is a kind of nostalgia for the
1 The data were obtained from a few questions members of the two communities were asked in the summer
of 2014 about their employment before and after entering the monastery.
past and technological innovations and the revolutionary (cast iron, clocks) develop-
ment that came about in the Cistercian world, used to set a competitive price for prod-
ucts, but which is not possible today because « we are no longer masters of the market,
 
we are marginal ». 1 Despite production growth, the monks do not make use of experts
   
or professionals outside the monastery, preferring “a few friends” who give advice and
help out, or subscribing to beekeeping magazines.
An interesting element of this brother’s work is definitely the change with respect to
his Lerins tasks compared to his Prà d’mill work. As he recounted, in Lerins he worked
in the wine cellar and thus in wine production. He felt he was “an essential cog”, but
he added that after he left they hired a paid worker :  
When I left there were almost forty monks. Now there are eighteen monks and twenty workers.
The community relies on outsiders. It has expanded the wine business. The image of the mon-
astery on the island opposite Cannes plays a big part. The wine, however, is very good. When
the business gradually expanded, they called in a winemaker. 2  
When he moved to Prà d’mill he was entrusted with a different task by his fellow
monks, which he learned to perform by reading and observing the others doing the
same job. His words also reveal the difference in outlook and application of the two
monasteries, which depends largely on the current bursar of the monastery of Lérins
and its capitalist management, which strongly challenges the question of specialization
and use of outsiders in the management of enterprise.
Moreover, the topic of efficiency also distinguishes how monks work : the amount
 
of time spent at work each day varies in the monasteries as it depends on the climate,
seasons and time of year, but also on the constant interruptions that prayer (“orare”)
implies, since it fragments time and concentration on work (“laborare”). At Prà d’mill
there is usually more fruit in summer, from July to September-October : « In general,
   
we work from half past eight to noon in the morning, and in the afternoon, more or
less from three to seven. In summer we work five days a week, and during the winter
we may only dedicate two or three days to work ». 3    
Vladimir, a former physician and now abbot of Lérins, also remembers that modera-
tion depends strictly on the cultural and geographic context : there is a profound differ-
 
ence between monasteries of the same congregation. For instance Mi Ca, in Vietnam,
suffers all the problems of the Vietnamese economy and heavy interference from the
state, which has boycotted its activities to make its life difficult. The comparison be-
tween the monasteries of the same congregation but located in different parts of the
world also makes the significance of what is “necessary” relative. Thus it would be un-
thinkable for several monks at Lérins to live without an iPhone or an iPad, as it would
be for those of Prà d’mill to have only cold water in the shower.
The monks (I would say all but one) seem almost to have been trained in a manner
of expressing themselves whereby they do not utter certain words and they defend
certain values : moderation, austerity, “Christian values” and, above all, the final judge
 
. . . Providence.
Providence is a key concept for all the brethren, a fact of their lives. All of them be-
lieve that what they need will be made available by Providence while they take care of
1 Interview with Brother Abramo, 29 September 2014.

2 Interview with Brother Isidoro, 10 December 2012.
projects as supervisors, administrators, managers, almost “flanking” Providence. The
monks interpret and describe proof of the signs of Providence in the history of their
monastery : when money was needed bequests, donations, insurance policies were left
 
to the communities, so they are never prey to desperation. Providence, at Prà d’mill as
at Lérins, helps, accompanies, saves, solves. It is indispensable.
Conclusions
Although it is premature to offer conclusions at this stage of research into such a com-
plex subject and its many ramifications, the case study of the two Cistercian monaster-
ies is useful for offering some reflections and probing the solidity of the paradigm of
transmutatio, making reference to contemporary life while bearing in mind past history
and its legacy in the present. There is no doubt that the geographical and domestic
context weigh heavily on activities and economic systems at both Lérins and Prà d’mill.
With reference to the three models proposed by I. Jonveaux in his essay (subsistence
economy, internal, self-sufficient ; agricultural economy, domestic with external work-
 
ers ; assets economy), it is possible to see the monastery of Prà d’mill as one with an
 
agricultural and domestic economy closer to budgeting, while Lérins has implemented
an economy of assets, with profitable activities that go beyond sustenance and which
might be seen as applying the profit-making model.
Consequently the paradigm that monasteries are governed by non-mainstream
economy that manages to escape/negate capitalist/(neo) liberalism rationale could
not be further from the truth. Nor can we make reference to a single “monastic eco-
nomic model”.
The gap between the spirit of capitalism and monasticism is marked by a different vi-
sion of consumer satisfaction after the accumulation of goods and money, the contrast
between the private and collective (the monastery, not the monk, establishes the coopera-
tive nature of economic practices) perspective ; the value of donations, benefactors, faith
 
in Providence that will see to everything (and when they say this, the monks really believe
it). However, despite some characteristics and the sometimes quite rhetorical 1 stances
 
taken (besides those mentioned above, avoiding accumulation, reducing consumption ;  
individual poverty ; moderation and austerity ; forced inefficiency ; joint responsibility

     
rather than professionalization), all the Cistercian monasteries studied apply a produc-
tion rationale, not only for survival but also for production, investment, rationalization.
There is a rejection of the existing system, a complete clash, a true alternative :  
the complex – economic – relationship the monks have with the outside world com-
plies with the monastic tradition found throughout history. In different periods it has
brought different results, but has never broken off contact with the world, and especial-
ly at this moment in history, in which the very survival of the monks is at stake, it can
only transform, mediate and embrace. Very close monastic communities (Cistercians
and even of the same congregation) but located in different geographical, social and
cultural contexts have reacted in different ways to the seeds of modernity, implement-
ing transformation processes at dissimilar speeds.
Nonetheless we must remember that transmutatio is not an innovation (only) of our
times.
1 Giorda, Hejazi, Spazi e luoghi monastici.

Appendix
CCIC : Congrégation des Cisterciens de l’Immaculée Conception, recognized by the State un-
 
der prime-ministerial decree, president Bruno GAUDRAT (religious title Father Dom Vladimir
Gaudrat).
Employees : 3 (agricultural work).
 
1. Lérins Famille SARL : owned 100% by CCIC and capitalized by the shares held by the respective
 
partners.
Capital : €786,852
 
Managing director : Alain Clément Galabru (religious title Father Marie Pâques)
 
Purpose : The activity of the holding company comprises all provision of services in matters
 
of management, accounting, information technology and marketing, assistance and consulting

in the management of the business of its subsidiaries or any French- or foreign-registered com-
panies. All central purchasing activities, treasury management, maintenance of equipment.
Creation of new companies, contributions, subscriptions to or purchases of titles or owner-
ship rights, mergers, creation, acquisition, leasing, lease management agreements for business
premises and establishments.
Employees : 9. 
Four subsidiaries :  
Lérina SARL : owned 100% by CCIC

 
Capital : €38,500
 
 
Purpose : production and refinement of wines, production of liqueurs, olive oil, distribution
 
of produce, shop (souvenirs, books, sale of monastery products).

Employees : 4. 
Hôtellerie SARL : 500 shares, of which 475 owned by Lerina and 25 by CCIC.
 
Capital : €8,000
 
Managing director : Gilles Ambrosini (religious title Brother Gilles)

 
Purpose : monastery catering, subleased management of restaurant, guided tours, tasting

 
events.
Employees : 2  
Planaria SARL : owned 100% by CCIC

 
Capital : €8,000
 
 
Purpose : ticketing services for transport of passengers between Cannes and Saint-Honorat,
 
and
upkeep of the island.
Employees : 3  
CMLSH SARL (Compagnie Maritime de Lérins à Saint Honorat) owned 100% by CCIC
Capital : €15,000
 
Managing directors : Alain Clément Galabru (religious title Father Marie Pâques), Christiane
 
Taylor, Jean Paul Ortelli.

Purpose : transport of passengers to the island of Saint-Honorat.
 
Employees : 7  
2. La Tonnelle SARL : owned 100% by CCIC

 
Capital : €5,700
 
Managing directors : Alain Clément Galabru (religious title Father Marie Pâques) and Marc
 
Dussoulier.
Purpose : catering services on the island of Saint-Honorat.
 
Employees : Annual average 12.

 
Beyond the Theravada :  
Monastics in Modern Southeast A sia

Justin McDaniel
Introduction
I f I played a word association game with most students of Buddhism and gave them
the term “Southeast Asia,” the first word that would probably pop into their mind
would be “Theravada”. This would be natural. “Theravada” is the dominant school
in Myanmar/Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Theravada Buddhists
draw their monastic precepts, major rituals, and teachings from the Pali canon or “tripi-
taka” as well as from a wide range of Pali and vernacular commentaries, narratives,
and oral traditions. They also have produced a large number of “relic” histories and
particularly honor what is believed to be the bones, teeth, hair, and other remnants of
the historical Buddha. Along with beliefs and rituals drawn from these relic histories
and the Pali canon and commentaries, they also draw from local beliefs in and stories
of land, royal, and familial spirits. While the historical Buddha is often the most impor-
tant object of worship and inspiration, local spirits, Brahmanic and Chinese gods, as
well as local historical figures share altar space with him.
It is no surprise that Brahmanic influence has been significant in Southeast Asian
Buddhism. Different forms of Brahmanism was the first non-native religious influence
in the region (especially in Java, Angkor, lower Burma, the Malay Peninsula, Suman-
tra, and Southern Thailand). Art, architecture, script, urban planning, poetics, magic,
ritual, and language have been significantly influenced by Sanskrit literary culture and
Hindu ritual. Today this influence is ubiquitous and seen in things as basic as street
names, ritual implements, and royal titles, as well as in literary plot structures, heroic
values, and symbolic archetypes. Today, Southeast Asian shrines often have both Hindu
and Buddhist images sitting side by side. Thai “Buddhists” often visit and give offerings
to “Brahmanic” shrines that have images of the gods Ganesha, Brahma, Shiva, or Uma
as the main image. Royal rituals involve Brahmins and occasionally Sanskrit chanting.
The prevalence of Chinese deities, as well as Chinese forms of Buddhist aesthetics
and rituals are also commonplace in “Theravada countries.” Most Buddhists whether
they have Chinese ethnicity or not are familiar with images of the Jade Emperor, Chi-
nese ancestor shrines, the eight immortals, and various historical and mythological fig-
ures that are honored as Chinese deities like Mazu/Tin Hau, Zheng He, among others.
The rise of the building of large images of Kuan Yin (Avalokites´vara/Kannon/Guan
Im) on the grounds of Theravada temples has grown significantly in the last forty years
and Ngou Yim style Chinese chanting is being heard in places like Thailand and Malay-
sia on a regular basis in and around Chinese temples in major urban areas.
Theravada is often considered the strictest school/sect of Buddhism because Thera-
vada monks adhere to the 227 monastic precepts of the Pali (classical language of Ther-
avada Buddhism) Vinaya (code of monastic conduct). These precepts forbid monks
from marrying, having children, engaging in commerce, imbibing intoxicants, and
living with the laity. It also requires them to shave their heads and eyebrows once a
64 justin mcdaniel
month, where robes at all times, and give up most of their own worldly possessions.
While most monks do adhere to these rules with the occasional bending and break-
ing of certain rules (mostly in secret), most Theravada monks ordain for a short pe-
riod of time and therefore, these rules do not necessarily (or even normally) lead to
life-long sobriety, poverty, and celibacy. It also means that on average there is a much
larger percentage of ordained persons in most Southeast Asian Buddhist countries than
anywhere else in Asia. With their saffron robes and shaven heads, monks are a highly
visible part of daily life in Buddhist Southeast Asia. Moreover, Theravadan monks, es-
pecially from Thailand travel extensively and are becoming active in Australia, Europe,
and North America.
Therefore, while this short chapter will focus on the changing monkhood in modern
Southeast Asia by focusing on profiles of several Theravadan Buddhists, I will make an
effort to demonstrate that the closer we look at the lives of individual Theravadan Bud-
dhists the more we see how blurry the boundaries of what constitutes ideal Theravada
monastic life are. I want to show how their lives reflect the ways in which monks are
negotiating with modernity and with the supposed hallmarks on their own tradition.
Theravada Monastics in an increasing Maha¯ y a¯ n a World

and Vice Versa
Theravadins are not the only Buddhists in Southeast Asia of course. Indeed, there are
“Maha¯ya¯na” Buddhists in the region, especially in Vietnam, Singapore, and Malaysia.
Moreover, Theravadins are not limited to mainland Southeast Asia (Thailand, Burma,
Laos, and Cambodia), but are now many from Thailand are serving as Buddhist “mis-
sionaries” in Indonesia. Thai monks have opened several monasteries in Java, Kaliman-
tan, among other places including Japan, Vietnam, and Australia. Furthermore, there
are many supposedly Maha¯ya¯na elements in Theravada practice, architecture, and
texts, and vice versa. I want to move away from sectarian labels and get to the level of
the individual. The history of Buddhism in Southeast Asia that has been written insti-
tutionally has generally overlooked the way a monk’s personal teacher and personal
ordination lineage (or “dispensation”) trumps all other sectarian and regional associa-
tions. Stating that a person is “Theravadin” is sufficiently vague enough to tell us noth-
ing. Southeast Asian Buddhist teachers are influenced by much more than Theravada
Buddhism.
For example, four of the most innovative modern Southeast Asian Buddhist teachers
are Maechee Sansanee Sathirasut, Shi Fa Zhao, Lieu Phap and the late Luang Po Tien.
They have a great interest in Japanese, Tibetan, and Chinese schools of Buddhism.
Maechee Sansanee Sathirasut is a wealthy Bangkok woman who recently began her
own monastery and meditation center in Northern Bangkok. This center hosts its own
television program and discusses ways in which meditation, physical exercise, a healthy
cuisine, and active study of Buddhist texts can help reduce stress and lead to a produc-
tive and altruistic life. She does not claim that this is the way ancient Buddhists lived,
that she is the practitioner of the true Thai Buddhism, or that she feels victimized by
the male Thai monks. She promotes the reading of Buddhist teachers throughout Asia.
Women and men practice together at the center, and she maintains a balance between
social activist and ascetic/scholarly recluse.
Luang Po Tien, who passed away in 1988 developed a new meditation practice, called
“sati” meditation, which neither claimed to be the original or purest form of concen-
beyond the theravada: monastic in modern southeast asia 65
tration development nor truly Thai. Instead, Luang Po Tien developed this meditation
under the guidance of Luang Po Pan, a Lao monk in Vientiane, a Zen Roshi named Ya-
mada in Singapore and by reading the teachings of Hui Neng, a seventh century Ch’an
Chinese monk. One of his first students and later popularizer of the practice was lay
woman named Anchalee Thaiyanond. He also saw it as a way to incorporate aspects of
Maha¯ya¯na and Theravada Buddhist meditation. The popular worship of the Bodhisat-
tva, Kuan Yin, especially among the Sino-Thai communities of Thailand.
In forthcoming book I am editing with Mark Rowe and Jeffrey Samuels, many schol-
ars were invited to highlight the work of influential modern Buddhists. 1 Carina Pichler,  
for example, focused on the work of a Theravada nun in Vietnam. She profiled Lieu
Phap, who « entered the nunnery only a half year after she graduated in 1991 at the
 
age of 24. She was living as a nun for 11 years in Vietnam and India before ordaining in
Sri Lanka in 2002 which made her become the first Vietnamese Theravada Bhikkhuni
(fully-ordained nun) ». She went on to earn a PhD at the University of Delhi and after
 
returning to Vietnam has been promoting the ordination of women. She has struggled
by being a Theravada nun instead of Maha¯ya¯na nun. The latter tradition permits wom-
en to ordain and even run their own nunneries. However, she believes that her work
as a Theravada nun will bring much needed benefits to Buddhist women throughout
Southeast Asia.
One of the most influential monks in Southeast Asia is Shi Fa Zhao. Although he
doesn’t not promote himself as a Maha¯ya¯na monk and named his temple in Singa-
pore after a supposed tooth relic of the Buddha from Burma, he was trained by Tian-
tai and Linji masters, one from China and one from Singapore. 2 Even though he is  
trained in the Tiantai tradition, Shi Fa Zhao certainly does not promote the Lotus Sutra
(Saddharmapunºdºarı¯ka Su¯tra) at the temple. The Linji also flourished during the (late)
Tang period and is one of the five schools of Chan Buddhism ( Japanese : Zen). It is  
known as a small, but particularly strict form of Chan that grew in Japan under the Rin-
zai and Obaku schools of Zen, but remained relatively small in China. However, there
is little at his temple in Singapore that would suggest Shi Fa Zhao’s Linji Chan training.
His promotion of Maitreya and Avalokites´vara or his focus on the Maha¯parinirva¯nºa
Su¯tra or the Maha¯vairocana Su¯tra are not intellectually firmly connected with Tian-
tai or Linji and the focus on ecumenicalism, year-long silent retreats, relic collecting,
Ksºitigarbha, and the Tang zodiac are not connected to these Chinese schools particu-
larly or any one Chinese teaching lineage. Indeed, Shi Fa Zhao’s own thoughts on
Buddhist teachings (a collection of ten articles originally appearing as a series in the
Nagapuspa Museum’s bi-monthly magazine called Dharma Rain) in his book (in Chi-
nese and English) called The Pursuit of True Happiness and Other Life Observations do not
reveal his allegiance to a particular known school of thought, but are, in a sense, like
Singapore itself, made up of a wide variety of influences, forward thinking, eclectic,
consensus-building, but with a certain emphasis on Chinese aesthetics ! The only con-  
1 Figures of Buddhist Modernity, edited by J. McDaniel, J. Samuels, M. Rowe, Honolulu, University of Hawaii
Press, 2015.
2 Thanks to a little more research and help from Jack Meng-tat Chia, I discovered that Shi Fa Zhao received
his ordination from Ven. Miao Hua (http ://www.btrts.org.sg/venerable-miao-hua) who was the supervisor of
 
Leong San monastery in Singapore from 1979 to 1992. Subsequently, he received his higher ordination at Cuibiyan
(literally Green Cliff and Rock) Monastery in Taiwan http ://www.goldenpagoda.org.sg/~goldenpa/goldenpa-
 
goda/index.php ?page=26).
 
66 justin mcdaniel
nection to Chan, is in two sentences mentioning the “Shurangama Sutra” (Sanskrit :  
Sπu¯raṅgama Su¯tra/Chinese : Léngyán jı¯ng) which he attributes to stating that ignorance

 
leads to unfavorable rebirth, a teaching that can be found in many texts used by many
different schools of Buddhism. Rarely is he specific. He commends Buddhist art, but
decries materialism. He encourages respect for tradition and parents by promoting ac-
cumulating “merit” by « making icons, contributing to monastery construction, and
 
so on » ; but emphasizes the need to build your own character. 1 As he states, « present
       
blessings accumulated by our forefathers are to be cherished, but we must now culti-
vate future blessings ». 2 He relates several Buddhist stories from the life of the Buddha
   
and eminent monks, but he does not cite sources or directly connect these stories to
any particular school of thought. He mentions Master Xuanzang once in regards to
his travel to India to collect texts and promote the need for “action” and effort in reli-
gion. He also mentions the Chinese master Fan Zhongyan and the calligrapher Wang
Xizhi briefly to promote honesty, and the Tea Master Lu Yu to promote “frugality.” 3  
He just uses the phrase « according to the Dharma » as his authority. He mentions Con-
   
fucius once in connection to the discouragement of “superstition” and the promotion

of moral discipline. He mentions the word Chan once, but uses it to mean “medita-
tion”. To describe what “wisdom” is, he quotes Heraclitus instead of any Buddhist
master ! Photographs in the text are taken from the temple, but also from monks and
 
temples in Burma, Tibet, and Thailand, children in China, and nature scenes from the
desert, snow covered lakes, the New England seashore, and forests. He only quotes
(loosely and without citation) a few texts with no obvious connection to each other :  
the Maṅgala Sutta (a Pali text particularly popular among Theravadins in Southeast
Asia and Sri Lanka), the Dhammapada, the “Garland Sutra” (I assume he means the
Maha¯vaipulya Buddha¯vatamºsaka Su¯tra/Huáyán Ji¯ng), the “Shurangama Sutra” and Tim
Sander’s book The Likeability Factor which as he states « explores the positive effects of
 
an attractive personality on one’s life and career ». 4 He also quotes a New York City
   
restaurant owner, an unnamed Yale psychologist quoted in the Harvard Business Review
(no specific citation provided). He promotes happiness, knowledge of the imperma-
nence of all things, non-attachment, and gratitude in many articles. It is a delightful,
accessible, and conversational type of writing suited to sermons for a general audience.
It reflects a type of worldly wisdom peppered with pithy maxims from many traditions
and time periods and perfectly reflects the intentions of the temple and museum. He
does not particularly promote his own background or temple. He provides the reader
no autobiographical clues and does not use the first person. He wants to move beyond
sectarian affiliations and divisions.
What I am arguing here is that in modernity, it is often more accurate to know with
which lineage of personal teachers within or across other lineages a monk, nun, or
layperson self-identifies. Sectarian divisions have tended to remove agency from indi-
vidual teachers. The intimate relationship developed between a teacher and a student
and how that relationship is passed down (through ordination and training) is the most
important relationship and tradition most nuns and monks have. “My teacher...” is a
common refrain in conversations with nuns and monks, where as “my sect,” “my mon-
astery,” “my school,” “my hometown” are always secondary.
1 S. Fa Zhao, The Pursuit of True Happiness and Other Life Observations, Singapore, International Press Softcom,
2007, pp. 15 ; 138. 
2 Ivi, p. 20. 3 Ivi, pp. 148-164. 4 Ivi, pp. 92, 82, 190, 108.
New Monastic Practices in Southeast Asia

Individual monks have also been exploring a variety of ways of being both Buddhist
and modern. Scholars have generally focused on modern meditation movements. In
Burma, the movements inspired by Ledi Sayadaw and U Ba Khin which focus on vipas-
sana meditation practice have spread far and wide throughout the country bolstered
by the fame and meditation practice of Aung San Suu Kyi and S.N. Goenka. Simi-
lar growth in vipassana meditation retreats have been seen in Laos and Thailand with
modern teachers inspired by the teachings of Luang Pho Cha, Buddhadasa Bhikkhu,
and “forest” monks such as Achan Man Bhuridato, Kruba Siwichai, Achan Fan Acaro,
and Luang Phu Sao Kantasilo. In Laos, an often overlooked figure in the history of
modern Southeast Asian Buddhism is the monk, Mahapan Ananto. In the 1950s and 60s
he promoted vipassana mediation on the national level. He published 58 short volumes
of Buddhavong magazine, ran a weekly radio program, organized 300 public lectures,
opened five branches of an Abhidhamma school, opened a library with “about 3,000
books,” opened an orphanage, opened dozens of vipassana mediation centers, (ten
in Vientiane alone) and opened 15 schools for lay and ordained youth with approxi-
mately 3690 students (very similar to Mahanikaya projects sponsored by monks at Wat
Mahathat and Wat Rakhang Khositaram in Bangkok in the 1950s). At these schools,
Mahapan encouraged the students to compose nationalistic Buddhist songs, put on
Buddhist “plays” and dances, and sponsor debates on the role of Buddhism in society
and politics. He traveled extensively to Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand to encourage a
greater role for monks in regional relations. However, with the rise of the Marxist re-
gime in Laos in 1975, he “disappeared” and was most likely killed by agents of a new
political force that was not keen on monks being involved in public policy or interna-
tional relations. His teachings are carried on by Ongkaeo Sittiwong in Luang Phrabang
today, and by monks at Wat Sokpaluang in Vientiane. 1  
Although much recent regional integration has been attributed to monks and nuns
seeking educational opportunities in other countries, in recent years, this move toward
regional Buddhist integration often takes the form of meditation movements. Another
school of meditation, the Dhammakaya, is based largely on the teachings of Luang
Pho Sot (Mongkol Thepmuni) of Wat Pak Nam in Bangkok. Although he passed away
in 1959, his method is one of the fastest growing forms of practice in Southeast Asia
and even among Thai, Cambodian, and Lao communities in Australia and the United
States. There have been a number of studies of the Dhammakaya Movement which
have linked it to Luang Pho Sot. His teachings have become synonymous with the
larger movement. Phra Dhammajayo is the head of the well known Dhammakaya
movement in Thailand. Born as Chaiboon Sutipol in 1944, he was heavily influenced
by the teachings of the nun, Khun Yai, who herself was the primary student of Luang
Po Sot (1906-1959). However, Khun Yai and Phra Dhammajayo turned the meditation
method into an entire guide for living and the popularity of this movement led to a fi-
nancial windfall. In my conversations at Wat Pak Nam, it is this blatant connection of
meditation and wealth that is distasteful to many nuns and monks and divisions in the
community are starting to take place. Phra Dhammajayo started encouraging college
1 Buddhism, Power and Political Order, edited by Ian Harris, London, Routledge, 2007.
68 justin mcdaniel
students in Bangkok to attend classes with Khun Yai in 1969. The next year a wealthy
laywoman donated a large tract of land in the suburbs and funds to build a meditation
center. Dhammajayo glorified Khun Yai with a large photo above the front door and
started to arrange mass ordinations for college graduates. His teachings have attract-
ed the growing well-educated and entrepreneurial middle class throughout Southeast
Asia, Australia, and even communities in North America (especially Los Angeles and
Philadelphia) who lack the time to ordain, study large tomes of Buddhist scripture,
or mediate for several hours a day in the forest. Dhammakaya has also enjoined the
sponsorship of influential politicians like General Chaowalit Yongchaiyud and major
financial institutions like the Siam Commercial Bank and the Bangkok Bank. By some
estimates Dhammakaya coffers have grown to over 50 million USD. 1  
While these meditation masters have appealed to Western enthusiasts and have been
studied by scholars, a very different type of very popular Buddhist practice also charac-
terizes Buddhism, but has scarcely been studied – magic. Magicians are often depicted
as noble, but misguided and unfortunate poor folk using the “alternative science” of
magic since they do not have access to “real” science. However, magic is a phenomena
that cannot be ignored. In Burma, a number of magicians who follow the path of se-
cret knowledge (weikza-lam) have gained large followings. There are claims that some
of these men (some ordained as monks, but many not) can live upwards of 900 years
and they control the power to make elixirs and use protective incantations. Their goal
is to live until the coming of the future Buddha, Metteya. Patrick Pranke notes that
these weikza-lam movements are often small groups of initiates known as gaing. 2 How-  
ever, Pranke notes that studying them as movements is of limited use, because these
gaing are often completely dependent on the example of single founder.
In Thailand and Cambodia these magicians have gained national fame. For example,
Somdet To could be called the national saint of Thailand. Somdet To has been consis-
tently the best recognized monk in Central Thailand for over 130 years. Although he
died in the late nineteenth century (probably 1872), his following still dominates Thai
public life. He is even gaining popularity in Singapore, Malaysia, and Laos. He was
considered a magician who could make protective amulets and some of these amulets
have recently sold for well over one million US dollars. He has been honored by sev-
eral kings and his statues are present at nearly every royal monastery in the country.
His laudatory epigraphs speak to his intellectual acumen, scholarly skills, and liturgi-
cal expertise. He is not simply a hero of the rural poor. There are over 15 biographies
published, each which, in very different ways, emphasize his unique qualities, ranging
from simple chronologies to unapologetic apotheosis. 3 In Cambodia, John Marston
 
has recently studied the life of Lok Ta Nen. He was the object of a large following be-
fore the rise of the Khmer Rouge and the genocide in Cambodia in the late 1970s. How-
ever, recently his home temple has been the center of a renewed following. Lok Ta Nen
was seen as a person who could cure smallpox, appear magically in multiple places at
1 For a good overview and bibliography on the study of the Dhammakaya movement see C. Newell, Monks,
Meditation and Missing Links : Continuity, ‘Orthodoxy’ and the Vijja Dhammakaya in Thai Buddhism, a dissertation
 
completed at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London 2008.
2 Patrick Pranke, On saints and wizard : Ideals of human perfection and power incontemporary Burmese Buddhism,
 
« Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies », 33, 2010 (2011), 1–2, pp. 453–488.
   
3 For a biography in English on Somdet To see J. McDaniel, The Lovelorn Ghost and the Magical Monk : Practic-
 
ing Buddhism in Modern Thailand, New York, Columbia University Press, 2011 : chapter one.
 
one time, and make holy water. Instead of being a teacher of meditation or Pali, he was
said to have been an expert in astrology and cosmology. He is honored by the military
and civilian elite, as well as by farmers. His following has grown since his death. 1  
Monks are not only known for skills in meditation and protective magic, but also
as teachers and scholars. In Cambodia, Penny Edwards and Anne Hansen have docu-
mented the intellectual history of modern Cambodian Buddhism. They have shown
the ways in which notions of modernity, reform, social ethics, and local Khmer versus
translocal Theravada identity were debated by ethnic Cambodian and French colonial
scholars in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Their research reveals that
defining a “Cambodian” Buddhist school or way of approaching modernity is difficult
without understanding the complexities of individual lives, whether it be the modern-
ist reformer Chuon Nath, the French historian Suzanne Karpelès, or the scholar-monk
Huot Tath. For example, Chuon Nath (1883-1969) in the name of reforming Theravada
Buddhism and improving Pali language study may have actually worked more to pre-
serve the Khmer language and define Cambodian culture on a national level. In the
guise of translocalism, he promoted local culture, where as Karpelès in her efforts to
raise the level of Pali and Sanskrit education in Cambodia and promote Cambodia’s
Buddhist identity, sought in some ways to dampen the localness of specifically Cam-
bodian forms of religious expression in favor of a notion of pan-Indochinese Buddhist
identity. She hoped that the Vietnamese, Lao, and Khmer would start to work togeth-
er towards improving the study of history and religion across the French colonies in
Southeast Asia. Huot That sought to revive the strict adherence to the Vinaya monastic
code in Cambodia. However, he drew inspiration from reform of the Vinaya code in
Thailand by King Mongkut in the mid-19th century (Mongkut actually claimed that he
drew his inspiration for reviving the code from Mon monks from Southern Burma).
The different approaches of these intellectuals show how difficult it is to define the na-
ture of modern Cambodian Buddhism institutionally. It seems to be both highly local
and explicitly translocal. 2 In the post-Khmer Rouge period, these debates are still alive
 
(although, the Khmer Rouge purges led to the death of upwards of 80% of all monks
and novices). French scholars like Olivier de Bernon and Christoph Pottier are attempt-
ing to study the specific contributions of Cambodian culture to Buddhist thought, art,
and ritual, where as Cambodian scholar monks like are attempting to make contact
with international Buddhist organizations like the International Association of Bud-
dhist Universities run by Ven. Khammai Dhammasami, a Shan monk who was trained
in Burma and Thailand and earned a PhD from Oxford University, and Ven. Phra Sug-
anda (Dr. Anil Sakya), a Nepali monk who studied in England and Thailand and now
is an assistant to the Sangharaja (chief ranking monk in Thailand). These two monks
are creating international teaching lineages and communities of Theravada Buddhist
intellectuals more broadly.
1 John Marston, « Wat Preah Thammalanka and the Legend of Lok Ta Nen », in People of Virtue : Reconfiguring
     
Religion, Power, and Moral Order in Cambodia Today, edited by Alexandra Kent and David Chandler, 85-108. Copen-
hagen, NIAS Press 2008, pp. 85-108.
2 Ann Hansen, How to Behave : Buddhism and Modernity in Colonial Cambodia, 1860-1930 Honolulu : University
   
of Hawaii Press, 2006, pp. 77-79, 101-127 ; Penny Edwards, Cambodge : Cultivation of a Nation, Honolulu, University
   
of Hawaii Press, 2007.

70 justin mcdaniel
Beyond the Institution of the Monastery

Throughout Southeast Asia there exist communities of “nuns.” However, these nuns
do not have the same institutional or ritual status as their male equivalent – monks
(Pali : bhikkhu). They are not fully ordained bhikkhuni (female monks). However, nuns,
 
known as Tun Ji in Cambodia (Thai : Maechi ; Lao : Mae Xin) have existed since at least
     
the 19th century in Burma and in Thailand for much longer. A striking characteristic of
the 20th century, especially in the second half, has been the greatly increased numbers
of women adopting this role. Tun Ji in Cambodia, for example, have generally been
overlooked as destitute women, former prostitutes, or uneducated older women act-
ing as cooks and maidservants to monks. This, often derogatory perception of them,
still continues today. However, Elizabeth Guthrie has shown that these nuns are not
simply servants to monks. At Wat Mangalavan in Phnom Penh, there are 73 Tun Ji,
they have significant influence over the way meditation is taught and the monastery is
run. Su Mauy, for example, has studied advanced techniques of concentration at vari-
ous places throughout the region and has a number of students. Her independence and
status belies her inferior status institutionally 1. In Thailand, undoubtedly the doyenne
 
of all Pali scholars, male or female, is Maechi Vimuttiya. She has published and edited
many books on Pali grammar, language and literature in Thai, being considered one of
the leading scholars of Pali literature not only in Southeast Asia, but in the world. She
lived for some years in a forest temple outside Chiang Mai, but is now director of the
prestigious International Tripitaka Hall, at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. Thai
universities, especially departments of philosophy, literature and religious studies gen-
erally have a majority of female teachers and students. Meditation centers and lay Pali
and textual study classes at urban and rural monasteries are also populated mostly by
women. Women play an often dominant role in modern Thai lay Buddhist scholarship
and practice ; however, this is a fact often overlooked by scholars who have studied the
 
status of nuns institutionally. Studying Buddhist women in Southeast Asia from afar,
they can appear as an oppressed group. However, while widespread and entrenched
social and institutional androcentrism exists, the individual lives of many nuns reveal a
complexity that has been overlooked until very recently.
Michael Jerryon and Visiya Pinthongvijayakul, also featured in the forthcoming ed-
ited volume mentioned above, also focused on the life of a much different Buddhist
women in Southeasy Asia. Jerryson looked at the life of Acharawadee Wongsakon.
Although she was a successful business person, she started meditating and after four
years of meditation was inspired to defend Buddhism from the dangers of internation-
alism as she sees it. Acharawadee founded the School of Life Foundation and began to
offer meditation classes to young children and adults. Jerryson notes that what really
angered her was when
« she visited France and walked past a bar that was named “The Buddha Bar.” The name puz-
 
zled her and so she entered to find a Buddha statue placed in the center. People were drink-
ing alcohol, smoking cigarettes, and dancing ; this stark contrast to proper Buddhist veneration
 
led Acharawadee to tears. Unable to persuade the bar owners to do anything, she returned to
1 Elizabeth Guthrie, Khmer Buddhism, Female Asceticism, and Salvation, in History, Buddhism and New Religious
Movements in Cambodia, edited by John Marston and Elizabeth Guthrie, Honolulu, University of Hawaii Press,
2004, pp. 133-149.
Thailand and began to discuss the larger issue with her students. For Acharawadee, the Buddha
offers a unique gift in comparison to other religions. He provides a way out of suffering that is
dependent upon each person. She explained to her members : if you cannot protect the Buddha
 
image, how can you hope to protect the Buddhist doctrine ? Starting with six students, Acha-
 
rawadee decided to found the Knowing Buddha Organization on April 17, 2012 ». 1    
This organization has successfully stopped the production and sale of products that
could be seen as offensive to Buddhists in France, the Netherlands, and the United
States.
Visiya Pinthongvijayakul looked at the life of Mae Sim, a 76 year old female Bud-
dhist medium in rural Northeast Thailand who practices prognostication and protec-
tive magic. She is lauded by local politicans, business people, and laborers alike. While
a Theravadin Buddhist, she also honors local spirits and maintains her own shrine. She
actively supports local Buddhist monasteries through the income she earns from her
work as a medium. She also maintains her spiritual power, as Visiya describes, by leading
an aesthetic life, mirroring, in many ways, the monastic precepts of ordained monks. 2  
Mae Sim, like many Buddhists in Southeast Asia, leads a life somewhere in between
monastic and lay life. Since, most Theravada nuns and monks ordain for temporary
periods, many lay people in Southeast Asia, especially men, have indeed, been monks
or Buddhist novice monks once in their life or plan to ordain for a short time in the
future. Therefore, any short description of monastic life in Southeast Asia should men-
tion the role of lay people. Usually lay people are described only as serving monks, but
not actively teaching and practicing themselves. However, lay Buddhists are actively
taking leadership roles in Southeast Asian Buddhist communities as teachers, medita-
tors, artists, and activists. Lay practitioners and teachers are often overlooked in the
study of Buddhism. By doing this, many practices remain understudied or are labeled
pre-Buddhist, folk, or localisms because they are not explicitly monastic. For exam-
ple, as Erik Davis has shown, Cambodian lay practitioners have developed elaborate
methods of honoring and petitioning supernatural deities (neak ta), as well as ghosts
(khmoc), malevolent spirits (arak), and ancestors (meba). Lay kru or achar (teachers/
ritual masters) are needed to provide incantations, ritual implements, and techniques
for contacting these beings. Lay people often approach these lay ritualists before get-
ting married, buying a new home, and traveling even before they consult with monks.
Ceremonies like the Bhjum Pinda (the annual feeding of pretas or hungry ghosts) are
largely non-monastic ; however, they have existed since Angkorean times and are still
 
often more popular than strictly monastic ceremonies. 3 In Burma, Ingrid Jordt’s study
 
of the Mahasi Thathana Yeiktha, the largest contemporary meditation center in the
country, highlights the fact that there is emerging a number of lay practitioners in
Burma that explicitly are foregoing traditional ordination in their pursuit of mental lib-
eration/enlightenment. These lay practitioners are not formally trained in the reading
of canonical or non-canonical Pali texts and do not keep all of the Vinaya precepts, but
over one million lay people have practiced at the center.
The most important Lao lay intellectual in the 20th century was Mahasila Viravong.
Born in 1905 in Roi-Et Province in Northeast Thailand, this ethnic Lao man studied in
1 See Jerryson’s full profile of Acharawadee forthcoming in Figures of Buddhist Modernity.

2 See Visiya’s full profile of Mae Sim in ivi.
3 Erik Davis, Treasures of the Buddha : Imagining Death and Life in Contemporary Cambodia, PhD Dissertation,
 
University of Chicago, 2009, chapter four.

72 justin mcdaniel
Bangkok and wrote extensively on Lao history, literature, and cultural life. His daugh-
ters Dara Kalaya and Duangduane Bunyavong have started the Mahasila Viravong li-
brary in Vientiane and contribute to the publication of Lao poems, short stories, chil-
dren’s books, and the preservation of premodern literature. Duangduane’s husband
Outhine Bounyavong is also an accomplished short story writer whose work has been
translated into English. His son, Panai (also known as Pakian), is also a well-known Lao
poet. Since the family doesn’t work within the Buddhist sangha and their writings are
not explicitly Buddhists, their work has been overlooked by scholars of religion. How-
ever, monks and novices in Lao monasteries read their work and the epic, filled with
romance and adventure, Thao Hung Thao Chuang. In my ethnographic work in Lao
Buddhist schools and colleges, I realized that Mahasila Viravong’s work often was more
commonly known and read than basic Buddhist canonical texts. In fact, one of the best
lay teachers at Vientiane’s only monastic college (Withayalai Song on the grounds of
Wat Ong Teu), Bounteum Sibounhuang, a former monk and famous musician, teaches
chanting techniques and “secular” literature to the monks and novices there. He also
is almost single-handedly preserving traditional Lao chanting of secular epics that are
chanted at monastic fairs.
Conclusion
I trust that these short profiles above emphasize the value of studying individual South-
east Asian Buddhists and their idiosyncratic religious backgrounds and approaches.
They represent the growing regionalization and even internationalization of vari-
ous forms of Buddhism. In the case of Southeast Asia before the nineteenth century,
Buddhism in the region scarcely knew national borders. Nation-states had not fully
formed with discernable borders, anthems, flags, or public school systems, but nuns
and monks already lead highly mobile lifestyles. Traveling long distances to study with
famous teachers, circumambulate reliquaries, prostrate to powerful Buddha images,
and collect and copy manuscripts was considered normal before the colonial period.
Electronic communication technology, the ease of air travel, and the influx of for-
eign patrons (especially from Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and increasingly North
America, Europe, and Australia) over the last twenty years has led to the formation
of international organizations, the opening of meditation retreat centers, new inter-
national journals, and even the opportunity for lay people, nuns, and monks to reach
distance audiences through internet sermons, blogs, and television specials. There
are also regular exchanges of professors and students between Christian and Islamic
Universities in Asia and their Buddhist counterparts. Today, many urban monasteries
in Vientiane and Phnom Penh have dedicated computer rooms with internet access.
High-ranking urban monks often produce CD-ROMS or construct web sites to teach
their own students as well as students who have access to the internet globally. New
phrases and new rhetoric have been developed to serve new audiences – not merely
non-Buddhist or new-Buddhist Westerners, but other Buddhists in Asia. High-ranking
monks have begun traveling intensely and now can be seen in universities in India and
Japan, at Buddhist tourist sites in Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia, and Taiwan, and at inter-
national ecumenical Buddhist meetings in Korea, Nepal, and Australia. There are new
Buddhist Universities with an ecumenical focus like the World Buddhist University in
Bangkok (started in Australia) and the International Buddhist College (IBC) located in
Songkhla (Southern Thailand), its parent organization, Than Hsiang Temple, Penang,
Malaysia. A wealthy class of international Buddhist patrons from Bangkok, Singapore,
Hong Kong, and other places are subsidizing publications, conferences, and temple
construction throughout Asia. Many of these contacts and initiatives are being made
by individual nuns, monks, and lay people who are reshaping the way Buddhism is
taught and practiced. Only by tracing their complex lives can we hope to begin to make
out the contours of Buddhism in the region more broadly.
The twentieth a century that saw the end of British colonization in Malaysia, Sin-
gapore, and Myanmar and French colonization in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. It
also saw communist revolutions and American military intervention. Military dicta-
torships took hold in Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar, and several military coups have
disrupted life and liberty in Thailand. The genocide in Cambodia in the late 1970s still
haunts the region. Despite these tragedies, Southeast Asia has also seen a rapid rise in
economic development in places like Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, the
emergence of regional institutions like ASEAN, the SEA Games, and international uni-
versities. Buddhists institutions are thriving across the regions, monasteries are being
built, and although there are less men ordaining as monks in the region, there has been
a great rise in interest and participation in nunhood and Buddhist schools, websites,
and publications. The vast majority of lay people, monks and nuns who are not attend-
ing years of formal monastic schooling nor sitting for state sponsored examinations
are not simply retreating to a hermetic forest practice, resisting the state/urban/elite
control of Buddhism by founding alternative social protest movements, meditation
retreats, nor ordaining trees. The vast majority of serious practitioners (whether laity
or monastic in the city or countryside) are developing and re-imagining their place as
Buddhist in Southeast Asia through the daily practice of merit making, magical prac-
tice, and creative problem solving.
Buddhist Monasticism
and Contemporary Trends.
From the V iewpoint of Buddhist Women
and Buddhist N uns
Hiroko K awana mi
Introduction
A s secularization and global consumerism corrodes the traditional monastic ideals

and an ethical way of life, the concept of Buddhist monasticism as well as the
roles of monastic members are undergoing review in the world today. This essay ex-
amines how Buddhist monasticism has changed in its engagement with modernity and
postmodernity, and what relevance some of its modern adaptation has had especially
on female monastic members who find meaning in their way of life. To start with, I
offer a brief background to understand the implication of Buddhist monasticism in
modern times and examine whether the very foundation of its institution has changed
or adapted in certain areas to accommodate modern demands while keeping its basic
principles intact.
The Buddhist monastic community called the sangha, originally meaning “assem-
bly”, is regarded as the oldest form of monasticism in the history of religions. It was
formed during the life of Siddha¯rtha Gautama, 1 commonly known as the Buddha, and
 
continues to thrive in Southeast Asia, South Asia, in regions of the Himalayas and
East Asia. It was initially comprised of the Buddha’s male disciples who practiced and
devoted themselves to the dissemination of his teachings, but was later joined by fe-
male renunciants led by Maha¯praja¯pati, the Buddha’s foster-mother, on condition that
they observed the Ten Special Rules to co-exist in harmony with the male sangha. As
more members joined the monastic community, the number of rules and regulations
increased in time in order to maintain communal cohesion and monastic order, and
safeguarded the longevity of the Buddhist tradition. 2    
Buddhist monasticism can vary in its practice from the more conservative tradition
to the more liberal ones, and different doctrinal emphasis is also placed on the monas-
tic rules according to the type of Buddhist tradition members follow. As Buddhism
spreads globally to other regions and societies that have not known Buddhist monasti-
cism before, new demands are placed on how monastic members conduct themselves
in the world today. Some Buddhist groups have re-evaluated traditional monastic prac-
tices to respond to challenges brought on by modernity and postmodernity, which we
1 There is no consensus as to when Siddha¯rtha was born although several dates have been proposed. The
many contradictions and inaccuracies in different chronologies and dating systems seem to make it impossible
to come up with a satisfactory date. However, modern scholarship generally agrees that he passed away at some
point between 410 and 370 BCE.
2 Analayo, The revival of the bhikkhunı¯ order and the decline of the sa¯sana, « Journal of Buddhist Ethics », 20, 2013,
   
pp. 109-193.
76 hiroko kawanami
will see in a later section. Meanwhile, the notion of sangha itself has come to be appre-
hended among members of some Western Buddhist groups who see it as an exclusive,
elitist, and male centred institution. 1 Some of those who hold modernist views even
 
regard the status distinction between the monastic and laity to be no longer relevant in
their spiritual life, and seek direct channels to achieve higher spiritual levels without the
monastic intermediaries whom they see as irrelevant to contemporary worship.
However, these progressive views often promoted in Western Buddhist circles are
not always shared by the majority of Buddhists in Southeast Asia or in regions of the
Himalayas who continue to uphold monasticism as the foundation of their Buddhist
faith. Monasticism has also offered an environment to foster lineages in respective Bud-
dhist traditions, often as a result of close teacher and student relationships formed in
the community that culminate in the direct transmission of esoteric knowledge. Fur-
thermore, Asian Buddhists regard the interactions they have with monks and nuns to
be an indispensable means for acquiring merit, which is essential for achieving good
rebirth. At times of major crisis, monasteries and nunneries also become an important
venue, for example, for communal activities to take place in the aftermath of natural
disasters. In many of these situations, the monastic community performs various roles
in supporting the welfare of society and becomes indispensable in filling the vacuum
created by the lack of social infrastructure. Meanwhile, there are Buddhist groups that
have modified its concept of sangha to foster a community of like-minded practitioners
and promote a protected environment, which allows members to retreat from materi-
alism they see as detrimental to spiritual growth and practice away from pressures of
modern life.
Monastic Habitus and Socialization

Buddhist monasticism may give an impression that it is a chauvinistic institution that
subjugates and is oppressive to female members. However, a monastic life offers differ-
ent possibilities to Buddhist women especially in traditional societies where life options
are limited compared to their female counterparts in developed countries in the West.
For example, by entering a monastic life, a woman can free herself from socially desig-
nated roles and devote herself full-time to meditation and the study of Buddhist scrip-
tures. A female monastic, whom I refer to here as “Buddhist nun” for convenience, is al-
lowed to practice primarily for her own spiritual development. Having undergone the
experience myself, I found living in a Buddhist nunnery to be a positive and empower-
ing experience. A nunnery may be described as a “total institution”, 2 where members  
are cut off from the outside world to a certain degree and live completely immersed in
the religious ethos of the community. However the unique communal setting also pro-
vides them with an environment that may be referred to as a kind of habitus, 3 where  
1 ��
Triratna Buddhist Community, one of the largest Western Buddhist organizations in the UK, has been criti-
cal of the traditional notion of Buddhist monasticism. The organization, formerly known as the Friends of West-
ern Buddhist Order (FWBO), was established in 1967 by Sangharakshita, an English Buddhist monk. Its members
have promoted an inclusive view of the sangha so that they do not have to renounce their secular status or lifestyle
to become part of the Buddhist community. See D. Subhuti, Buddhism for today. A portrait of a new Buddhist move-
ment. Glasgow, Windhorse, 1988.
2 E. Goffman, Asylums. Essays on the social situation of mental patients and other inmates, Harmondsworth and
New York, Penguin, 1984, p. 11.
3 M. Mauss, Body techniques, in Sociology and psychology. Essays by Marcel Mauss, London and Boston, Routledge
and Kegan Paul, 1979 ; P. Bourdieu, Outline of a theory of practice, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1977.
 
buddhist monasticism and contemporary trends 77
the nuns work, study and pray together, and share the fundamental values embedded
in the religious tradition. They live within a secure single-sex community, and by liv-
ing and engaging daily with other like-minded women, they become shaped by its
moral culture and develop into pious agents. Moreover, a Buddhist nunnery is not like
a Christian convent that is closed off from society. Rather, it offers an open and inter-
active venue where lay followers frequently visit, take part in ceremonies, make dona-
tions, and sometimes staying over to seek moral guidance from the nuns.
The monastic ethos govern their daily routine and activities, which are reflected in
the way Buddhist nuns walk, talk, sit, stand, bow, pray, and so on. In their everyday
life, they learn about the correct manner in relating to senior members within the hi-
erarchy as well as how to behave in relation to monks and lay donors. Every novice is
allocated a mentor or “preceptor” nun who guides and trains her in the vocation. She
takes on the responsibility if the novice is disobedient or diverts from the expected
communal norm. Tidiness, cleanliness, and diligence are expected of every nun, and
she has to show initiative in finding whatever tasks that need to be done to serve the
community. Every routine work in a nunnery is inscribed with deep moral meaning
and close attention is paid to achieving a body and mind balance in whatever they do,
harmonising with the rhythm of communal life.
Seniority has a paramount value in the monastic community and junior nuns cus-
tomarily pay obeisance to anyone senior according to the monastic rank, which is de-
fined by the time of initiation into the order. A junior nun has to learn her place in the
monastic hierarchy as well as accept the normative ways of conducting herself accord-
ing to where she stands in the pecking order. The teacher-student relationship is highly
valued and students tend to form a close knit group around their teacher, and the close
bond and loyalty developed out of which sustains them throughout their religious life.
Interestingly, a nun’s self-transformation seems to happen once she accepts her place
however junior in the community, and becomes a willing participant who can dispel
her selfish traits. In such a context, values such as obedience, humility and loyalty,
rather than stunting her spiritual growth, seem to help her become a self-conscious
and dedicated agent who is totally immersed in her new-found role as a Buddhist nun.
It is almost as if one’s ego has to be dissolved first in the monastic training in order for
a nun to become integrated into the moral ethos of the community.
Meanwhile, every nun is expected to help others, especially members who are
younger, older, weaker or infirm in the lifestyle, and communal living instils in them
the importance of interdependence and harmonious coexistence. Therefore, the mo-
nastic habitus provides its residents with a stable institutional framework and a com-
mon religious purpose, allowing members to cultivate their faith and confidence that
ultimately benefit not only the individuals, but also the whole community.
Preserving Traditional Feminine Values

Buddhist nuns also play important roles in preserving traditional culture and values
that pertain to the “feminine” in many Asian societies that are undergoing rapid struc-
tural change. Modesty, humility, and obedience, and all the values associated with the
conventional notion of womanhood are promoted in the monastic community. Many
of the feminine qualities or moral virtues that appear “old-fashioned” by modern stan-
dards are given new religious meanings and provide the ethical foundation for foster-
ing their faith. For example, if we consider how a Buddhist nun wears her monastic
78 hiroko kawanami
robe, it demonstrates many cultural values embedded in the traditional notion of a
“good woman”. Some of its features such as the long loose robe covering down to the
ankles, long sleeves showing as little flesh as possible, and the tight-fitting bodice worn
underneath the robe, may all represent concerted efforts to hide her feminine curves as
well as protect her inner virtues. In addition, the practice of covering up her body with
a large wrap or a coat in colder regions, and also the custom to wear “unattractive”
colours of grey, black or grey, in the case of nuns in the Maha¯ya¯na tradition, may also
reflect their common desire to make themselves undesirable as women and put them
away from the public gaze.
It is noteworthy that many Asian women become Buddhist nuns before having had
any sexual encounters, and in the context of their conservative societies, virginity is
highly valued, symbolically equated with the notion of moral purity. A nun’s religious
character reflects this notion as her inner purity is constantly displayed in the bashful
and modest manner in conducting herself. It is common to see an Asian nun stand with
her arms folded in front of her chest or while doing the walking meditation, which
may give an impression of “submissiveness” to Western bystanders, but again, this is
an expression of modesty and self-control that is fundamental to her religious identity
in the monastic life. In addition, the colour of white commonly worn by Buddhist
nuns in Southeast Asia reflects their deep aspiration for purity and simplicity as they
surrender their ego and focus single-mindedly on the practice. The neat and tidy man-
ner in which they present themselves and the restrained manner in which they carry
themselves are all said to be a visible expression of their inner virtue and moral integ-
rity. 1 Therefore, every feature of their religious attire as well as the mode of conduct is
 
aimed at preserving feminine virtues and the traditional notion of honour surrounding
them, which subsequently replicates the ideal of a “good woman”, who is pious, chaste
(in this case celibate), and virtuous in a patriarchal society.
Many of these conventional values and expectations regarding how woman should
behave, however, are increasingly at odds with emerging values in contemporary Budd-
hist societies undergoing rapid social change. Against such social backdrop, Buddhist
nuns seem to be finding new meaning in preserving traditional values and implications
of what a pious Buddhist woman should be, which subsequently makes them unwit-
ting transmitters of cultural values embedded in the traditional notion of feminine.
Meanwhile, the nuns themselves are not entirely immune to the influence of modern
fashion trends and some are already expressing themselves in the subtle manner they
wear their monastic robes. Today we also notice that Buddhist nuns especially in urban
nunneries have started to wear smart overcoats, wristwatches, gold-rimmed glasses,
and even shoes (rather than sandals), however there are no rules to regulate these de-
tails regarding their dress code, and minor changes are tolerated as long as they do not
interfere with the overall virtuous image of a Buddhist nun.
Monastic Rules and Abstinence Practices

Observing the precepts of not harming life, not stealing, or not saying falsehood,
for example, are fundamental rules for Buddhists regardless of their traditions or af-
filiations, but the rules stipulated for monastic members are much more rigid and
1 M. Wijayaratna, Buddhist monastic life. According to the texts of the Therava¯da tradition, trad. Claude Grangier,
Steven Collins, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1990, pp. 44-45.
clearly different from what are observed in the outside world. Many of these rules
have been laid down in order to safeguard the welfare of monastic members and
passed down for generations to assure its healthy relationship both within and with
those outside the monastic community. But the main purpose of monastic rules has
been to encourage members to learn the discipline and co-exist harmoniously in the
community rather than to impose severe disciplinary code on one another. Today
Buddhism has spread globally and been transported to countries that are originally
non-Buddhist so that host societies do not always provide the support nor understand
why Buddhist monastics continue to observe certain rules. As monks and nuns travel
more widely, they also have to adjust to colder climates and different dietary require-
ments, and modify the monastic rules according to the context in which they live,
which may not always be conducive to their traditional mode of living. For instance,
it is unrealistic to expect monks to go around collecting alms barefoot if it is snowing
outside and also to expect a non-Buddhist neighbour to offer them cooked food on a
daily basis. Thus even monks in some situations may end up cooking their own food
if there is no one to offer them alms. The aim and essence of traditional monastic
rules were to ensure the cohesion of the monastic community, but if the community
is very small or dispersed living in urban apartments, or sometimes comprised of
only a few monks in a foreign land, which is the situation in diasporic contexts, their
efforts may be focused on adhering to the main practices such as that of celibacy
to sustain the core principle of their religious identity. 1 Under these circumstances,
 
however, less attention may be paid to minor monastic rules they have inherited as
the emphasis shifts to individual survival and practicalities rather than sustaining the
communal tradition.
Sexual abstinence
The departure of the Buddha into the wilderness may provide a key image in under-
standing the path of a “renouncer” when he left his young family and royal status to
pursue the quest for truth. “Renunciation” in early Buddhism was the first step in going
forward for a male practitioner, and celibacy was not only a practical requirement in
engaging in austerities, but also an indispensable practice in accessing higher spiritual
power. However, a celibate life nor ascetic practices were never regarded as normative
for women in Hindu or Buddhist societies. I have written elsewhere that “celibacy” in
fact implied something different for a female practitioner compared to that to a male
practitioner. 2 That is, a woman in traditional societies is expected to take on socially
 
designated roles as obedient daughter, chaste wife, and nurturing mother, and her pri-
mary task has been to assure the continuity and prosperity of her family and kin. Thus
while a male practitioner is praised and supported by sublimating his sexual desires
and selfishly pursuing his path, a woman comes under heavy criticism if she opts out
to become a nun since that goes against the social mores and literally cut her off from
the social ties and relationships that had previously nurtured her.
1 A set of gravest offences that a monastic member could commit is called Pa¯ra¯jika, which includes the viola-
tion of celibacy rules, murder of parents, falsely claiming to possess supra-mundane powers, and inciting schism
in the sangha. The transgressor is expelled from the community.
2 H. Kawanami, Can women be celibate ? Sexuality and abstinence in Therava¯da Buddhism, in Celibacy, culture, and
 
society. The anthropology of sexual abstinence, edited by E. Sobo, S. Bell, Madison, University of Wisconsin Press,
2001, pp. 131-156.
80 hiroko kawanami
Therefore, a married woman is generally discouraged from becoming a nun, and
those who attempt to do so to escape marital problems or domestic disputes are either
rejected or dissuaded at the point of entry. Even if she manages to enter the monastic
order, unless her decision is supported by a firm commitment to the faith, it is difficult
to endure the hostility in society as well as rigid discipline required in the monastic life.
And yet many nuns whom I interviewed had left home often on their own accord, and
many at a fairly young age, despite fierce opposition from their family and relatives. So
many had defied social conventions and gone against family wishes to fulfil their so-
cially designated womanhood. 1 Here similar themes could be discerned in the motives
 
of many Buddhist women. For example, the theme of wanting to “break free”, which
we find in many women’s motives who become nuns today, resonated with that in the
verses of Theriga¯tha recited by ancient female renunciants. 2 This suggested that patriar-
 
chal issues surrounding a Buddhist woman’s life have not changed fundamentally since
the times of the Buddha, which ultimately seem to spur women decide to become
nuns. 3 Some nuns told me that it was a great relief that they no longer had to deal with
 
the sensitive issue of female sexuality or worry about getting married. A celibate life in
the nunnery had brought them peace and tranquillity, and subsequently helped them
develop a capacity to operate and think as an independent agent freed from the many
constraints women endure in patriarchal societies.
Other abstinence practices

There are many other practices of abstinence that regulate their monastic life, such as
fasting after midday, abstaining from alcohol, refraining from cash transactions, not
dancing and not singing, or not going out with friends. Female members in particular
are encouraged to conduct their monastic life around stoicism and simplicity, and do
not indulge in so-called “vanity items” such as fragrant cream or use mirrors. Many of
these monastic rules were laid down in ancient India and it is difficult for modern day
monastics to observe them to the word as social conditions and circumstances in which
they live have changed significantly. Moreover, different denominations place different
emphasis on abstinence practices and the manner in which they are observed is not so
uniform despite the principles of having stipulated these rules in the first place. Chi-
nese Buddhists, for example, practice vegetarianism as part of their training to cultivate
compassion and eat in moderation, but do not fast like their counterparts in South-
east Asia or Sri Lanka. Many of these practices are supported by practical reasons that
sustain their monastic life, for example, fasting is understood to keep sexual desires at
bay. Nonetheless, Buddhist fasting is not like Ramadan, which is observed only during
a designated period, but is practiced daily in the afternoons and as long as one stays in
the monastic community. The practice of fasting also frees the nuns from the labori-
ous work of preparing meals and cooking in the afternoons, so that they can focus on
spiritual matters that take priority in their religious vocation. 4    
1 H. Kawanami, Renunciation and empowerment of Buddhist nuns in Myanmar-Burma, Leiden, Brill, 2013.
2 S. Murcott, The first Buddhist women. Translations and commentaries on the Therigatha, Berkeley, Parallax
Press, 1991.
3 I. B. Horner, Psalms of the early Buddhists. Psalms of the sisters, London, Luzac, 1964.
4 Fasting after midday is seen as an essential part of their religious identity especially for Buddhist nuns in the
Southern tradition. If one cannot keep up with the fasting regime, it is normally regarded better to leave the mo-
nastic life rather than stay in deception.
These abstinences are practiced as part of their religious training to achieve a level of
self-control that is required to live and work together in a monastic community. Con-
temporary lay Buddhists also endorse and take up many of these practices tradition-
ally confined to monasteries. The practices help them abstain from the ills of drinking,
smoking, gambling, over-eating, and other indulgences in modern life. Thus ascetic
practices that were followed by a handful of forest ascetics in the past and routinely
practiced in the monastic community are now spreading and taken up in the context
of “this-worldly asceticism”. Many new Buddhist groups or individuals practice absti-
nences today, which are not necessarily aimed at achieving nirvana or better rebirth,
but as a practical means to support their spiritual training and aid self-development.
Going on temporary retreats to monasteries and spending time in meditation centres
may also allow people to escape from the incessant demands of work and family life,
and they can reclaim the inner self even temporarily.
Economic Transactions with Society

Since early Buddhist monasticism, ordained members were prohibited from handling
money stipulated in the Vinaya as the accumulation of wealth and property of indi-
viduals was regarded to disrupt the cohesion and unity of the monastic community.
Moreover, material attachment, in the Buddhist doctrine, was seen to be one of the
prime causes for the cycle of suffering to start. Greed was also regarded a main hin-
drance in their spiritual development. Today, cash handling can be a contentious issue
for serious practitioners and they look for ways to safeguard their moral purity, for ex-
ample, by employing an assistant who could look after the financial side of interactions
with society. However, not every monk has secretaries to whom he can delegate the
role of cash handler and on many occasions he may find himself in a position to bend
the monastic rules. Moreover, it is almost impossible to abstain from cash transactions
in the contemporary world and monastic members cannot be completely exempted
from such social reality. Meanwhile, there are new inventions such as credit cards or
online banking that could alleviate some of the burden since they do not have to liter-
ally “touch money” in the transactions. However, these modern facilities cannot be the
ultimate solution in safeguarding their moral position as attachment to wealth is still
there to tempt and pollute the mind.
In Buddhist countries such as in Myanmar, some Eight Precepts observing nuns have
worked out a “division of labour” and made themselves useful by looking after the
monks’ financial interests. They take on the roles of book keepers or managers and are
often summoned by monks to help procure goods and prepare for large ceremonies.
They may safeguard the purity of monks by taking in the “pollution” implied in cash
transactions, but the ability to handle cash can also become an impediment for the
nuns’ moral standing. That is, they stand as a kind of “buffer” to ward off the corrupt-
ing influences of society so that monks can retain their religious position. Meanwhile,
there are also nuns who observe the Ten Precepts nun and do not handle money at all
in Sri Lanka, and few as they may be in number, these nuns are highly respected for
their detachment and moral purity. 1    
1 See L. Bloss, The female renunciants of Sri Lanka : The dasasilamattawa, « Journal of the International Asso-
   
ciation of Buddhist Studies », 10, 1997, 1, p. 8. He describes how Ten Precepts tried to uplift the status of female
 
practitioners to a different spiritual level by strict adherence to moral discipline and the practice of Vipassana¯
meditation.
82 hiroko kawanami
In large Buddhist organisations such as Foguangshan in Taiwan that operate inter-
nationally beyond their temple headquarter, they normally have managers or accoun-
tants who deal with the financial side of running an organization. Monastic members
are provided with whatever material needs they require without having to engage di-
rectly in cash transactions. In Chinese Buddhism in particular, offering money for the
purpose of helping others is seen as an important part of the Bodhisattva path they
follow, and members do not see the act of handling money as violating the basic pre-
cept when they receive cash donations, which would be used for charity work. There-
fore, members can handle money without becoming corrupt since it is interpreted
that when the mind is detached and compassionate, they can overcome its negative
consequences. 1    
Nonetheless, Buddhist monks and nuns are theoretically “mendicants” and are gen-
erally sustained by donation offerings from society. People’s generosity has been tra-
ditionally focused on the monks, who are seen to provide a supreme “field of merit” ;  
donors “plant” their good deeds in the field and “reap” the consequence of their en-
hanced karmic states. Therefore, monks have to adhere to a high set of moral rules
that stipulates a clear distinction between their monastic lifestyle and that of the la-
ity, and the interlocking between these two domains has been essential in providing a
complementary system of Buddhist worship.
Nuns, compared to monks, have generally endured a much more ambiguous posi-
tion and there has been a proportional token fees between a monk and a nun in regard
to the amount of donations and material support they receive from society. The issue
of generating income also poses problems for fully ordained nuns in countries such as
China or Japan, where the monastic community is expected to find other ways of mak-
ing ends meet rather than just relying on donations. Meanwhile, lay devotees are on a
constant lookout for a worthy monastic beneficiary who is endowed with unique spiri-
tual qualities that deserve their attention. Thus although there are charity trends and
economic factors that affect the decisions of lay donors, which has been traditionally
more favourable to supporting the monks, the gender of prospective monastic benefi-
ciary is becoming increasingly irrelevant in making their decision as to whom to sup-
port. Nuns themselves engage in a multitude of religious transactions within the mo-
nastic community, both among themselves and in relation to the monks. When they
receive more than they need, items are redistributed to other nuns positioned lower in
the hierarchy. Expensive and valuable gifts they receive tend to be re-donated to senior
monks, and surplus food and necessities are passed down the pecking order to those
with no rank. The more prominent a nun is, the more donations she may receive, but
she is also expected to be generous, and the skill in accepting just the right amount for
herself and judging how and what resources need re-allocating adds to her reputation
as an effective leader. Therefore, the notion of “merit” also has to be examined in the
context of status and reputation, as well as in interpersonal and transactional relation-
ships that are ongoing in the monastic community.
1 In the case of Dharma Drum Mountain and Foguangshan in Taiwan, see T. Chiu, Rethinking the precept of
not taking money in contemporary Taiwanese and mainland Chinese Buddhist nunneries, « Journal of Buddhist Ethics »,
   
21, 2014, pp. 25-27. Although members can handle cash, they are not allowed to invest, profit from interest, or ac-
cumulate private wealth in areas that could jeopardise their moral purity.
Contemporary Trends : Temporary Initiation

 
It is common for Buddhist women in countries such as Thailand or Sri Lanka to spend
a short spell or weekends in meditation centres or nunneries to practice meditation and
retreat from their daily life, albeit in their lay status. However, temporary initiation for
girls was never an established practice in any of the Buddhist denominations and it was
normally for life when they entered the order. 1 Meanwhile, there were instances in the
 
past whereby a lone Buddhist woman would take up temporary initiation and spent
time in a nunnery to recover from illness, or to overcome the grief caused by death or
of separation from loved ones. It was the result of desperation or a serious life crisis that
made her withdraw from society and she spent her days in prayers or meditation in a se-
cluded environment for a designated period of time. In such a context, she gave up her
long hair and all material comfort, and the bundle of hair often offered on the altar was
a token symbol of her temporary sacrifice. A daughter would endure such material de-
privation on behalf of her sickly parent(s) and a mother would retreat from the world
to pray for the recovery of her child’s health. These women became temporary nuns to
petition the Buddha and gods for help, and received some kind of personal resolution.
In recent decades, however, it has become common especially in Myanmar for urban
women from middle-class background (this phenomenon is spreading to semi-rural
areas) to spend a temporary period in Buddhist nunneries. 2 Just like vocational nuns,
 
they undergo an initiation ceremony, have their heads shaved, don the same monastic
robe, and follow the Eight Precepts. However, the present-day practice is different from
that in the past when a solitary woman made a serious resolution, often as a last resort,
and withdrew from society to practice penance. Buddhist women today undergo tem-
porary initiation to have their “this-worldly” ambitions realized, for example, to pass
exams, or to win the heart of a desired man. Some may have been tempted by the
academic achievements of Buddhist nun scholars that are circulated in the social media
and women’s magazines, for example, but many simply seem to follow the emerging
trend in these societies. In other words, the popularity of temporary initiation among
young women points to the fact that there are positive images of Buddhist nuns emerg-
ing in society and people are becoming more accepting of the notion of female renun-
ciation. Thus what was once regarded as a major sacrifice for a woman to become a
nun is now seen more commonly as a meritorious undertaking, and parents send their
daughters into reputable nunneries where they can learn the prayers and religious eti-
quette that may help them to become respected Buddhist adults, however safe in the
knowledge that their experience is only for a temporary period.
Although they may not be obstructed from doing so, it is uncommon to see tem-
porary nuns commit themselves to a lifelong vocation in the Buddhist order. In other
1 This was in stark contrast with boys from Buddhist families who customarily became novices and spent a
short spell in monasteries, which was an accepted part of their initiation rite in mainland Southeast Asia.
2 See H. Kawanami, Buddhist nuns in transition. The case of Burmese thilá-shin, in Indian insights. Buddhism, Brah-
manism and Bhakti, edited by P. Connolly, S. Hamilton, London, Luzac Oriental, 1997, pp. 209-224. I interviewed
a Myanmar woman who had spent time as a temporary nun in a nunnery in the 1960s. She said it was still rare
for a young girl to become a temporary nun then and she felt quite lonely staying in a nunnery. She added she
did not know of or meet any other girl who wanted to experience temporary initiation at that time. After almost
half a century, the same nunnery is crowded with young girls spending time as temporary nuns during summer
holidays when schools are closed.
84 hiroko kawanami
words, temporary initiation may be a contemporary fad that tempts young women to
join the monastic community, but this can be transient like any other trend. It will take
time until the social climate surrounding women’s renunciation is to truly turn in their
favor with a more positive image of Buddhist nuns entering the public conscience.
Gender and Empowerment

Contemporary Buddhists who are seeking egalitarian gender relations within the mo-
nastic institution find inspiration in the spiritual ideals set out by the Buddha in early
Buddhism. The picture, however, is modified by doctrinal elements, which appear to
qualify or contradict the original ideal of spiritual equality, and also by institutional fea-
tures of the sangha that relegate women to a secondary status in the monastic hierar-
chy. In addition, there are passages in Buddhist scriptures that appear to be misogynist,
such as the representation of woman as “temptress” who are there to obstruct the spir-
itual progress of male practitioners. 1 The notion that a woman’s birth is inferior and
 
that she has to be reborn as a male first to progress in the spiritual ladder, is also per-
petuated in common narratives that has become the source of derogatory stereotypes.
Nonetheless, in Asian societies where men have always retained access to authority and
positions of power, a negative judgement on women’s fate might be simply reflecting
the empirical reality. Matters have been exacerbated by the institutional structure of
the sangha, stratified by seniority and gender so that even senior nuns are relegated to
a junior position in relation to all ranks of monks. These textual representations and
their junior institutional rank may put them in a generally pessimistic light, however,
Buddhist nuns themselves do not perceive their religious identity with ambiguity or
with negativity. On the contrary, the majority of nuns I interviewed described their
experience with a great deal of positivity and monasticism had given them the founda-
tion in developing their commitment and faith.
In the context of globalization, Buddhist women in recent decades have been cross-
ing borders and overcoming traditional denominations. The international movement
to revive the higher ordination for Buddhist nuns in the Therava¯da and Tibetan tra-
ditions started in the mid-1980s, originally instigated by Western Buddhist nuns and
Asian feminists, it received international support in uplifting the position of Buddhist
nuns. 2 Initially supported by the assertion that the bhikkhunı¯ sangha in Southeast Asia
 
could be re-instated by members of the female ordination lineage in the East Asian tra-
ditions, the movement led to two higher ordinations conducted for nuns in the 1990s ;  
in 1996 in Saranath and in 1998 in Bodhgaya¯, both in India. Although the majority of
nuns in the Therava¯da or Tibetan traditions remain as observers of the Eight or Ten
Precepts, an increasing number of nuns have become ordained as bhikkhunı¯s in the last
1 One of the prominent female representations in the Buddhist scriptures is embodied in the three daughters
of Ma¯ra, who tried to tempt and distract the Buddha deep in meditation. The features of these women can be
discerned in their names : Ra¯ga (sexual attraction), Arati (aversion), and Trsna (attachment).
 
2 It is said that the bhikkhunı¯ lineage disappeared in Sri Lanka in the 11th century and in the 13th century in My-
anmar, and since then the religious position of Buddhist nuns in their tradition has not been officially sanctioned.
On the international bhikkhunı¯ revival movement, see Buddhist women across cultures. Realizations, Karma Lekshe
Tsomo, ed. Delhi, Sri Satguru Publications, 1999 ; H. Kawanami, The bhikkhunı¯ ordination debate : global aspirations,
   
local concerns, with special emphasis on the views of the monastic community in Burma, « Buddhist Studies Review », 24,
   
2007, 2, pp. 226–244 ; Wei-Yi Cheng, Buddhist nuns in Taiwan and Sri Lanka. A critique of the feminist perspective,
 
London and New York, Routledge, 2007.

two decades. 1 In the Maha¯ya¯na tradition of East Asia, ordained nuns are also increasing
 
their social influence and emerging as a collective force in society. Taiwan, for example,
has the largest number of Buddhist nuns of any country who are well educated and ac-
tive in many areas of education and social welfare. Among them, Ven. Cheng Yen ; the  
founder of Tzu Chi, sometimes described as the Taiwan’s version of “Mother Teresa”,
is internationally renowned for her social engagement ; for helping the poor and sickly,
 
and more recently for her work in disaster relief.

As far as gender is concerned, however, the monastic authority has generally re-
tained its traditional and conservative outlook towards the position of its female mem-
bers. The bhikkhunı¯ revival movement has also shown that in Buddhist countries such
as Myanmar where monasticism is intact and widely influential, senior monks assume
authority in making decisions about matters that affect the whole monastic commu-
nity. Buddhist nuns themselves also seem to accept the official position of the sangha
that bhikkhunı¯s cannot be reinstated in their tradition, reaffirming a strict adherence
to their historical legacy and the conservative Therava¯da claim that there is no longer
an authority to revive the female ordination lineage. In such discussions, nuns normal-
ly adopt a pragmatic attitude in negotiating their interests and survival, and position
themselves as a non-threatening force in relation to the male sangha.
Conclusion
The issue of bhikkhunı¯ revival has highlighted the tension between the progressive ide-
ologies of feminism, equal rights, and individualism promoted in the modern Western
world and the traditional notions of duty and service promoted and adhered to by
members in the monastic community. Moreover, issues monastic members encounter
today are increasingly of a secular nature, and what people take for granted may not
take into consideration the immediate needs of faith-based communities that oper-
ate on religious values and priorities that are not the same as the outside world. Asian
Buddhist nuns, in particular, who have been trained to respect seniority and experi-
ence, as well as to become “selfless” and obedient in their religious vocation, now find
themselves under pressure to fight for equality in competition with the monks and
their teachers. The modern ideals of justice and equality we take for granted in the
“post-Enlightenment” world may be useful as a means to attain better treatment and
improve living conditions for the nuns. However, we also need to ask whether modern
“rights based” values are relevant or helpful for monastic members in sustaining their
religious life, since these progressive ideas are aimed at “secularizing” monasticism,
and progressing in that direction may be ultimately be self-defeating in their quest for
spiritual liberation.
Meanwhile, the number of Buddhist nuns has seen a large increase in the last half a
century in contrast to the decreasing number of monks, and monastic women are be-
coming an important force in promoting Buddhist monasticism. 2 Many of these nuns  
have made tremendous efforts in fostering and enhancing monastic education, and as a
1 Today there are more than 1,000 bhikkhunı¯s in Sri Lanka alone, who are leading the way in enhancing aware-
ness and working for the empowerment of Buddhist women. Salgado re-examines the bhikkhunı¯ revival move-
ment and provides a critical assessment from the viewpoint of female renunciants in Sri Lanka. See N. Salgado,
Buddhist nuns and gendered practice. In search of the female renunciant, New York, Oxford University Press, 2013.
2 Myanmar, there are currently about 55,000 Buddhist nuns, non-ordained but officially registered with the
Ministry of Religious Affairs.
86 hiroko kawanami
result nunnery schools are on the increase as well as nun students pursuing a scholastic
career. There are even celebrated nuns who have become internationally famous for
their chanting voices or dhamma talks, attracting and commanding public attention in
an increasingly competitive religious market. In this respect, Buddhist nuns are at the
forefront of a changing public perception regarding the benefits of monasticism. Lay
Buddhists and devotees today are also in search for a worthwhile monastic beneficiary
who can satisfy their contemporary criteria of “other-worldliness”, and being female
no longer seems to determines the worth (or lack of it) of a monastic member in their
quest.
GOING EAST. BUDDHISM AS A NEW FRONTIER
FOR ITA LI A N MONASTICS
Sar a Hejazi
Theories on secularization have – just as any other social theory – ran in and out of fashion. However,
religious traditions haven’t desappeared but rather evolved over time. A key concept for this evolution pro-
cess is the shift from one belief of belonging to a new belief of practice and attraction.
This is the case with Buddhism in Italy. The birth and rise of Italian Buddhism occurs in a contest
of deep secularization and shift of beliefs of a catholic country. A very first evidence of this process is
the progressive shrinking and aging of Christian monasteries, and the fleeing of Christian believers from
churches accompanied by the creation of Buddhist centers and monasteries. Religiosity isn’t disappearing
from Italian society : it is rather shifting, changing and evolving. At a local level, this is probably one of the
 
biggest processes of religious change of the last 200 years, but it is hardly taken into account. In a religious
and at the same time secular social context like Italy – where choosing one’s faith has become routine – any
way – like going East – could be “the way” to transmutatio.
1. Speaking about secularization
T he debate over secularism is well known among the fields of humanities and social
sciences. Social thinkers of the nineteenth and twentieth century such as Auguste
Comte, Herbert Spencer, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, Karl Marx, and Sigmund Freud
all believed that religion would gradually fade in importance and cease to be significant
with the advent of industrial society. They were far from alone ; ever since the Age of
 
the Enlightenment, leading figures in philosophy, anthropology, and psychology have

postulated that theological superstitions, symbolic liturgical rituals, and sacred practic-
es were the product of the past and that they will be outgrown in the modern era. This
was thus mainstream theory in the social sciences during most of the twentieth centu-
ry : C. Wright Mills summarized this process by saying : “Once the world was filled with
   
the sacred – in thought, practice, and institutional form. After the Reformation and the
Renaissance, the forces of modernization swept across the globe and secularization, a
corollary historical process, loosened the dominance of the sacred. In due course, the
sacred shall disappear altogether except, possibly, in the private realm”. 1  
But the times of certainty around the theory of secularization sooner or later came
to an end. By late Nineties, the theory experienced the most sustained challenge in its
biography. At that time, most sociologists of religion came to agree that the original
secularization thesis was untenable in its basic form. Critics pointed to multiple indica-
tors of religious health and vitality against secularization, ranging from the continued
popularity of churchgoing in the United States, to the emergence of New Age spiritu-
ality in Western Europe, the growth in fundamentalist movements and religious par-
ties in the Muslim world, the evangelical revival sweeping through Latin America, and
the upsurge of ethno-religious conflict in international affairs. After reviewing these
developments, Peter L. Berger, one of the foremost American advocates of seculariza-
1 C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1959. pp.32-33.
 
88 sara hejazi
tion during the 1960s, recanted his earlier claims : “The world today, with some excep-
 
tions...is as furiously religious as it ever was, and in some places more so than ever. This
means that a whole body of literature by historians and social scientists loosely labeled
‘secularization theory’ is essentially mistaken”.
In a fierce and sustained critique, Rodney Stark and Roger Finke suggested it was
time to bury the secularization thesis : “After nearly three centuries of utterly failed
 
prophesies and misrepresentations of both present and past, it seems time to carry the
secularization doctrine to the graveyard of failed theories, and there to whisper ‘requi-
escat in pace”. 1  
So there was secularism, just being dismissed as an out-of- fashion academic catego-
ry. But what was going to be its substitute ?  
The denial of an ongoing secularization process proved in fact to be unsatisfactory ;  
taking into account that the world was not going to be secular anymore, was, for social
scientists and historians, a very small intellectual tool to tackle the reality of religious
beliefs in complex societies. Was the West really being re-enchanted ?  
The critique to secularization relied too heavily on selected anomalies and on sur-
veys, for example, in which most Europeans expressed formal belief in God, 2 or iden-  
tified themselves as Protestants or Catholics on official forms, thus asserting they felt
belonging to a specific religious community. But there was something else to take into
account : re-enchantment and des-enchantment were just two sides of the medal. Re-
 
ligious belief and disbelief shared the same underlying pathways and could have been
considered within a single culturally evolutionary framework that was grounded in
social change, and probably even in genetics : while most people on the planet were in
 
fact, deeply religious, nonetheless, there was an undeniable, considerable individual

and population variability in both commitment to gods and in behaviors that support-
ed belief in them and, morevover, in modern Eras the worldwide prevalence of atheist
was nontrivial, numbering over half a billion people or possibly more. 3  
2. Unchurching churches
Despite the rise of religious fundamentalisms, faith- conversions, and New Age move-
ments, there are strong social forces which daily operate to mine the religious influ-
ence on how people live their lives, thus eroding religion. But this is not a unilateral act :  
religion works to erode individual freedoms as well, as it is happening with new-born

ISIS (Islamic State Iraq and Syria), or with the influence of Christian Vatican on matters
of life science and death, so that believers are working to erode unbelievers’ thoughts
and systems of values.
In such a context, the real hardship for social scientists is to understand and try to
figure out to which extent secular forces and religious ones are dwelling on an external
ground, and which one will, eventually, gain over the other.
Most of the times the battle between beliefs and unbeliefs doesn’t only take place in
public and external spaces, but actually in the internal place within the single individu-
1 R. Stark and R. Finke, Acts of Faith. Berkeley, CA : University of California Press, 2000, P.79. See also R.
 
Stark. Secularization, RIP. Sociology of Religion. 60(3) : 270

 
2 A. M. Greeley. Religion in Europe at the End of the Second Millennium. New Brunswick, NJ : Transaction Pub-
 
lishers, 2000
3 A. Norenzayan, W.M. Gervais, The origins of religious disbelief, Trends in Cognitive Sciences January 2013,
Vol. 17, No. 1 pp. 20.26
buddhism as a new frontier for italian monastics 89
al of the post-modern Era. So secularization and re-enchantment, before confronting
themselves in a war made of social forces, classes, ethnic groups and geopolitical strat-
egies, rise mostly within the individual, for which religious belief is a conquer, more
than a belonging.
Of course this inner dwell has evident outcomes in society and the public sphere.
Some countries are less affected by this turmoil, others undergo deep and strong effects.
For example, United States Christians’ church attendance has remained unvaried
even when secularization theory was really at its best ; in Europe, on the contrary and
 
in the same period, Christians life-styles and habits towards churches were changing,
and according to an inquiry 1 of the Wall Street Journal printed in February 2015, Eu-
 
rope witnessed the closing up of many of its historical temples since the end of the
90’s. 2 The phenomenon of closing churches was not homogeneous. For example, 20
 
churches each year have closed in England, 515 have closed in Germany in the past de-
cade (that is, beginning from early 2000’s), but the Netherlands recorded the highest
numbers of closing churches : 2/3 of them have in fact already closed in a 10 year period
 
time. The article suggested that the closing of Europe’s churches reflected the rapid
weakening of the Christian faith in Europe. This is a hard to reach conclusion.
However, no doubt that Christianity is a religion undergoing deep changes, and its
downward trends in Europe are not matched by Orthodox Judaism which “has held
relatively steady” – as the article would quote – and Islam “which has grown amid im-
migration from Muslim countries”.
The closing of churches had an immediate side effect on spaces and urban land-
scapes : the reinvention of former sacred places as new social spaces has become an
 
issue turning some of the old churches into theaters, supermarkets and restaurants,
or even private homes. This is the result of a process which probably began within the
single individual, thus affecting the collectivity.
Still, secularization is thus being embodied in social, spatial and spiritual change,
and so is re-enchantment. For every church closing, there is a Buddhist center, temple
or a Muslim prayer room opening. Morever, for every abandoned church there will be
some sort of “spiritual event” taking place, be it a religious festival, a meditation re-
treat, a spiritual fasting or celebration. These replaces have the goal of shifting practices
and attention from one place – like the church – to another, like a Buddhist temple, and
from one faith to another.
So, theory of secularization is surely overdue, but so is its critique. Complexity and
multiple secularities have brought up a newly emerged evidence that not only is society
witnessing the rise of multiple faiths in cities, but also the rise of “multiple seculari-
ties” : 3 that is, the different ways in which lay people perceive ethics, needs, spaces of
   
lay society, together with different spiritual needs. These two perspectives need not to
be opposite or in contrast. Faiths are many and many are also the un-faiths dwelling in
European city’s spaces, negotiating and trying to provide super-modernity with new
cultural systems of values.
The unchurching of churches, or a new use of former sacred spaces, is just a result
of a negotiation between multiple faiths and multiple secularities.
1 P. Berger, G. Davie, E. Fokas, Religious America, secular Europe ? A theme and variations, Ashgate,
 
Hampshire 2008
2 Europe’s Empty Churches Go on Sale – WSJ http ://www.wsj.com/articles/europes-empty-churches-go-on-
 
sale-1428 1-2015 16 :46.

 
3 See fo example Wohlrab-Sahr and Burchardt 2012.
90 sara hejazi
This might also lead to believe that churches and Christian temples do not represent
a fundamental part of Christian everyday life anymore. This happens also in tradition-
ally Christian catholic countries such as Italy. Recent research evidence has highlighted,
for example, that that Italians are now more interested in spirituality than religion it-
self, that they might describe themselves as ‘spiritual, but not religious’, and that they
privilege the ‘God within’ rather than the transcendent God of traditional Catholic
belief . 1
 
If traditional spaces of worship in Italy – like churches – are losing importance for
the cult and for the believers, they are gaining importance as artistic works, monu-
ments and heritage. In a way, they still work as an identity marker because representing
a common heritage, but do not work spiritually, since the “God within” needs other
spaces and new means to be expressed.
A phenomenon related to scarce church attendance in Europe and in Italy and in-
volved in the dwelling between secularization and re-enchantment is the aging and
shrinking of European monasteries.
3. Shrinking monks
According to recent research, the number of monks and nuns is falling so quickly that
very soon there could be none left. The lessening of vocational callings raises questions
and outlines scenarios to which communities find it difficult to relate. In 2000, there
were about 710 nuns and 230 monks in Anglican religious orders in Britain and Ireland.
Eight years later, numbers were down more than a third – to 470 nuns and 135 monks.
It is no better for Roman Catholic orders. The Vatican revealed last year that numbers
worldwide fell 10%. The Conference of Religious in England and Wales represents
around 80% of Catholic communities, some 4,930 nuns and 1,320 monks. In 2007, just 13
men and 16 women became novices. Numbers have been declining steadily for at least
20 years and the average age of entrants is much higher. By observing the current situa-
tion of the monasteries, it is possible to make a prevision in 10-15 years’ time : a decrease  
of over one third will characterize monasteries compared to current numbers. 2  
In Italy, a country of ancient monastic tradition, this phenomenon has recently been
reported. 3 So the outline of this situation might lead to suggest that secularism did
 
make its way through society, and that if one day people might choose to buy and
restore a personal home in a former church or cloister, that will just be a sign of the
time.
However, parallel to this “secularization”, the adoption of new religions is character-
izing multi-secular societies. For example, the creation of non Christian monasteries
is not so recent anymore. The first non Christian monasteries in Europe appeared in
France and Germany around 50 years ago. 4 Today, the phenomenon of “Going East”
 
for Christians to find the “God within” is something more and more familiar, it has a
tradition of reference, and it already involves 2 generations of believers.
1 See S. Palmisano’s Spirituality and Catholicism : The Italian Experience in Journal of Contemporary Religion, Vol
 
25, Issue 2, 2010, 221-241 ; L. Berzano, Sociologia dei life-styles, Carocci Editore, Roma, 2012, pp. 31
 
2 G.Dal Piaz, Female Monasticism in Italy. A sociological Investigation,in Annual REview of the Sociology of
Religion, Vol.5, (eds. Jonveaux I., Pace E., Palmisano S.) Brill, Leiden, 2014, pp. 34-54 op cit. pp. 46
3 See for example, P. Maffeo, Voci dal Chiostro, Ancora ed., 2013
4 M. Baumann, Global Buddhism. Developmental periods, regional histories and a new analytical perspective,
in Journal of Global Buddhism, 2 (2001) : 1-43
 
4. When the East came West

It was in the 1960s that Buddhism rapidly expanded into the West. This was due in
part to the Dalai Lama’s exit from Tibet in 1959. Concurrently, many Tibetan lamas
and refugees took up residence in Western countries and set up teaching centers. This
could happen not only because of Tibet’s recent historical events, but also because
the cultural environments of some urban areas in the U.S.A at that time were particu-
larly sensitive to these new teachings : San Francisco and Berkley were, thanks to the
 
influence of philosophers such as Herbert Marcuse and the Frankfurter Schule, ideal
places where post-war Buddhist teachings would proliferate. Moreover, the history
of western attraction to Buddhism was older than that, and could be traced back to
the Theosophical society, which was founded by the flamboyant Madame Helena P.
Blavatsky (1831-1891) and the American Henry Steel Olcott (1832-1907) in 1875 in New
York.
The society spread modernist Buddhists ideas, derived from a new social stra-
tum that came into existence in colonial times, which portrayed Buddhism as text-
based,pragmatic, rational, universal, and socially active. Around the turn of the cen-
tury 1900, Buddhists already formed the first Buddhist organizations outside of Asia.
In 1897, the Ceylonese Buddhist activist Anagarika Dharmapala founded an American
branch of the Maha Bodhi Society.
Few decades later, Westerners found Zen Buddhism to have special meanings for the
1960s hippie movement and the ideals of the Beatniks, but it was not until the return
of D. T. Suzuki (1870-1966) to North America for a long stay between 1950 and 1958 that
Zen became really popular and widespread.
This popular wave of Buddhism was mainly into the US and then progressively and
more slowly spread into Western Europe and other Western nations.During the 1960s,
a considerable change occurred in the way that members and interested people wanted
to experience Buddhism both spiritually and physically. Meditation became very popu-
lar. In the United States, lecture tours by D. T. Suzuki instigated an upsurge of interest
in Zen concepts and meditation. At the same time, “Beat Zen” and “Square Zen” cre-
ated by Allan Watts, Allen Ginsberg, and Jack Kerouac popularized Zen and attracted
members of the emerging counterculture.
Today, Buddhist entities in the West include teaching/retreat centers, publishing
houses, study groups, meditation groups, hospices, bookshops, training centers, and
the like. These Buddhist entities find expression in numerous websites representing a
plethora of Buddhist traditions and lineages. The World Buddhist Directory, 1 as one  
example, invites Buddhist entities to list themselves, to avoid the phenomenon com-
pletely being “out of control”.
In present days and for the first time in its history, Buddhism has become established
on virtually every continent of the planet. At the beginning of 2014, an ad-hoc selection
revealed that there were at least 1,100 Buddhist centers in the US and Canada, 2 includ-  
1 www.buddhanet.info.
2 I. Matthews, R. Bruce, ed. Buddhism in Canada.Oxford : Routledge, 2006.
 
92 sara hejazi
ing over 430 only in the state of California ; 1 64 centers in London ; 2 149 in Switzerland ;
         
and 125 in Victoria, Australia. All these figures were substantially higher than in 2005.
Buddhism has also penetrated into South America (including 33 centers in Brazil) 3 and  
Africa (including 46 in South Africa). 4 In both the US and Australia, 5 some claim Bud-
   
dhism to be the fastest growing religion.

Since Asian Buddhism and Western Buddhism now look different 6 for obvious rea-  
sons, there is a talk of ‘immigrant Buddhism’ and ‘convert Buddhism’ : immigrant Bud-  
dhism may be represented by a Chinese temple where recent Chinese immigrants con-
gregate for festivals, weekly rituals, or cultural solace, as in the case of the Buddhist
temple in Rome, Italy, where virtually no Italian or Buddhist convert will enter.
Convert Buddhism may be represented instead by the refurbished wooden bunga-
low, or the rented upstairs commercial suite, where indigenous local converts meet
for meditation and teachings. These converts are often white, middle class, and Chris-
tians at birth, with good income, who are dissatisfied spiritually with the attendance of
church or Christian rituals. They are, just as mentioned before, looking for a “God with-
in”, and they carry the research through physical Buddhist practices such as meditation
and retreats and modernist Buddhism which is now deeply familiar to western culture.
Classifying Buddhism in the West as convert or immigrant is – of course – simplistic :  
eclecticism and ambivalence are common. Various contours of Western Buddhism are
now recognizable : the speed of embrace is unprecedented, where it took hundreds,
 
perhaps a thousand years for Buddhism to be established in Asia, in the West it spread
in less than a decade. In contrast to Asia, where distinct cultural Buddhist traditions
have dominated one particular country (for example, Zen in Japan), the whole range of
Buddhist traditions co-exist in many Western cities, including Italian ones. This offers
a broader choice for practitioners, and more overlap amongst the lineages themselves.
Further patterns are identifiable : leadership structures are changing. The ordained
 
monk in Asia, trained in years of rigorous doctrine and practice, has been replaced by
the scholar lay leader in the West.
Authority structures may thus differ : Buddhist communities in the West may be
 
more democratic and egalitarian, with women finding a stronger voice or being a ma-
jority in mixed monasteries.
This may also be because the laity are often highly educated. Promulgation patterns
are also different : in the West the media and celebrities promote Buddhism as a psy-
 
chological tool, even a healthy practice for the mind, or as a mean to world peace and
compassion, or simply as a cool trend. Material culture is similar, but Western Bud-
dhism is readily commodified within a ‘do it yourself ’ ethos. Engaged Buddhism has
1 R. Fields, How the Swans Came to the Lake : A Narrative History of Buddhism in America, 3rd ed. Boston : Shamb-
   
hala Publications, Inc., 1992. C. Prebish, and K. K Tanaka, eds. The Faces of Buddhism in America, Los Angeles :  
University of California Press, 1998 ; T. Tweed, ‘Night-Stand Buddhists and Other Creatures : Sympathizers, Adherents,
   
and the Study of Religion’ in American Buddhism : Methods and Findings in Recent Scholarship, edited by D. Ryuken,
 
United Kingdom : Curzon Press, 1999.

 
2 P. Almond, The British Discovery of Buddhism. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1988.R. BLUCK, Brit-
 
ish Buddhism : Teachings, practice and development. London and New York : Routledge, 2006 G :.DAVIE, Religion in
     
Britain since 1945 : Believing without Belonging. Oxford : Blackwell, 1994.

   
3 C. Rocha, Zen in Brazil : The Quest for Cosmopolitan Modernity. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press, 2006.
   
4 M. Clasquin, and J.S. Krueger, eds. Buddhism and Africa.Pretoria : University of South Africa Press, 1999.
 
5 P. Croucher, Buddhism in Australia, 1848-1988. Kensington NSW : New South Wales University Press, 1989.
 
6 J. Coleman, The New Buddhism : The Western Transformation of an Ancient Tradition. New York : Oxford Uni-
   
versity Press, 2001.

gained momentum because of its strong ethical impulse, synchronous with the rise of
the Green – sustainability movement and of social and political consciousness among
some Buddhists in the West. Feminist Buddhism, Black Buddhism, and Gay Buddhism
are now recognizable. Since Buddhism is now uncoupled from its home of Asia, it is
open to the local cultural forces that any religion must face when newly locating in a
foreign context.
5. Italian Buddhism
Buddhism in Italy has had a similar spread to that of the rest of Europe. The Buddhist
presence in Italy began in the 60s, with the first attempts to ground Buddhist centers
in the peninsula. One of the oldest out of these centers was the Fudenji Monastery
founded by Fausto Taiten Guareschi, disciple of Taisen deshimaru Roshi 1 (1914 -1982)  
who was a Japanese So¯to¯ Zen Buddhist teacher and the founder of Association Zen In-
ternationale, the first most important association promoting Zen worldwide. Most of
the European conversions to Zen Buddhism in the decade 1970-1980 happened through
Deshimaru’s association and most of the European Zen abbots, nuns and monks lead-
ing Zen monasteries today have been his disciples in Paris back in the late 60’s.
At an anthropological level, what really attracted Italians to Zen teachings was the
diffusion of martial arts and practices which came to fashion at that time span. In that
decade, attraction was limited to a few interested travelers and highly educated young-
sters, beyond scholars involved in Asian studies and in psychology.
Buddhism now represents the third most followed religion of the Italian country,
after Catholic Christianity and Sunni Islam. It involves, by the statistics of Cesnur (Na-
tional Center of Studies on New Religions), almost 74,000 believers.
The biggest Italian Buddhist centers are featured in the Italian Buddhist Union
(Unione Buddhista Italiana : UBI), which is a member of the European Buddhist Union
 
and was founded in Milan in 1985 ; however, the Accord between Italian State and Bud-
 
dhist Italian Union was ratified only on 11th December 2012. UBI is now acknowledged
as an association with juridical status and coordinates the 44 principal Italian Buddhist
centers of the tradition of Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana which hold the practice
and the sharing of the traditional teaching. UBI is a legal body serving many functions
including working with government offices to expedite the entry and residency of for-
eign Masters, and making Buddhist teachings available in public schools and other in-
stitutions.
Today, Italian attraction to Buddhism has risen and changed means. The reasons for
the new wave of attraction – which often turns out to become a conversion to Bud-
dhism from Christianity – is rather different from that of the early spread of Buddhism
in the country.
The real important concepts that attract Italians to Buddhism today are the Buddhist
teachings based on the idea of purification of the mind, psycho-somatic harmony, mental
clarity and altruism. 2  
1 T. Deshimaru went to Europe and settled in Paris in order to spread the teachings of Zen. In the 1970s, his
mission grew. In 1970 Deshimaru received dharma transmission from Master Yamada Rerin. He became Kaikyo-
sokan head of Japanese Soto Zen for a particular country or continent) in Europe. He died in 1982, after he had
solidly established Zen practice in the West.
2 While leading a two year research in the Zen monastery Fundeji, these key concepts emerged in interviews
to the lay people attending retreats and meditation.
94 sara hejazi
Italians, just like the rest of Europeans, are now culturally comfortable with a con-
cept of religious belief deriving from a conscious choice. As Anthropologist Marvin
Harris would state, culture is a byproduct of modes of production and human sur-
vival. 1 If contemporary western cultures calls the power and freedom of choice into
 
question for each aspect of life (choosing when to have children, choosing what to eat,
choosing a career, choosing friends etc.), the act of choosing a belief isn’t surprising at
all. There is a deep relation between the contemporary idea of health and general well-
being and the improvement of one’s status and some of the practices that Italian Bud-
dhism teaches today, and that are by now part of a wide spread popular knowledge.
Zen tradition is mostly spread in the peninsula, and some of its features are actually
perceived by practitioners as means of improvement of one’s everyday life. Silence and
sitting meditation for instance can be practiced mostly anywhere : from work-offices to  
children’s playground, so it represents a spiritual and at hand alternative to traditional

Christian praying.
Divulgative literature on “how to use Zen” in everyday western life and thus improv-
ing one’s lifestyle have been countless and have played a role in the rise of popularity
of Italian Buddhism in general and Zen in particular. This new wave and production
of a do-it-yourself Zen practice and knowledge came in an environment saturated by a
general narrative of a lack of time and a wish to re-establish quality of living and slow-
liness of life. This trend generally is accompanied by vegetarian and vegan diets and
by attention given to organic and sustainable food practices. awareness and concern
for the environment, and interest in natural food, holistic medicine, research into the
development of clean energies to replace the polluting ones, solidarity with the third
world and a growing sense of pacifism to accomplish these goals.
Marie Kondo’s best seller 2 on the practice of decluttering people’s houses and homes,
 
deeply rooted in Japanese Zen teaching, has become an Italian best seller in late 2014
because it meets up necessities of today’s Italians to cope with objects, choices, and
provide a new ethics of life. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Italians are massively
abandoning Christianity ; it means that a strongly traditional Catholic country and the
 
locus of the Holy See has become a fertile soil for a growing Buddhist-Christian reli-
gious dialogue, negotiation, integration, hybridation of practices.
This dialogue or hybridation has happened at a monastic level as well. It began with
articles in specialized magazines and has steadily evolved through other initiatives, such
as the intermonastic exchanges, where Catholic and Buddhist monks share periods of
practice living together in monastic settings and even in the adoption of meditation in
Benedictine Monasteries. 3  
6. Trasmutating faiths in a contemporary Italian Zen monastery

The area where the cited above Zen monastery Shobozan Fudenji rises is familiar to
Christian monasticism. Above those green hills of the Emilia Romagna region, the as-
cetic Beato Orlando de’ Medici practiced silence for over 2 decades in the Fourteenth
Century to accomplish his askesis.
1 M. Harris. Cultural Materialism. The struggle for a scinece of culture, Walnut creek, California, Altamira press,
1979
2 M. Kondo, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up : The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, 2014
 
3 T. Merton, Contemplative Prayer, Randome House, New York, 1996

It is an ideal place to set up a sacred temple, and a monastery in particular ; however,
 
a Buddhist Zen monastery represents a great innovation, if not a real revolution. Start-
ed in 1984 through the restoring of an old country house, Shobozan Fudenji wanted
to break from the shared catholic past of its adherents but at the same time maintain a
trait of continuity with its background to avoid being misunderstood by the locals and
interpreted as a weird sect.
Their leader, Fausto Taiten Guarschi was a long experienced judo teacher and a na-
tional champion of kendo and Judo, untill he became the abbot of Fudenji, in 2004.
The very first core of monks that started the monastery were all Italians, both men
and women, who practiced Zen Buddhism for different reasons, but they all somehow
belonged to catholicism. How the shift from one faith to another happened is nothing
extra-ordinary : the charismatic figures of Zen masters residing in Paris such as Taisen
 
Deshimaru Roshi clearly helped this process or simply promoted Zen culture and un-
derstanding among disciples.
But the existence of a charismatic figure is not enough to explain the attraction of
young Catholic Italians to Zen Buddhism at first, and to Zen monasticism in the second
place. Probably it is easier to connect this trend with broader social ones affecting Italy
during the last three decades of the XXIst Century : the rise of a popular political culture
 
and the diffusion of Marxism, which questioned catholic religion ; a decade of nation-
 
al terrorism which engendered fear and disillusions towards state-institutions ; the big
 
change in the means of producing and reproducing goods, the creation of a collective
desire for new goods available in the market and the establishment of a neoliberal econ-
omy with the broadening of “ possibilities of choices” in almost all fields of human life.
While the catholic monastic tradition would seem more rigid to Fundeji’s monks,
one should acknowledge the fact that through this monastic choice they do not have
the obligation of chastity, nor do they have to spend 12 months a year in the monastery.
Most of them are in fact “lay ordered” attendants, and can come in and out of the mon-
astery with very little restrictions. Those who are ordered monks do enjoy flexibilities
which are uncommon in Christian monasteries, such as the possibility to bring relatives
and have them over for a period of time and traveling abroad often.
The creation of such a “monastery” resembles the attempt to domesticate a spiritual
faith, making it more suitable for an everyday life than the faith of belonging.
Shobozan Fudenji is the spatial embodiment of the broadening of spiritual choices
which affected Italian society during the decades 80’s, 90’s and up to the present.
The building is an exquisite mixture of typical Italian and Japanese architecture and
the day of worship and liturgy open to the public is sunday, just like for Catholics.
Monks and nuns did take up the habitus, the traditional black kesa, but they mostly eat
and cook Italian food, because that is what they collect through alms and also because
that reflects the tastes of the majority and of the guests that spend the long retreat pe-
riods there.
Shobozan Fudenji ‘s main income is achieved through promotion and marketing
of activities like workshops, retreats etc, that vary from a wide range : from cooking
 
classes to the tea ceremony, from traditional Japanese taiko classes to martial arts and
Japanese language.
Even Fausto Taiten Guareschi’s sermon on sundays sounds like a mixture of a cath-
olic priest’s sermon, an academic class of comparative literature, and funny cabaret
jokes.
96 sara hejazi
When asked if they’d ever become Christian monks, most of the monks in Fudenji
would answer “I wouldn’t”. They aren’t just “universal” monks, they are monks only
because of Zen.
“Anyway” told me the abbot Guareschi in an interview “could be the way to dharma.
It might be of course the Benedictine way, which is absolutely pure. However, in this
life, the path for us is Zen”.
This is how they perceive their shift from a faith of belonging to one of the multiple
choices available.
Inter-monastic Transmutatio :  
Monastic identity
moulded by inter-religious dialogue
Matteo Nicolini-Zani
1. Introduction
A mong the manifold aspects of modernity or, maybe more exactly, post-modernity
that challenge Christianity there is also religious diversity and religious pluralism.
As the Indian theologian Felix Wilfred recently put it, in our times one urgent call for
Christians is « becoming Christians inter-religiously ». 1 The same is true also for Chris-
     
tian monastics, 2 who are called to become more and more ‘monastics inter-religious-
 
ly’. This consciousness, which is shared by ever more Christian monastics around the
world (but comparatively still much more in the Western countries than elsewhere), is
also shared by an increasing number of monastics following other religious and spiri-
tual paths. This means that monastics, at least some of them, belonging to all religious
traditions are experiencing a transformation, a sort of alchemical transmutatio in their
respective monastic identity as a response to the multi-religious context in which they
live and as a result of their personal contacts, at different levels, with spiritual seekers
walking in different religious ways. This is well expressed in the words of a French
Benedictine monk engaged in monastic inter-religious dialogue when he says that « by  
opening one’s own heart and mind to an effort to understand more deeply the religious
universe in which the partner in the dialogue is progressing, a secret alchemy happens
in the one who tries to open himself to the other in this way ». 3    
2. The dialogical transmutatio of the Church and the birth

of an inter-religious dialogue at the level of spiritual experience
In the last decades different forms of contact, exchange, and exploration among the
representatives of the various traditions brought Christian monastics into a closer and
deeper contact with Hindu and Buddhist ascetics. However, in the case of Christian-
ity, this would not have been enough for them to find themselves in an “inter-religious
monastic transmutatio” if a major shift in the theological approach towards other reli-
gions had not happened, namely the Church’s shift towards a more positive attitude to
other religions inaugurated by Vatican Council ii. Actually, we could apply also to the
Church in dialogue the same image of transmutatio for describing its process of a new
self-understanding vis-à-vis the world and “otherness”.
In relation to other religions, the openness and sensitivity of Vatican ii towards di-
versity or pluralism resulted in the establishment of the Secretariat for Non-Christians
1 See F. Wilfred, Becoming Christian inter-religiously, « Concilium », xlvii, 2, 2011, pp. 59-67. See also P.C. Phan,
   
Being Religious Interreligiously. Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue, Maryknoll Ny, Orbis Press, 2004.
2 Throughout this article I will use the term “monastics” to include both monks and nuns.
3 A. Desfarges, Un engagement pour le dialogue interreligieux monastique, « Chemins de dialogue », 39, 2012, p. 171.
   
98 matteo nicolini-zani
on 14 May 1964 during the Council and prior to the promulgation of the counciliar
decree Nostra Aetate on 28 October 1965. This document is really a sort of charter for
dialogue because it has altered forever the Church’s attitude toward and relationship
with other religions. It has set the Church and these religious traditions firmly on the
path of mutual influence and enrichment. The Church has yet to realize the full impli-
cations of Nostra Aetate 2 :  
The Church has this exhortation for her sons : prudently and lovingly, through dialogue and
 
collaboration with the followers of other religions, and in witness of Christian faith and life,
acknowledge, preserve, and promote the spiritual and moral goods found among these men, as
well as the values in their society and culture.
Not only does this statement admit to the presence of truth in the other traditions,
it also opens the door to the assimilation of these very values into the one universal
tradition of the Church, which is always growing and acquiring new insights. In other
terms, this document paved the way for a Christian transmutatio that is based on the
blessed « discovery of the sacrament of otherness » 1 and deep « esteem of the other’s
       
faith ». 2
   
In 1984 the Secretariat for Non-Christians was able to draw up a precise text about
inter-religious dialogue, in which dialogue at the level of religious experience 3 was for-  
mally outlined and promoted : « At a deeper level, persons rooted in their own religious
   
traditions can share their experiences of prayer, contemplation, faith and duty, as well
as their expressions and ways of searching for the Absolute ». 4 Referring to this para-    
graph of the document Dialogue and Mission, Pope John Paul ii added in a speech in the
same year : « Here I think especially of inter-monastic dialogue ». 5
       
3. The dialogical transmutatio of Christian monasticism :  
foundations, development, and inspiring figures

This evolution of openness of the Church to other religions officially stimulated Cath-
olic monks and nuns « to make contact with another’s inmost experiences » in « a fruitful
     
dialogue that monks alone are suited to undertake with their brothers, non-Christian
spiritual seekers ». 6 Against the background of the Church’s transmutatio, a simultane-
   
ous transmutatio was developing inside the Christian monastic world, an openness to
other monastic experiences.
1 I borrow this motto from A. Melloni, « Nostra Aetate » e la scoperta del sacramento dell’alterità, in Chiesa ed
   
ebraismo oggi. Percorsi fatti, questioni aperte, edited by N.J. Hofmann, J. Sievers, M. Mottolese, Roma, Pontificia
Università Gregoriana, 2005, pp. 153-179.
2 This is the title of a recent French volume on inter-religious dialogue from the Catholic point of view : H. de  
La Hougue, L’estime de la foi des autres, Paris, Desclée de Brouwer, 2011.

3 On this peculiar form of inter-religious dialogue, see : P.-F. de Béthune, Le dialogue interreligieux au foyer
 
de la vie spirituelle, « Nouvelle Revue Théologique », 121, 1999, pp. 557-572 ; Id., Les enjeux du dialogue de l’expérience
     
spirituelle, « La vie spirituelle », lxxix, 731, 1999, pp. 239-251 ; G. Perron, Dwelling in the Heart of the Desert. On the
     
Dialogue of Religious Experience and Monastic Interreligious Dialogue, « Dilatato Corde », ii, 1-2, 2012, pp. 123-157.
   
4 Secretariat for Non-Christians, Dialogue and Mission. Attitudes of the Catholic Church Towards the Follow-
ers of Other Religions (1984), § 35, « Acta Apostolicae Sedis », 84, 1984, pp. 816-828. See also Pontifical Council for
   
Inter-religious Dialogue, Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Dialogue and Proclamation
(1991), § 42, « Bulletin. Pontificium Concilium pro Dialogo inter Religiones », 77, 1991, pp. 210-250.
   
5 John Paul ii, Address to the Plenary Assembly of the Secretariat for Non-Christians (3 March 1984), § 4, « Bulletin.  
Secretariatus pro non Christianis », 56, 1984, pp. 122-123.  
6 P. Rossano, Dialogue between Christian and Non-Christian Monks. Opportunities and Difficulties, « Bulletin. Sec-  
retariatus pro non Christianis », 46, 1981, pp. 68-74. 

monastic identity moulded by inter-religious dialogue 99
Two monastic meetings held in Asia, the conferences in Bangkok in 1968 and Ban-
galore in 1973, contributed to bringing this awareness to light and laid the foundation
for the future self-understanding of Christian monasticism, not only in Asia. 1 For these  
reasons the Bangkok conference of 1968 is referred to as the one that drew « a new char-  
ter for monasticism », 2 while the Bangalore conference of 1973 as « the Pentecost of the
     
monastic world ». 3 Interestingly, this new reorientation of monasticism emerged when

   
Christian monasticism dared to expose itself to a “different similarity”, represented by

non-Christian monasticism. 4  
In Bangkok and in Bangalore for the first time Catholic monks had the chance to
meet and listen to Hindu and Buddhist monks and were brought into a deeper contact
with Eastern spiritualities. Among the most appreciated results in terms of transmuta-
tio, the meetings helped the participants to recover the contemplative and charismatic
essence of Christian monasticism. More generally, the Bangkok conference took seri-
ously the need in Christian monasticism of a transmutatio in its cultural forms, namely,
the need of a “de-Hellenization” of monasticism and its readiness to integrate new
cultural and religious patterns :  
Monasticism must be prepared to contribute to the integration of new cultures and new re-
ligions in Christianity […]. Especially to the degree that monasticism is present among other
cultures […], it must see openness to these cultures as one of its functions. It will also have to
modify its structures and its conceptions if these prevent it from adopting what is good, valid for
itself, in the monasticism of the countries where it happens to be. 5  
A new consciousness that non-Christian monastic life could enrich and reorient Chris-
tian monastic training was another great outcome of the Bangkok conference, as one
of the participants, a Trappist monk, underlined :  
Our [Christian] monastic life should grow under the enriching presence of our non-Christian
brethren, and this mainly at three levels : study, friendly relations and dialogue, and ultimately an
 
actual sharing in the experience of the monastic life as it is lived by our [Asian] people. 6  
The dimension of inter-religious dialogue between monastics belonging to different

religious traditions that emerged from the inter-monastic conferences in Asia was later
1 Proceedings of the Bangkok conference are published in A New Charter for Monasticism. Proceedings of the
Meeting of the Monastic Superiors in the Far East, Bangkok, December 9 to 15, 1968, edited by J. Moffitt, Notre Dame
In, University of Notre Dame Press, 1970. Proceedings of the Bangalore conference are published in « Cistercian  
Studies », ix, 2-3, 1974 (Christian Monks and Asian Religions. Proceedings of the Second Asian Monastic Congress, Banga-
 
lore, October 14 to 22, 1973). 2 A New Charter for Monasticism, cit., p. xiv.
3 C. Tholens, quoted in F. Blée, The Third Desert. The Story of Monastic Interreligious Dialogue, Collegeville
Mn, Liturgical Press, 2011, p. 25.
4 As said at a recent Buddhist-Christian monastic meeting in the United States, it seems accurate to say that
Buddhist and Christian monastics « are all on the same (or, at least, very similar) path, but moving toward differ-
 
ent destinations » (W. Skudlarek, Monks in the West III, « Dilatato Corde », ii, 1-2, 2012, p. 226). For a critical survey
     
of the similarities in Buddhist and Christian monks’ lifestyle and practice, see, for instance : M. Wijayaratna,
 
Le renoncement au monde dans le bouddhisme et dans le christianisme. Une étude comparée sur le monachisme bouddhique
et sur le monachisme chrétien du désert (ive siècle), Paris, Lis, 2002 ; P.G. Henry, D.K. Swearer, For the Sake of the
 
World. The Spirit of Buddhist and Christian Monasticism, Minneapolis Mn – Collegeville Mn, Fortress Press – Litur-
gical Press, 1989 ; M.J. Augustine, Zen and Benedictine Monks as Mythopoeic Models of Nonegocentered Worldviews
 
and Lifestyles, « Buddhist-Christian Studies », vi, 1986, pp. 23-49 ; R.J. Corless, The Dialogue of Silence. A Comparison
     
of Buddhist and Christian Monasticism with a Practical Suggestion, in The Cross and the Lotus. Christianity and Bud-
dhism in Dialogue, edited by G.W. Houston, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, 1985, pp. 80-107 ; Id., Sense and Nonsense in
 
Buddhist-Christian Intermonastic Dialogue, « Monastic Studies », 19, 1991, pp. 11-22.

   
5 J. Leclercq, Present-Day Problems in Monasticism, in A New Charter for Monasticism, cit., p. 38.
6 F. Acharya, Reorientation of Monastic Life in an Asian Context, in A New Charter for Monasticism, cit., p. 116.
further developed and gave birth to a new institution, namely the dim/mid, “Dialogue
Interreligieux Monastique/Monastic Interreligious Dialogue”. 1  
From the late 1970s dim/mid commissions have spread all over the world and their
activities have grown in different directions. The “experiential” character of the dia-
logue promoted by dim/mid found its main realization in initiatives of dialogue be-
tween monastics belonging to different religious traditions on a local level. Together
with this, since 1979 the so-called “East-West Spiritual Exchanges” have brought al-
ternatively several Japanese Zen Buddhist monastics to experience Christian monas-
tic life in European monasteries and Western Christian monastics to experience Zen
monastic training in Japanese monasteries. 2 In 1981 a North American “Inter-Monastic
 
Hospitality Program” began, promoting exchanges between American Christian and

Tibetan Buddhist monastics. As professor Noboru Anzai’s sociological studies of these
encounters reveal, the vast majority of the participants on both sides came out of these
intense encounters with a vastly deeper respect for and admiration of their host’s tra-
dition. 3 The first general secretary of the dim/mid and main organizer of the “East-
 
West Spiritual Exchanges”, the Belgian Benedictine monk Pierre-François de Béthune,

describes them in the following terms :  
It became clear that this kind of meeting, much of it devoted to silence and held in a setting
dedicated to the spiritual life, allowed for a deep level of communion. […] Participants […]
understood that exchanges like this could not be « limited to concrete questions ». It was not    
enough simply to enter the house of the other ; one had to enter their spirituality as well, mak-
 
ing a serious attempt to understand and appreciate their reasons for following a monastic way
of life. In order to do this, a high level of reciprocal trust is essential. 4  
This experience of immersion for a certain period of time in a “foreign” spiritual mi-
lieu is eye-opening for both guests and hosts. In this sense, monastic inter-religious
dialogue is a “dialogue of contemplative immersion”, « a silent and prayerful partak-  
ing in the risks, temptations, joys, and sufferings of fellow monastics in their quest of
the Absolute ». 5 The long tradition of monastic hospitality offers « a setting wherein a
     
1 On the history and spirituality of dim/mid, see : Blée, The Third Desert, cit. ; P.-F. de Béthune, Monastic
   
Inter-Religious Dialogue, in The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Inter-Religious Dialogue, edited by C. Cornille, Chich-
ester, John Wiley & Sons, 2013, pp. 34-50 ; Id., Monastic Interreligious Dialogue. A History, in Catholics in Interreligious
 
Dialogue. Studies in Monasticism, Theology and Spirituality, edited by A. O’Mahony, P. Bowe, Leominster, Grace-
wings, 2006, pp. 3-9 ; M. Nicolini-Zani, I monasteri luoghi di incontro e dialogo. Il dialogo interreligioso monastico,
 
« L’Ulivo », n.s. xliii, 2, 2014, pp. 85*-100* ; Id., Quando l’“uno” incontra l’“altro”. Storia e spiritualità del dialogo inter-
     
religioso monastico, « Ora et Labora », lxix, 1, 2014, pp. 1-17 ; P. Bowe, Contemporary Witness, Future Configuration.
     
Monastic Interfaith Dialogue, in Catholics in Interreligious Dialogue, cit., pp. 10-25 ; B. de Give, Une enterprise féconde :
   
le dialogue interreligieux monastique, « Studia Missionalia », 43, 1994, pp. 95-113.

   
2 See P.-F. de Béthune, Note sur les échanges spirituels est-ouest depuis les origines, « Dilatato Corde », ii, 1-2, 2012,    
pp. 59-65. In addition to the several reports and reflections contained in the « dim/mid International Bulletin »    
along the years, see also : B. Billot, Voyage dans les monastères zen, Paris, Desclée de Brouwer, 1987 ; B. Ubach, The
   
Violent Are Taking the Kingdom of Heaven by Storm, « Buddhist-Christian Studies », x, 1990, pp. 189-196 ; G. Hozumi,
     
From a Spanish Monastery, « Buddhist-Christian Studies », x, 1990, pp. 196-200 ; G. Sugimoto, Japanese Buddhists
     
in the Monastery of Montserrat, « Buddhist-Christian Studies », x, 1990, pp. 200-208 ; R. Corless, Fourth East-West
     
Spiritual Exchange, « Buddhist-Christian Studies », xi, 1991, pp. 283-285 ; M. Ishigami-Iagolnitzer, Dialogue inter-
     
religieux monastique bouddhistes-chrétiens au Japon et en Europe, Paris, Sciences et Lettres, 1992 ; D. Pont, Dans les  
monastères zen du Japon. Sixième Échange Spirituel du d.i.m., 4 octobre-8 novembre 1998, « Chemins de dialogue », 13,    
1999, pp. 53-65 ; The Twelfth Spiritual Exchange Program (Japan, September 17 – October 5, 2011). Testimonials, « Dilatato
   
Corde », ii, 1-2, 2012, pp. 13-55.

 
3 See N. Anzai, To¯zai reisei ko¯ryu¯ no seika. Bukkyo¯ to Kirisutokyo¯ no kyo¯mei, Tokyo, Heiwa Kenkyujo, 1983.
4 de Béthune, Monastic Inter-Religious Dialogue, cit., pp. 38-39.
5 G.G. Hardy, Monastic Quest and Interreligious Dialogue, New York, P. Lang, 1990, p. 255.
meeting of mind and heart can take place ». 1 Mutual hospitality in the physical space
   
of a monastery engages both guests and hosts in a process of mutual hospitality in the
spiritual space of their monastic life, and this often provokes a deep, sometimes shock-
ing, inner transmutatio. 2  
But new paths to follow need “visionaries” to open them and to inspire others. The
inspiring visions and experiences of monks such as Henri Le Saux, osb (Abhishiktanan-
da, 1910-1973), Bede Griffiths, osb (Dayananda, 1906-1993), Francis Mahieu, ocso (Fran-
cis Acharya, 1912-2002), 3 whose personal experiences and those of the ashrams they
 
founded or led gave birth and shape to what Wayne Teasdale calls “sannyasic monas-
ticism”, 4 as well as Thomas Merton (1915-1968) and Christian de Chergé (1937-1996)
 
opened the monastic world to the new horizon of monastic inter-religious dialogue.
The personal witness of these and other figures shows how the practice of inter-reli-
gious dialogue contributed to make them conscious of the need to reconsider their
Christian monastic identity or even brought them to reshape some aspects of their
Christian monastic practice.
The Trappist monk Thomas Merton can be considered the very pioneer of monastic
inter-religious dialogue conceived as an “explorational dialogue” in the other’s spiri-
tual deepness from an “insider perspective”. 5 His spiritual and monastic life was deeply
 
influenced by the exposure, through readings and personal encounters, to different

spiritualities of other religions. 6 In 1964 Merton wrote in his journal : « Asia, Zen, Islam,
     
etc., all these things come together in my life. It would be madness for me to attempt to
create a monastic life for myself by excluding all these. I would be less a monk ». 7    
1 John Paul II, Address to the Participants in the “East-West Spiritual Exchange” (9 September 1987), « Bulletin.  
Secretariatus pro non Christianis », 67, 1988, p. 6.

 
2 On the subject of monastic inter-religious hospitality, see : P.-F. de Béthune, By Faith and Hospitality. The
 
Monastic Tradition as a Model for Interreligious Encounter, Leominster, Gracewings, 2002 ; Id., Interreligious Hospi-
 
tality. The Fulfillment of Dialogue, Collegeville Mn, Liturgical Press, 2010 ; F. Blée, Hospitality as a Condition for
 
Dialogue. The Monastic Interreligious Experience, « Tianzhujiao yanjiu xuebao (Hong Kong Journal of Catholic Stud-
 
ies) », 4, 2014, pp. 231-248.

 
India is undoubtedly the Asian country that witnessed the deepest, most interesting, and most fruitful en-
3 ��
counter between Christian monasticism and Asian asceticism, in this case Hindu sannya¯sa. These three figures
produced a large amount of writings concerning their attempt to “translate” Benedictine monasticism into a san-
nyasic form in order to find an existential synthesis or convergence between them.
4 W. Teasdale, Bede Griffiths. An Introduction to His Interspiritual Thought, Woodstock Vt, SkyLight Paths, 2003,
p. 42. Judson B. Trapnell confirms that « sannya¯sa is […] an orientation to the world, to the self, and to the divine
 
that both Griffiths and Le Saux adopted from Indian culture to redefine their identities as monks » : see J.B. Trap-    
nell, Monastic Interreligious Dialogue in India. Henri Le Saux, osb (Abhishiktananda) and Bede Griffiths, osb cam, in
Catholics in Interreligious Dialogue, cit., pp. 193-216 : 193. The available literature on “sannyasic monasticism” is scarce :
   
see E. Vattakuzhy, Indian Christian Sannya¯sa and Swami Abhishiktananda, Bangalore, Theological Publications
in India, 1981 ; Teasdale, Bede Griffiths, cit., pp. 17-42, 157-171 ; W. Skudlarek, Abhishiktananda’s Understanding
   
of the Monk : Essentially Contemplative, Ideally Eremitic, Naturally Dialogic, « Dilatato Corde », i, 1-2, 2011, pp. 132-145.
     
5 See : C. Albin, Thomas Merton and Inter-Faith Dialogue. Exploring a Way Forward, in Thomas Merton. Poet, Monk,
 
Prophet, edited by P.M. Pearson, D. Sullivan, I. Thomson, Abergavenny, Three Peaks Press, 1998, pp. 154-168 ; R.  
Corless, The Christian Exploration of Non-Christian Religions. Merton’s example and where it might lead us, « The Mer-  
ton Annual », 13, 2000, pp. 105-122 ; C. Vanbalberghe, Thomas Merton : mystique et pionnier du dialogue interreligieux,
     
« La vie spirituelle », lxxxv, 759, 2005, pp. 313-327.

   
6 See : C. Lee, Thomas Merton and Chinese Wisdom, Erie Pa, Sino-American Institute, 1994 ; Merton & Sufism. The
   
Untold Story, edited by R. Baker, G. Henry, Louisville Ky, Fons Vitae, 1999 ; Merton & Judaism. Holiness in Words,
 
edited by E.K. Kaplan, B. Bruteau, Louisville Ky, Fons Vitae, 2003 ; Merton & Buddhism. Wisdom, Emptiness, and
 
Everyday Mind, edited by B.B. Thurston, Louisville Ky, Fons Vitae, 2007 ; Merton & the Tao. Dialogues with John
 
Wu and the Ancient Sages, edited by C. Serrán-Pagán y Fuentes, Louisville Ky, Fons Vitae, 2013. See also W. Apel,
Signs of Peace. The Interfaith Letters of Thomas Merton, Maryknoll Ny, Orbis, 2006.
7 T. Merton, A Vow of Conversation, New York, Farrar, 1988, p. 62.
In other pages of his writings we find clear statements speaking of his desire and
openness to learn from Eastern spiritual traditions. Among them, the most important
pages, even though the latest in terms of time of composition, are the notes taken for
a document to be presented in Calcutta in October 1968 :  
I speak as a Western monk who is preeminently concerned with his own monastic calling and
dedication. I have left my monastery to come here […] to drink from ancient sources of monas-
tic vision and experience. I seek […] to become a better and more enlightened monk. 1  
Among the manifold interests that moved Thomas Merton eastward, the first is, thus,
a need of refreshing and deepening his own monastic life and a renewal of the con-
temporary monastic tradition. 2 It was a longing for a spiritual and structural monastic
 
transmutatio. In the same draft document to be presented in Calcutta in 1968, Merton

writes :  
I think we have now reached a stage of religious maturity at which it may be possible for some-
one to remain perfectly faithful to a Christian and Western monastic commitment, and yet to
learn in depth from, say, a Buddhist or Hindu discipline and experience. I believe that some of
us need to do this in order to improve the quality of our own monastic life and even to help in
the task of monastic renewal. 3  
We must understand the renewal Merton hoped for in the right sense. It should be not
an abstract transformation or formal adaptation of monastic and ascetical practices,
but a deep transmutatio of the monastic’s spiritual life as a result of a sincere contact
with the spiritual richness hidden in other monastic lives. Speaking at the monastic
conference in Bangkok in 1968 in front of a monastic audience, Merton concluded his
speech saying without hesitation that Eastern monastic values can be a complement to
Western Christian monasticism :  
If you once penetrate by detachment and purity of heart to the inner secret of the ground of
our ordinary experience, you attain to a liberty that nobody can touch, that nobody can affect
[…]. Somewhere behind our monasticism, and behind Buddhist monasticism, is the belief that
this kind of freedom and transcendence is somehow attainable. […] I, as a monk – and, I think,
you as monks – can agree that we believe this to be the deepest and most essential things in our
lives, and because we believe this, we have given ourselves to the kind of life we have adopted.
I believe that our renewal consists precisely in deepening this understanding and this grasp of
that which is more real. And I believe that by openness to Buddhism, to Hinduism, and to these
great Asian traditions, we stand a wonderful chance of learning more about the potentiality of
our own traditions, because they have gone, from the natural point of view, so much deeper
into this than we have. 4  
Incidentally, more than forty years later, I found a similar voice, but coming from the
Buddhist side, calling for a reinterpretation of monastic life and affirming the potential
help that can be offered to this endeavor by inter-religious dialogue. This is a German
Zen Buddhist nun engaged in the monastic inter-religious dialogue. She recently wrote
that « this issue of reinterpretation of the monastery, beyond every specific religious
 
1 Id., Monastic Experience and East-West Dialogue, in The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton, edited by N. Burton et
alii, New York, New Directions, 1968, pp. 312-313.
2 See B.B. Thurston, Why Merton Looked East, « Living Prayer », xxi, 6, 1988, pp. 43-49.
   
3 Merton, Monastic Experience and East-West Dialogue, cit., p. 313.

4 Id., Marxism and Monastic Perspectives, in A New Charter for Monasticism, cit., p. 81.
tradition » is « urgent and has a place in the dialogue between Christian and Buddhists »
     
and, therefore, « a reinterpretation of the monastery as a living religious setting in the

 
twentieth-century world is to be undertaken », Buddhists and Christians together. 1

   
Echoing John E. Bamberger, we may therefore conclude that Merton’s exploration

of the Eastern religious traditions undoubtedly influenced the evolution of his vision
and practice of monastic life, prayer, and contemplation. 2 Ekman P. C. Tam confirms  
this transmutatio in the field of contemplation when he recognizes five major areas in
Merton’s spiritual journey that were influenced by Zen and Taoism in the last years of
his life (1959-1968) :  
First, Zen-Taoism motivated Merton to move away from a dogmatic framework and turn
towards an experiential approach. Second, Zen-Taoism affirmed Merton’s positive worldview and
concern for the well-being of humanity. Third, Zen-Taoism expanded Merton’s understanding
of God. Fourth, Zen-Taoism influenced Merton’s understanding of the Christian experience of
self-realization. Lastly, Zen-Taoism affected Merton’s view of contemplative prayer and spiritual
itinerary. 3  
4. Three decades of monastic inter-religious dialogue :  
features, experiences, and results

At this point we wish to make a preliminary attempt to note the main features, expe-
riences, and results of this “dialogue of spiritual experience” carried on by monastics
(mainly Christian and Buddhist) around the world in the last three decades, with the
aim of assessing the first steps of this process, in which monastic identity, personal (the
monk or the nun) and common (the monastic community), is changing through the
practice of inter-religious dialogue. Unfortunately, available materials offering witness
to relevant experiences in this field are still very scanty. It is only in 2011 that a journal ti-
tled Dilatato Corde was launched by dim/mid with the main purpose of collecting « the  
contributions of spiritual practitioners and scholars from different religious traditions

who wish to report, reflect on, and examine the many ways this form of inter-religious
dialogue can expand the hearts of all spiritual seekers ». 4    
Since its very beginning, monastic inter-religious dialogue, following Thomas Mer-
ton’s insights, has been characterized as a “dialogue of spirituality” 5 and a “silent dia-  
logue”, 6 above all because monastic spiritual life has silence as its fundamental envi-
 
ronment and because monastic spiritual life has the “heart” or the “spirit” as the main
space of this dialogue. It is a dialogue that happens at the level of inner spiritual life of
each of the partners in the dialogue, namely an “interior dialogue”, or “intra-religious
1 N.R. Tierelinckx, Une moniale zen chez des moniales chrétiennes. À propos d’une expérience de dialogue, « Voies  
de l’Orient », 121, 2011, pp. 2-14, passim.

 
2 See J.E. Bamberger, Thomas Merton. Prophet of Renewal, Kalamazoo Mi, Cistercian Publications, 2005, p.
63.
3 E.P.C. Tam, Christian Contemplation and Chinese Zen-Taoism. A Study of Thomas Merton’s Writings, Hong
Kong, Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre, 2002, p. 221.
4 W. Skudlarek, Introduction, « Dilatato Corde », i, 1-2, 2011, p. 1. Dilatato Corde appears on the dim/mid web-
   
site : http ://www.dimmid.org. At the end of the year, the main contents are brought together and made available
   
as a book.
5 See P.-F. de Béthune, Le dialogue des spiritualités, « Chemins de dialogue », 13, 1999, pp. 67-79.
   
6 See : Id., Le silence, chemin de dialogue. Réflexions sur l’expérience des moines en dialogue, « Chemins de dialogue », 6,
     
1995, pp. 201-207 ; F. Blée, Aux frontières du silence. Exploration du dialogue interreligieux monastique, « Théologiques »,
     
vii, 2, 1999, pp. 79-94.

dialogue”, as Raimon Panikkar used to say. 1 In this sense, this kind of dialogue is ex-
 
tremely engaging because it concerns the very identity of a monastic.

Intra-religious dialogue inevitably requires, and at the same time produces, a spiri-
tual conversion, an inner transformation. Therefore, what is at play here is precisely
a transmutatio of monastic identity that happens in the process of the dialogue with
the “monastic other” and as a result of a concrete experience. In the words of Raimon
Panikkar, whom the dim/mid regards as a source of learning and inspiration, the dia-
logue requires welcoming in oneself the other’s experience, also the “monastic other”,
since the meeting with him is an experience of revelation. That is why inter-religious
monastic dialogue is a “dialogue of experience”, as the same Raimon Panikkar wisely
pointed out in a conference given to a dim/mid group in 2004, namely the experience
of “immersion” into the spirituality of another religion :  
The particular characteristic of the inter-religious dialogue of monastic men and women is that
it is a ‘dialogue of experience’ […] Every form of dialogue that is not merely intellectual is an
experience, a common experience. […] This kind of dialogue takes time, many years. Those
who sense that they are called to become more deeply involved in the work of inter-religious
dialogue will have to become immersed in another religion. 2  
In the Trappist community in Tibhirine, Algeria, we find the most evident and brilliant
example of this “existential dialogue”, which « is the fruit of a prolonged “living togeth-
 
er”, and of shared concerns, sometimes very concrete », a dialogue – in this case with
 
Muslims – that « is both manual and spiritual, both of the everyday and of eternity ». 3
     
This practice of existential dialogue was also based on the consciousness of the aston-
ishing closeness between the essential observances of monastic life and the pillars of
Islam. 4 If these Muslim essentials worked as stimulation for a deepening of Christian
 
practices in the Tibhirine Trappist community, we know that the main practice that un-
doubtedly underwent a real transmutatio in the life of its prior, Christian de Chergé, as a
result of his existential and spiritual dialogue with his Muslim friends was that of lectio
divina, i.e., the prayerful reading of the holy Scriptures. 5 Frère Christian was convinced
 
of the possibility of a ‘hospitality of lectio divina’, since « there is a possible “monastic 
reading” of the other’s spiritual tradition and, firstly, of the Koran itself ». 6 Doing lectio    
divina on the Koran became a common practice for frère Christian and we find a few
precious echoes of it in his writings. 7  
This issue leads us to consider major field of transmutatio, namely, prayer, medita-
tion, or contemplation. Several monastic meetings of monastic dialogue directly fo-
1 See R. Panikkar, The Intrareligious Dialogue, New York, Paulist Press, 1978. See also K.P. Kramer, A Silent
Dialogue. The Intrareligious Dimension, « Buddhist-Christian Studies », x, 1990, pp. 127-132.
   
2 R. Panikkar, Some Observations on Interreligious Dialogue, « dim/mid International Bulletin », E. 29-30, 2010,
   
p. 30.
3 C. de Chergé, Chrétiens et musulmans. Pour un projet commun de société (1989), in Id., L’invincible espérance,
Paris, Bayard-Centurion, 1997, pp. 168-169.
4 See ivi, p. 179. About the practice of monastic inter-religious dialogue carried on by the community of
Tibhirine, see : C. de Chergé, Dialogue monastique et islam (1995), in Id., L’invincible espérance, cit. pp. 205-212 ; C.
   
Salenson, Monastic Life, Interreligious Dialogue, and Openness to the Ultimate. A Reflection on the Tibhirine Monks’
Experience, « The Way », xlv, 3, 2006, pp. 23-37.
   
5 See C. Salenson, Christian de Chergé, lecteur du Coran, in Le dialogue des Écritures, edited by I. Chareire, C.
Salenson, Bruxelles, Lessius, 2007, pp. 17-26.
6 de Chergé, Dialogue monastique et islam (1995), cit., p. 211.
7 See, for example, Id., Chrétiens et musulmans, pp. 177-178. See also frère Christan’s conference to the general
chapter of the Trappist order of 1993, in which he says : « I think possible a true lectio divina of the Koran » (quoted
     
in Salenson, Christian de Chergé, lecteur du Coran, cit., p. 18).

cusing on or including this subject were organized by dim/mid. 1 More importantly,  
several Christian monks involved in inter-religious dialogue have taken up the way of
dialogue by carefully adopting or, more properly, integrating a contemplative form of
prayer that has been elaborated in another religion. In the last years some Christian
monastic communities even began to offer Zen meditation courses or Buddhist-Chris-
tian retreats in the setting of their monastery. Sometimes Catholic monks themselves,
trained in zazen, lead the groups, sometimes Buddhist monks are invited as teachers.
This can also be considered a transmutatio of the monastic space to offer hospitality to
spiritual practices other than the traditional form of Christian meditation.
The dim/mid dossiers of 1993 (Contemplation et dialogue interreligieux. Repères et per-
spectives puisés dans l’expérience des moines) 2 and 2003 (Monastic Experience of Inter-reli-
 
gious Dialogue) 3 provide a precious documentation of these monastic experiences of

 
dialogue and show that Buddhist Zen and Vipassana meditation or yoga have helped
monks to live a more embodied spirituality. This kind of spirituality involves a rediscov-
ery of the body, sexuality, and subtle psycho-physiological energies — in other words,
the rediscovery of unknown or neglected aspects of the work of salvation as it has
generally been understood in Christianity. 4 We can, therefore, speak of a transmutatio
 
of the form of meditation, a “meditation without an object”, and of the way of meditat-
ing, in which the body has a significant place and in which silence has a greater role. 5  
Echoing Fabrice Blée, we can also speak of a transmutatio of the monastic call to the
desert as a new, unprecedented call to the “desert of otherness” :  
The adoption of a contemplative path worked out in another religion is central to the develop-
ment of the dialogue practiced by monks […]. It promotes access to what we have called the
‘desert of otherness’. […] Monks engaged in dialogue show us the way into this desert and in so
doing reveal an unusual dimension of the contemporary monastic vocation. Entering into rela-
tion with the other, the one whose deepest beliefs are radically different from ours, can be seen
as the desert where the monastic vocation […] is to be lived out. 6  
A last, final example of how monastic inter-religious dialogue has put in action a trans-
mutatio of understanding of the Christian monastic identity concerns the monk’s celi-
bacy. A Buddhist-Christian monastic dialogue specifically devoted to this subject took
place at Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota, in October 2006, being the sec-
ond meeting of “Monks in the West”. 7 One of the participants, the American Bene-
 
dictine monk William Skudlarek, who in 2007 became the second general secretary of
dim/mid, developed the insights coming from that meeting into a book titled Demy-
thologizing Celibacy, in which he shares his « effort to demythologize, reevaluate, and
 
1 See, for example : Purity of Heart and Contemplation. A Monastic Dialogue between Christian and Asian Traditions,
 
edited by B. Barnhart, J. Wong, New York-London, Continuum, 2001 ; The Gethsemani Encounter. A Dialogue on the
 
Spiritual Life by Buddhist and Christian Monastics, edited by D.W. Mitchell, J.A. Wiseman, New York, Continuum,
1997, pp. 34-67 (ch. 3 : Prayer and Meditation).
 
2 This document is published in « Bulletin. Secretariatus pro non Christianis », 84, 1993, pp. 250-270.
   
3 The English version of this document is published in « Bulletin of Monastic Interreligious Dialogue », 70,
   
2003, pp. 21-60.

For more details about the features, history, and development of the adoption of Eastern meditation prac-
4 ��
tices by Christian monks, see Blée, The Third Desert, cit.
5 Among the many witnesses of the personal reasons that drew Christian monks to zazen, I suggest the read-
ing of W. Skudlarek, Zazen. A Path from Judgment to Love, in Purity of Heart and Contemplation, pp. 137-150.
6 Blée, The Third Desert, cit., pp. 175-176.
7 See the report by T. Ryan, Buddhist and Catholic Monks Talk about Celibacy, « Buddhist-Christian Studies »,
   
xxvii, 2007, pp. 143-145.

reflect on the meaning and practice of […] Catholic monastic celibacy in the light of
some Buddhist teaching and practices as they were heard and understood by a Catholic
participant ». 1 Its conclusions bear witness to that kind of monastic transmutatio that
   
every true and deep inter-religious dialogue produces, namely a stimulation to walk
forward on the path of humanization :  
A demythologized celibacy is not a devalued celibacy. Rather, it is a way of life whose value
can be more clearly understood when it is seen not as some kind of angelic life that is possible
only for a privileged few, nor as an unrealizable ideal, but as an option that, for any number of
reasons, ordinary people may be attracted to. […] For these people […] celibacy is not so much
a “charism” as a “skillful means” for realizing their humanity and their destiny, which ultimately
consists in becoming free from self-centered desire in order to draw nearer to lasting peace and
happiness. 2 
1 W. Skudlarek, Demythologizing Celibacy. Practical Wisdom from Christian and Buddhist Monasticism, College-
ville Mn, Liturgical Press, 2008, p. viii. 2 Ivi, pp. 92-93.
SAGGI
Mircea Eliade : interprete di segreti,  
segreti di un interprete
Enr ico Montanar i
L ’occasione per le presenti note su Eliade ci è fornita da un libro di Marcello De

Martino, Mircea Eliade esoterico. 1 Si tratta, a nostro avviso, di un’opera di difficile
 
lettura sotto vari aspetti. Anzitutto la mole della ricerca, condotta in base a vari fili te-
matici, che costringe a un percorso accidentato, pieno di deviazioni e di richiami, nel
quale il lettore rischia di smarrirsi. Inoltre la qualità del materiale, in parte riguardante
testi letterari e diaristici eliadiani, spesso poco noti. 2 Infine la densità del lavoro : molti
   
ricercatori potrebbero vivere di rendita per anni semplicemente parcellizzando in saggi

separati le molte indagini riversate in un’opera di questo genere. Non intendiamo qui
procedere ad una compiuta “recensione” del libro. Tralasceremo perciò alcuni temi,
pur centrali, come le frequentazioni politiche di Eliade nella Romania degli anni trenta ;  
o anche gli intensi rapporti che legarono le personalità di Eliade e di Ioan Petru Culia-
nu, anche perché riteniamo che il profilo scientifico e le vicende umane che riguardano
quest’ultimo siano ancora in parte da esplorare, nonostante la vasta letteratura che lo
riguarda. Ci occuperemo, piuttosto, del principale motivo conduttore del lavoro : la  
ricerca dell’Eliade “segreto”, soprattutto in rapporto con le sue concezioni in qualche

modo attinenti all’“orientamento tradizionale”, nonché in rapporto con le sue espe-
rienze interiori, reali o presunte. Un Eliade, insomma, ad un tempo “esoterico” (deten-
tore di “segreti” iniziatici) ed “esoterista” (studioso di temi iniziatici).
In un nostro scritto del 1987 3 considerammo tra i primi, a livello storico-religioso, i
 
rapporti fra Eliade e il principale esponente dell’“esoterismo tradizionale”, René Gué-

non. A quello studio seguirono altri, spesso pregevoli, lavori, come tra gli altri quelli di
Paola Pisi, Natale Spineto e Liviu Bordas∞. 4  
La tesi di fondo del libro è che Eliade « abbia svolto la funzione di “cavallo di Troia”
 
al fine di immettere alcuni concetti fondamentali del Pensiero Tradizionale all’interno

della cittadella scientifica » ; 5 e che questi concetti, frutto di sapienza esoterica, siano
     
stati trasmessi dell’autore dopo averli ricevuti attraverso rapporti iniziatici con “ma-
estri” soprattutto orientali (in particolare Swami Shivananda). Apodittico in linea di
principio, il pensiero di Marcello De Martino si rivela, nelle analisi specifiche, assai più
cauto e sfumato (sebbene le tesi di fondo restino sostanzialmente conservate). Così è,
1 M. De Martino, Mircea Eliade esoterico. Ioan Petru Culianu e i “non detti” (d’ora innanzi, Eliade esoterico), Ro-
ma, Settimo Sigillo, 2008 (« Giano–L’altra storia », 9).
   
2 Si segnalano, in particolare, le numerose traduzioni dal romeno, per lo più mai apparse in italiano. In altri
casi, altrettanto importante è la revisione linguistica di traduzioni note, nelle quali l’autore rileva e corregge gravi
inesattezze (ad es. pp. 224 n., 240, 271 n., etc.). A questo lavoro di restituzione delle traduzioni si aggiungono le
acute interpretazioni di testi eliadiani, soprattutto letterari : ad es. pp. 148 e n. 29 (Isabella e le acque del diavolo) ; pp.
   
244 ss. (Diciannove rose) ; pp. 136 ss. e 231 ss. (Un’altra giovinezza) ; pp. 270 ss. (La luce che si spegne), etc.
   
3 E. Montanari, Un Parsifal “smarrito”, « Diorama Letterario », 109, novembre 1987, pp. 18-23 (=Eliade e Guénon,
   
in Id., La fatica del cuore, Milano, Jaca Book, 2003, pp. 183-203).
4 V., per ultimo, la bibliografia in De Martino, Eliade esoterico, pp. 371-373.
5 L’espressione è riportata nella IV pagina di copertina del volume. Su ciò vedi infra, n. 8 a p. 116.
110 enrico montanari
ad esempio, per l’iniziazione – o le iniziazioni – tantriche ricevute da Eliade in India.
Scrive l’autore che « non troveremo mai negli scritti di Eliade la prova definitiva e diretta
 
(...) che ci indichi inequivocabilmente che Eliade aveva ricevuto una iniziazione di tipo
yogico-tantrico » (p. 255) : ma ciò non gl’impedisce di affermare che egli « fu discepolo
     
del guru Swami Shivananda, da cui imparò molto più di quanto disse ». 1 Il sodalizio con    
Shivananda sembra legato soprattutto all’acquisizione di siddhi (poteri psico-magici),

anche a prescindere da “regolari” iniziazioni. Marcello De Martino osserva che lo stes-
so Shivananda « credeva davvero che con determinate tecniche yoga si ottenessero dei
 
siddhi (...) capaci di produrre mirabilia in chi ne era in possesso » (p. 151). Citando un pas-
 
so di un volume scritto dal guru indiano, 2 l’autore ritiene che « per Swami Shivananda
   
gli yogin possiedano naturaliter facoltà metapsichiche tali da realizzare facilmente dei
fenomeni paranormali, come la telepatia » ; perciò « non è assurdo credere che costui (sc.
     
Shivananda) avesse insegnato a Eliade le tecniche opportune per conseguire simili po-
teri “supernormali”, tra cui quello di realizzare viaggi nello spazio e nel tempo, come
quelli narrati nel Segreto del dottor Honigberger e in Notti a Serampore ». 3 Se ciò è vero, più    
che una “discontinuità” in senso ontologico, procurata dall’ipotetica iniziazione india-

na, si dovrebbe rilevare una continuità fra l’acquisizione di determinate siddhi da parte
di Eliade e gli esercizi di rafforzamento della volontà e della resistenza psico-fisica che
egli aveva praticato in Romania fin dall’adolescenza ; 4 gli ulteriori “poteri” costituendo
   
probabilmente un prolungamento, o un completamento, delle attitudini acquisite con

le tecniche anteriori.
Ciò che vale per la volontà, può valere anche per l’eros tantrico. Nel suo Mémoire 1,
del 1980, Eliade riporta un’esperienza vissuta con Jenny, una violoncellista sudafricana.
In un momento in cui Shivananda si era allontanato dall’ashram di Rishikesh, Jenny gli
si propose come una nâyikâ (compagna consacrata di cerimonie tantriche). Eliade sa-
peva di non poter effettuare alcun rito senza la presenza del suo guru. Nonostante ciò,
accondiscese a realizzare con lei un’unione magico-sessuale, che poteva essere tutt’al
più un atto preliminare di una iniziazione regolare. 5 Il “rito”, ripetuto per vari giorni,
 
non produsse alcuna “rottura ontologica di livello”, bensì uno dei soliti effetti psichi-
ci di accentuazione della potenza-resistenza : « Io mi sentivo diventare un altro uomo.
   
Dormivo talvolta solo due o tre ore per notte ma non mi sentivo mai stanco. Lavoravo
senza interruzione e la qualità del mio lavoro non era mai stata migliore ». 6 Come si ve-    
de, con questi “riti” Eliade in realtà non divenne affatto un “uomo nuovo”, un “due vol-
te nato” : rimase l’uomo di prima, con alcune facoltà potenziate, ma anche col rischio
 
di forzare un iter iniziatico con divagazioni “magiche” che avrebbero potuto produrre
serie conseguenze. Per sua fortuna egli venne messo in guardia da un nâga, suo vicino,
il quale gli contestò di non possedere sufficiente vîrya per continuare l’iniziazione tan-
trica e lo invitò ad arrestarsi, prima che una forte arsura in cima al capo preannunziasse
una sua fine imminente. 7 Eliade seguì il suggerimento e di lì a poco lasciò l’ashram per
 
far ritorno a Calcutta. Resta un problema : non avendo conseguito l’iniziazione dopo
 
1 De Martino, Eliade esoterico, p. 9. Corsivo nostro.

2 S. Shivananda, Thought Power, Rishikesh, Divine Life Society, 1943 (tr. it. Roma, Ricciardi, 1973, p. 49). Cfr.
De Martino, Eliade esoterico, p. 152. 3 De Martino, Eliade esoterico, p. 152.
4 F. T∞u rcanu, Mircea Eliade. Le prisonnier de l’histoire, Paris, La Découverte, 2003, p. 29 ss. (d’ora innanzi, Mir-
cea Eliade).
5 M. Eliade, Mémoire I (1907-1937). Les promesses de l’équinoxe, Paris, Gallimard, 1980 (tr. it., Le promesse dell’equi-
nozio, memorie 1. 1907-1937, Milano, Jaca Book, 1995, p. 208).
6 M. Eliade, Le promesse dell’equinozio, pp. 208-209. 7 Ivi, p. 209.
mircea eliade: inteprete di segreti, segreti di un interprete 111
questi eventi, Eliade poteva averla ricevuta prima da parte del guru Shivananda ? Marcel-  
lo De Martino ritiene di sì, anche se conviene anche lui sul fatto che il lasso di tempo
che Eliade dichiarò di aver trascorso a Rishikesh (sei mesi) è ben più ampio di quanto
effettivamente sia avvenuto. 1 In proposito è significativa l’opinione di Liviu Bordas∞, il
 
quale parla di “mito” dell’episodio himalayano, sia per quanto attiene alla durata, sia
per gli effettivi conseguimenti “esoterici”. Secondo questo studioso Eliade, giunto a
Rishikesh ai primi di ottobre 1930, avrebbe lasciato l’ashram all’inizio di febbraio 1931 e
dunque avrebbe trascorso in quel luogo appena tre mesi, questi pure costellati di viaggi
e visite nella regione : tra l’altro, avrebbe celebrato il Natale presso una famiglia indiana
 
cristiana. 2 D’altronde anche durante il soggiorno a Rishikesh gran parte del suo tempo
 
fu dedicata a ricerche scientifiche, a corrispondenze giornalistiche e a scritti letterari. 3  
Se, come ipotizza M. De Martino, 4 Eliade apprese da Shivananda le tecniche tantriche

 
di cui parla ne La luce che si spegne – romanzo scritto in gran parte a Rishikesh –, il no-
stro avrebbe trasposto in tempo reale, pur se in veste letteraria, l’esperienza che andava
compiendo sotto la guida del suo guru : una sorta di iniziazione “in diretta”. Peraltro,
 
negli stessi tempi in cui Eliade vi soggiornò, Shivananda si assentò per lunghi periodi
dall’ashram. Nonostante i « non detti », le sussiegose « esitazioni a rispondere », 5 gli am-
         
miccamenti al lettore circa il « doveroso riserbo » legati a sue conoscenze segrete, 6 a pa-
     
rere di Bordas∞ questa iniziazione sembra essere stata niente più che « una introduzione  
alle tecniche del pranayama e della meditazione » e dunque lo stesso Shivananda non  
sarebbe stato altro che « un temporaneo istruttore in hatha-yoga ». 7

     
Proprio le indicazioni diaristiche – che M. De Martino spesso invoca come fonti atte
a rivelare l’Eliade “esoterico” – sembrano confermare questa interpretazione. Nel Dia-
rio portoghese egli ricorda un dettaglio del suo rapporto con Shivananda. Questi, scrive,
« mi metteva in bocca le nocciole, una per una ». A suo tempo, ciò gli era sembrato
   
« un segno di grande amore ». Solo parecchi anni dopo egli comprende il senso rituale
   
di quel gesto. Questa comprensione non è effetto di una presa di coscienza iniziatica,
ma piuttosto della comparazione storico-religiosa, che attesta l’uso frequente, presso
società “primitive”, di considerare l’iniziando come regredito alle stato infantile, in vi-
sta di una “seconda nascita” che lo renderà membro attivo della comunità tribale. Per
questo « il candidato dimentica di parlare, dimentica di servirsi delle mani, ed è nutrito
 
dai suoi genitori come un bambino, imboccandolo ». 8 Questa testimonianza (risalente    
al febbraio 1945) potrebbe ancora deporre, in qualche modo, a favore di un’acquisita

iniziazione. È un fatto però che nei diari scritti in epoche successive – quando Eliade
è ormai un affermato cattedratico –, la figura di Shivananda sbiadisce alquanto e, con
essa, il ricordo della “iniziazione” himalayana. Ne è prova evidente un passo del Journal
scritto nel 1973 e riferito al 1 novembre 1945 : se i tempi del ricordo sono rispettati, ad
 
appena otto mesi di distanza dalla menzione del “nutrimento iniziatico” da parte di
1 De Martino, Eliade esoterico, pp. 143-144 n. 19.

2 L. Bordas∞, The Secret of Dr. Eliade, in The International Eliade, edited by B. Rennie, State University of New
York, Suny Press, 2007, p. 114. 3 Bordas∞, The Secret of Dr. Eliade, p. 114.
4 De Martino, Eliade esoterico, p. 152 ; cfr. p. 168.
 
5 Ad es. quella riportata da C.-H. Rocquet nell’intervista a M. Eliade, L’épreuve du labyrinthe (Paris, Pierre Bel-
fond, 1978) (tr. it., La prova del labirinto, Milano, Jaca Book, 1980, p. 135).
6 M. Eliade, La prova del labirinto, IV e p. 229 ; Id., Fragments d’un journal, Paris, Gallimard, 1973 (tr. it. Giornale,
 
Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 1976, p. 316). 7 Bordas∞, The Secret of Dr. Eliade, p. 114.
8 M. Eliade, Jurnalul portughez (Bucarest, Humanitas, 1945) (tr. it., Diario portoghese, Milano, Jaca Book, 2009,
p. 240, 12 febbraio 1945).
Shivananda, Eliade confessa candidamente : « Io stesso ho perduto tutto quanto avevo
   
imparato nell’Himalaya », ed aggiunge sconsolato : « Infinita è nell’uomo la capacità di

     
oblio ». 1 A parte ciò, nello stesso Journal del 1973 Eliade rivolge a Shivananda una serie
   
di critiche acrimoniose, che mal si conciliano con un rapporto guru-shishya. In una no-
ta datata 2 settembre 1957, Shivananda viene descritto come un poligrafo instancabile
quanto ripetitivo, che si compiace di ammannire agli occidentali pillole di saggezza
tradizionale (sempre le stesse), attraverso centinaia di volumi e di opuscoli. Significati-
va è la motivazione in base alla quale il guru indiano propinerebbe questa paccottiglia :  
« Swami – scrive – si rivolge a un mondo che, dal punto di vista tradizionale dell’India,
 
è solo corruzione e stupidità, perché viviamo nel kaliyuga ». 2 Si noterà che il referente    
ideologico-religioso che Eliade attribuisce a Shivananda è lo stesso sostenuto da Gué-

non, da Evola e da altri scrittori della “Tradizione” (ossia la convinzione di trovarsi nel-
la fase terminale di un ciclo cosmico) : anche in questa occasione, lo studioso romeno
 
prende le distanze, con visibile fastidio, da un simile quadro di riferimento. Infine, è

da osservare che già nel 1973 Eliade giustifica delle limitazioni iniziatiche con “scelte”
esistenziali determinate dal destino. Nell’appunto, che è riferito al 15 maggio 1963, 3 di-  
chiara : « Soltanto ora, meditando sulla mia vita “segreta” in India, ne afferro il senso ».
     
Due donne, M. (Maitreyi) e J. ( Jenny), avevano cambiato la sua vita, impedendogli di

integrarsi sia nell’India “storica”, sia in quella “trans-storica”, spirituale. « Capisco tut-  
tavia – (e appena oggi !) che doveva succedere così ». Le due donne erano state messe
   
sulla sua via da Maya, « per costringermi a tornare in me e a ritrovare il mio destino ; il
   
quale era : la creazione culturale in lingua romena e in Romania ». Ciò che aggiunge è
   
rivelatore : « Soltanto dopo l’epoca di attività intensa e frenetica, dal 1933 al 1940, ebbi il
   
diritto di distaccarmi dal momento romeno, e d’iniziare a pensare e a scrivere per un

pubblico più vasto e in una prospettiva “universale” ». 4    
Due considerazioni sembrano evidenti. Anzitutto Eliade non ebbe alcun “diritto” di
distaccarsi dal “momento romeno” : ne ebbe piuttosto il dovere, per le ragioni familiari,
 
professionali e soprattutto politiche, che lo costrinsero a lasciare per sempre la Roma-

nia. Inoltre, la perdita della patria avrebbe potuto riproporre la scelta di partenza : ab-  
bandonare le illusioni seduttive del “tempo” e recuperare la spiritualità “trans-storica”

(ossia tornare a cercare la liberazione iniziatica). Al contrario, la prospettiva mutò solo
nel senso di una intensificazione della scelta “mondana” : invece che ad un pubblico ro-  
meno, Eliade si sarebbe rivolto ad un pubblico “più vasto” e soprattutto avrebbe adot-
tato una prospettiva “universale”, da fenomenologo (o morfologo) delle religioni.
Questa presa di coscienza, che nel diario è riferita al 1963 (ad oltre trent’anni dall’espe-
rienza indiana !), viene ribadita nel Mémoire I (1980) in forma di scelta meditata e irrevo-
 
cabile. Nel descrivere – ad ormai cinquant’anni di distanza – gli eventi indiani, Eliade
ribadisce il ruolo della maya che, con la sua “cieca saggezza”, gli aveva fatto trovare « per  
caso quelle due ragazze », aiutandolo così a ritrovare il suo destino. 5 Eliade continua a
   
giustificarsi, insistendo sul tema della “liberazione” come diritto inesigibile. Ripudia-
re la sua “eredità occidentale” per cercare “una ‘dimora’ o un ‘mondo’ in un universo
spirituale esotico” (sic), equivaleva a rinunciare anzitempo a tutte le sue “possibilità di
creazione”. Insomma, dice, « avrei avuto il diritto di ritirarmi definitivamente nell’Hima-
 
1 M. Eliade, Giornale, p. 10 (1 novembre 1945). 2 Ivi, p. 180 (2 settembre 1957). Corsivo nostro.
3 Ivi, p. 320 (15 maggio 1963). 4 Ibid.
5 Eliade, Le promesse dell’equinozio, p. 210.
laya al termine della mia attività culturale, ma non al suo inizio ». 1 E continua : « Avrei        
dovuto sapere che non si ha il diritto di ‘bruciare le tappe’ e di rinunciare alla creatività
culturale se non nel caso di una vocazione eccezionale, che io non avevo... ». 2 Qui, lo    
studioso romeno aggiunge una considerazione che ribadirà più volte, fino alla fine
della sua vita, 3 ossia che la sua « vocazione era la cultura, non la santità ». Questa scelta
     
personale si lega con un’altra, anch’essa rimarcata più volte, secondo cui il suo obietti-
vo era la libertà e non la liberazione. 4 Il concetto di “libertà” in Eliade è complesso e si
 
articola a vari livelli : uno culturale (la “creatività” scientifica e letteraria) e uno psichico-
 
sperimentale (il possesso delle siddhi e/o dei “poteri paranormali”). Ovviamente i due
livelli si integrano, dal momento che egli non intende acquisire i “poteri” solo per sé,
ma dimostrare il valore culturale di tali acquisizioni. In questo senso è significativa un’os-
servazione che fa nel Diario portoghese (3 gennaio 1945) :  
« Mi piacerebbe scrivere un libro che fosse una provocazione per il mondo moderno, un invito
 
alla libertà assoluta che decifro in certi miti e scopro ancora viva in certi uomini, persino nel no-
stro secolo (gli yogin, i mistici ; i fenomeni di levitazione ; l’incombustibilità del corpo, la chiaro-
   
veggenza, la profezia, ecc.) ; e che testimoniano l’autonomia dell’uomo nei confronti delle leggi
 
della materia, la libertà che questi potrebbe acquisire se... ». 5    
Insomma, Eliade sceglie la “libertà” in quanto possibilità di esprimere le sue “virtua-

lità creatrici” : 6 anzitutto in opere scientifiche, ma senza privarsi della possibilità di
   
“alludere di più e con più precisione”, in opere letterarie, a delle “esperienze, come gli
esercizi preliminari dell’iniziazione tantrica ; 7 ovviamente, anche per lavorare da stu-
   
dioso, fa uso di quelle facoltà psicofisiche esercitate che possono potenziare le sue doti
di acutezza e di resistenza alla fatica. Con ciò Eliade non esclude del tutto la prospet-
tiva della “liberazione” (la moksha come “uscita dal tempo” e realizzazione dell’“asso-
luto”), ma la rimanda indefinitamente, comunque a dopo che avrà esaurito tutte le sue
“virtualità creatrici”, anche perché, come dichiara, non aveva avuto una “vocazione
eccezionale” per realizzare la “liberazione”... In questo senso appare un po’ enfatica
la conclusione del libro di M. De Martino, che sembra far coincidere la morte fisica di
Eliade con una sorta di “liberazione” : 8 non dobbiamo ricordare a lui, esperto di studi
   
sull’esoterismo, la differenza sussistente fra le due esperienze. In realtà il rifiuto della

liberazione in favore della libertà o, se si vuole, della “santità” in favore della “cultura”,
non costituisce in Eliade una costrizione indotta dall’illusione o dal destino, bensì una
precisa scelta. Ciò spiega, tra l’altro, la scarsa propensione da lui mostrata per gli studi
sul Vedânta, verso i quali cercava d’indirizzarlo Dasgupta, 9 e che lo avrebbero prepa-  
rato intellettualmente ad un’esperienza di “liberazione”. È appena il caso di ricordare

che i testi vedantici, in particolare quelli di Shankarâchârya, costituiscono invece un
punto di riferimento obbligato per la prospettiva “tradizionale” alla quale s’ispira René
Guénon. 10  
In un passo del Journal (settembre 1957), Eliade scrive :  
1
Ibid. Corsivo nostro. 2 Ibid. Corsivo nostro.
3
V., per ultimo, C. Medail, Le piccole porte, Milano, Corbaccio, 2004, p. 38.
4
Cfr. ad es. M. Eliade, Le promesse dell’equinozio, p. 187 ; 210 ; Id., Giornale, p. 268 (26 gennaio 1961).
   
5
Eliade, Diario portoghese, p. 198. 6 Eliade, Le promesse dell’equinozio, p. 210.
7
Ivi, p. 201. 8 De Martino, Eliade esoterico, pp. 479 ss.
9
Eliade, La prova del labirinto, p. 39 ; Id., Le promesse dell’equinozio, pp. 197, 206 ss.
 
10 V., in particolare, R. Guénon, L’Homme et son devenir selon le Vêdânta (Paris, éditions Bossa, 1925), tr. it., L’uo-
mo e il suo divenire secondo il Vêdânta, Torino, Edizioni Studi Tradizionali, 1965, pp. 25 ss.
« Mi ci sono voluti dieci anni per capire che l’esperienza indiana non poteva, da sola, rivelarmi
 
quell’“uomo universale” che cercavo nell’adolescenza. Ecco perché, da quel momento, mi so-
no sempre più orientato verso i due universi che mi sembrano essere, oggi, di una inesauribile
ricchezza quanto a “situazioni umane”, ossia il mondo dei primitivi e l’universo del folclore. Ma
anche oggi (...) sento di non aver dimenticato la lezione del Rinascimento ». 1    
Anche in questo caso, l’“uomo universale” secondo Eliade nulla ha a che vedere con
il concetto metafisico di “uomo universale” riscontrabile, ad esempio, nel pensiero di
Ibn ‘Arabî (El-insânul-Kâmil), ampiamente recepito da Guénon. 2 In Eliade esso ha un  
significato “umanistico”, che nella cultura romena poteva essere applicato a molti in-
tellettuali eclettici 3 e che Eliade applicava volentieri anche a se stesso.
 
“Oggettività” dei fenomeni e incroyance

Fin dagli anni venti, Eliade aveva rinunciato a una formazione illuministica di stampo
francese, 4 preferendo la cultura italiana e l’approfondimento di studi sulle correnti ma-
 
gico-ermetiche dell’umanesimo rinascimentale. L’obiettivo era usare la scienza contro

i suoi stessi limiti positivistico-materialistici, riaccreditando una “scienza della natura”
(fors’anche una “magia naturale”), assieme ai fenomeni “metapsichici”, alle esperien-
ze mistico-estatiche ed ai “poteri” psico-magici (comprese le siddhi tantriche). Era un
modo di andare “oltre Frazer”, il quale aveva parlato della magia come di una “falsa
scienza”, laddove, per Eliade, « la magia anticipa lo spirito scientifico » : anticipa, non nel
     
senso che precede come pseudo-scienza, ma nel senso che precorre, come scienza di-
versamente fondata. 5 Dopo il suo ritorno in patria (dicembre 1931), Eliade s’immedesima
 
nell’ambizioso progetto di “uomo universale” ed elabora una sua propria “ideologia

della tradizione” concepita, anzitutto, per la Grande Romania. In quest’ambito ripren-
de il tema della “oggettività dei poteri psichici”, come base per un nuovo umanesimo
più libero e meno riduzionistico rispetto ad altri schemi interpretativi (psicoanalisi,
marxismo, storicismo, etc.) allora circolanti in Europa. Studio fondamentale di questa
fase è Il folclore come strumento di conoscenza, del 1937. 6 Ricollegandosi a un saggio di dieci
 
anni prima, Magia e metapsichica, 7 Eliade riconsidera il problema della “magia conta-
 
giosa” in modo diverso da Frazer e dai moderni. Tutti i fenomeni riportati dalle fonti
riguardo ai “primitivi” e riferibili a questa categoria (utilizzazione di parti del corpo o
di indumenti, eccetera, per operare magicamente sulla persona), vengono considera-
ti nella loro possibile realtà oggettiva e non come forme superstiziose, evoluzionistica-
mente “superate”, sopravviventi come massi erratici trascinati dal fiume dell’umanità
progrediente. Questa posizione muta radicalmente i parametri epistemologici dell’an-
tropologia moderna. Non si devono più cercare le ragioni della credulità superstiziosa,
1 Eliade, Giornale, p. 185.

2 R. Guénon, Le symbolisme de la croix (Paris, éditions Vega, 1931), tr. it., Il simbolismo della croce, Torino, Edi-
zioni Studi Tradizionali, 1964, pp. 16 ss. Cfr. J.-M. Vivenza, Le dictionnaire de René Guénon (Grenoble, Le Mercure
Dauphinois, 2002 ; tr. it., Dizionario guénoniano, Roma, Arkeios, 2007, pp. 429-430.
 
3 Una elencazione di “uomini universali” appartenenti alla cultura romena è in M. Eliade, Os Romenos, Lati-
nos do Oriente (Lisboa, Livraria Classica Editerà, 1943, tr. it. Breve storia della Romania e dei Rumeni, Roma, Settimo
Sigillo, 1997, pp. 65 ss.). 4 Eliade, Le promesse dell’equinozio, p. 98.
5 T∞u rcanu, Mircea Eliade, pp. 53-54 e n. 92.
6 M. Eliade, Folklorul ca instrument de cunoas∞tere, « Revista Fundat∞iilor Regale », iv, 1937, 4, pp. 137-152, tr. it. Il
   
folclore come strumento di conoscenza, in L’Isola di Euthanasius, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 2000, pp. 31-47.
7 M. Eliade, Magie s∞i metapsihica˘, « Cuvântul », 17 giugno 1927, pp. 1-2. Cfr. T∞u rcanu, Mircea Eliade, pp. 52 ss.
   
ma, semmai, quelle dell’incroyance moderna. Eliade fa appello soprattutto ai risultati
delle ricerche di metapsichica per dimostrare l’esistenza effettiva di fenomeni come ad
esempio la levitazione e l’incombustibilità del corpo umano. Questi risultati trovano
conferma nel folclore, che avrebbe conservato memoria delle esperienze metapsichi-
che e “magiche” nel mondo attuale, sia pure « con inevitabili alterazioni fantastiche ». 1
     
In proposito, Eliade applica al folclore il concetto di “fossile vivente” : « Sono rarissimi    
– scrive – gli studiosi del folclore che comprendono che la memoria popolare, esatta-
mente come una grotta, ha conservato documenti autentici che rappresentano espe-
rienze mentali che l’attuale condizione umana rende non solo inattuabili, ma perfino
impossibili da credere ». 2 Tutte queste scoperte non servono solo a considerare le disci-
   
pline antropologiche in modo nuovo, ma coinvolgono il destino stesso del loro autore.
Attraverso esse, Eliade giunge al concetto di irriconoscibilità del miracolo : tutti i simboli  
del “sacro” e del “fantastico”, specialmente dopo l’incarnazione di Cristo, restano na-
scosti, camuffati nel banale quotidiano, e perciò irriconoscibili. 3 Ora, questo concetto è  
verificabile anche a livello soggettivo. Nel 1980 Eliade ricorda :  
« In fondo, quando, invece di tornare in India, avevo accettato una situazione che portava inevita-
 
bilmente al matrimonio, avevo accettato di fare a Bucarest ciò che sapevo che sarei stato costret-
to a fare a Calcutta e a Benares, vale a dire camuffare la mia “vita segreta” in un’esistenza apparente-
mente dedicata alle ricerche scientifiche. Con la differenza che questa volta interveniva un elemento
in certo qual modo tragico, dato che implicava la mia certezza di aver scoperto il mio destino :  
proprio perché, apparentemente, il matrimonio con Nina sembrava disastroso, esso doveva, se
credevo nella dialettica del mistero e del camuffamento, significare esattamente il contrario ». 4    
Come in effetti avvenne.

Marcello De Martino segue con attenzione l’evolversi del problema dell’oggettività
dei poteri magico-metapsichici nel pensiero di Eliade. Questi continuerà fine al 1954 5 a  
sostenere la tesi della “base oggettiva”, fondandosi soprattutto su studiosi di metapsi-

chica non sempre attendibili : 6 tra questi Robert Amadou che, come nota giustamente
   
l’autore, era considerato da Eliade uno scienziato mentre si trattava piuttosto di un oc-
cultista, 7 di un personaggio, tra l’altro, poco stimato anche da quel Guénon che invece
 
Eliade includeva fra i “dilettanti”. 8 In ambito accademico Eliade trovò interlocutori e

 
avversari specialmente tra gli storici delle religioni italiani a indirizzo storicistico, in
particolare Ernesto de Martino, del quale curò una recensione de Il mondo magico : 9 in    
essa ribadiva la realtà di certi fenomeni parapsicologici (ad esempio le voci degli spiriti
1 Eliade, Il folclore come strumento di conoscenza, p. 45. In Le promesse dell’equinozio, p. 266, l’a. osserva che il suo
proprio « modo di essere religioso nel mondo », al tempo del suo ritorno in Romania dall’India, pur « camuffato
     
negli eventi biografici e nelle creazioni culturali », era « solidale tanto con la religiosità “popolare” dell’Europa
   
orientale, quanto con l’esperienza religiosa di tipo orientale o arcaico ».  
2 M. Eliade, Speleologia, storia, folclore..., in Fragmentarium, Bucures∞ti, Editura Vremea, 1939, tr. it. Milano, Jaca
Book, 2008, p. 56.
3 M. Eliade, Oceanografia (Bucures∞ti, Editura Cultura Poporului, 1934), tr. it. Milano, Jaca Book, 2007, pp. 63
ss. ; Id., Le promesse dell’equinozio, p. 284 ss. Camuffamento del sacro nel quotidiano : Id., Le promesse dell’equinozio,
   
pp. 284 ss. ; 331 ss.

 
4 Eliade, Le promesse dell’equinozio, pp. 284-285. Il primo corsivo è nostro.

5 M. Eliade, Expériences sensorielles et expérience mystique chez les primitives, « Les Études Carmelitaines », 33,
   
1954, 2, pp. 70-99 (=Mythes, rêves et mystères, Paris, Gallimard, 1957, tr. it., Miti, sogni e misteri, Milano, Rusconi, 1976,
pp. 87-116). Cfr. De Martino, Eliade esoterico, pp. 432 ss.
6 Elenco dei cultori di metapsichica in ivi, pp. 433 ss. 7 Ivi, pp. 434 ss..
8 Eliade, Il folclore come strumento di conoscenza, p. 31.
9 M. Eliade, Science, idéalisme et phénomènes paranormaux, « Critique », 21, 1948, pp. 315 ss.
   
adiutori degli sciamani). E tuttavia, col tempo, Eliade avrebbe realizzato a sua volta
una “progressiva storicizzazione” 1 del problema, che lo portò ad avvicinarsi alle po-
 
sizioni di Ernesto de Martino fin quasi al punto, in una occasione (1956), di scambiare
con quest’ultimo le rispettive posizioni. 2 In effetti, nota ancora Marcello De Martino,
 
sembra che l’anno 1955 sia stato « un turning point per lo storico delle religioni romeno,
 
in quanto da allora egli cominciò ad adottare a livello accademico un atteggiamento più

cauto sul mondo del paranormale, descrivendone la fenomenologia in termini meno
entusiastici e perentori ovvero più problematici e possibilisti ». 3 Una testimonianza di    
questa parziale modifica di prospettive si ha in un’intervista rilasciata a Culianu nel

1975. A una domanda, se egli vedesse, dal 1945 in poi, un “cambio di programma” rispet-
to a quanto aveva scritto nel Folclore come strumento di conoscenza, Eliade risponde con
studiata ambiguità, osservando che, col tempo, il suo interesse si era spostato dalla real-
tà dei fenomeni conservati nelle tradizioni popolari all’universo immaginario di cui il fol-
clore fa parte, con le « strutture e regole sue proprie ». 4 In proposito si può rilevare che
     
per Eliade anche il concetto di “immaginario” non equivale a “irreale”, ma è piuttosto

il prodotto concreto di facoltà psico-ideative (qualcosa di non lontano dall’“immagi-
nale” di Corbin). Ciò vale tanto a livello teorico e scientifico quanto a livello pratico e
personale. Ne è prova un passo del Journal (1973), riferito al 27 agosto 1951, nel quale,
dopo aver illustrato uno dei suoi “sogni a occhi aperti”, durato molte ore, si ritrovava
lucidissimo e per nulla stanco, e aggiungeva : « Mi chiedo se, a forza di riflettere sui pro-
   
cessi yogi di abolizione del tempo, non abbia “animato” un’“immagine” atta a provo-
care questa euforia e questa “uscita” fuori del tempo fino ad oggi mai sperimentata ». 5 È    
significativo che in questa occasione Eliade sollevi il velo del suo riserbo, rivelando una
sua capacità di animare immagini su un piano psichico ; e che riveli altresì di non aver mai
 
sperimentato prima (del 1951) questa facoltà di “uscita dal tempo”, attestando di fatto
– sempreché, ovviamente, la sua testimonianza sia sincera – che tutte le descrizioni di
“uscita dal tempo” contenute nei romanzi e nelle novelle anteriori erano semplici “rap-
presentazioni” letterarie. Sul tema, vanno anche menzionati i numerosi riferimenti agli
esercizi di “immaginazione attiva” sperimentati da Robert Desoille, prima che questi
venisse attratto dal verbo marxista, 6 e che Eliade riconduce, assieme alle espressioni
 
artistiche più alte, a forme di “immaginazione creatrice”. 7  
Eliade insomma, nonostante gli adattamenti dovuti ai mutamenti di contesto sociale

e intellettuale, mostra una sostanziale coerenza concettuale e sperimentativa in merito
ai “poteri psichici” : ma è una coerenza con se stesso, che inutilmente, a parer nostro,
 
Marcello De Martino tenta di ricondurre nell’alveo del “pensiero tradizionale”, nono-

stante le acute analisi cui sottopone numerosi testi di riferimento.
Dal “cavallo di Troia” all’“arca di Noè”

Uno dei punti centrali su cui si sofferma l’autore di Mircea Eliade esoterico è quello
dell’“infiltrazione” in ambito accademico che Eliade avrebbe esercitato utilizzando
idee proprie dell’“orientamento tradizionale”. In questo senso Eliade avrebbe svolto la
funzione di “cavallo di Troia” nella cittadella scientifica. 8 Questo assunto presuppone
 
1 De Martino, Eliade esoterico, p. 437. 2 Ivi, pp. 434-437. 3 Ivi, p. 435.

4 Ivi, pp. 181 ss. 5 Eliade, Giornale, p. 115. Corsivo nostro.
6 Ivi, pp. 36-37.
7 M. Eliade, Fragments d’un journal II (1970-1978), Paris, Gallimard, 1981, pp. 195-196 (d’ora innanzi, Journal II).
8 Il passo è riportato nella IV pagina di copertina del volume di M. De Martino : « La tesi ardita di questo saggio
   
l’idea che Eliade fosse in realtà un aderente all’“orientamento tradizionale” inaugurato
da Guénon, e che solo motivi di opportunità politico-accademica lo inducessero a non
rivelarsi come tale. Questa tesi a noi non sembra condivisibile. È pur vero che nei con-
fronti di autori “tradizionalisti” Eliade usò effettivamente l’espressione “cavallo di Tro-
ia” con una certa ambiguità, forse per compiacere in qualche modo i suoi interlocutori.
Ciò accadde con Evola, in una lettera della fine di dicembre 1951, purtroppo perduta, il
cui tenore può tuttavia desumersi dalla risposta di Evola, datata 31 dicembre. Questi si
dichiara soddisfatto dei chiarimenti forniti da Eliade circa il rapporto con gli ambienti
universitari (« contro il tentativo di introdurre qualche cavallo di Troia nella cittadella
 
universitaria non si potrebbe dire niente »). 1 Evola, peraltro, resta diffidente, tenuto
   
conto di quella che (non senza ragione...) definisce « sottile influenza deformante e
 
contaminatrice » riferibile all’ambiente accademico. La dichiarazione d’intenti di Eliade

 
sembra essere stata ripetuta sei anni dopo a Michel Vâlsan, intellettuale romeno stretto
collaboratore di Guénon. Anche stavolta abbiamo una notizia indiretta, che ci viene da
Vâlsan, ma che in certo modo coincide con quella di Evola. In una lettera a Vasile Lo-
vinescu (12 maggio-4 novembre 1957), Vâlsan ricorda di aver incontrato Eliade nel 1948.
Questi già a lui aveva detto che « pensava di fare una politica del “cavallo di Troia” : una
   
volta installato nel mondo scientifico e dopo aver accumulato prove “scientifiche” delle
dottrine tradizionali, avrebbe finalmente manifestato alla luce del sole la verità tradi-
zionale... ». 2 Vâlsan si mostra ancor più diffidente di Evola : « Io credo – scrive – che (sc.
       
Eliade) si vantasse ; è un pusillanime, o eccessivamente prudente ». 3

     
Eliade potrebbe dunque aver collegato il motivo del “cavallo di Troia” all’“orien-
tamento tradizionale” tra il 1948 e il 1951, in un periodo cioè in cui si trovava a Parigi
ed avviava (non senza difficoltà e con ricorrenti timori di una “comunistizzazione”
della Francia) la sua carriera universitaria. Si potrebbe perciò ipotizzare una fase di
transizione, nella quale egli avrebbe avuto interesse a conservare il rapporto coi “tra-
dizionalisti”. Anche ammettendo ciò, tuttavia, sussistono dubbi circa l’univocità della
strategia che egli si proponeva nei confronti del mondo accademico. Il motivo del “ca-
vallo di Troia” non appare per la prima volta nelle lettere ai “tradizionalisti”. Esso è già
documentato in un passo del Diario portoghese, datato 2 febbraio 1944. In esso Eliade
risponde a un’osservazione di Ortega y Gasset, che lo aveva definito “uomo di scienza
orfeizzante”, dal momento che i Romeni sono “vicini a Orfeo” ma possono anche “ri-
è che lo studioso romeno abbia svolto la funzione di “cavallo di Troia” al fine di immettere taluni concetti fonda-
mentali del pensiero tradizionale all’interno della cittadella scientifica ».
 
1 Lettera di J. Evola a M. Eliade (15 dicembre 1951), riportata in Mircea Eliade e l’Italia, a cura di M. Mincu e R.
Scagno, Milano, Jaca Book, 1987, p. 252.
2 Lettera di M. Vâlsan a V. Lovinescu (12 maggio-4 novembre 1957), riportata in C. Mutti, Eliade, Vâlsan, Geti-
cus e gli altri. La fortuna di Guénon tra i Romeni, Parma, All’insegna del veltro, 1999, pp. 39-40.
3 Mutti, Eliade, Vâlsan, Geticus e gli altri, p. 40. Giudizio di Guénon su Eliade : Montanari, La fatica del cuore,
 
p. 201. Rispetto alla semplice diffidenza mostrata da Evola e da Vâlsan, Eliade provava una vera acrimonia nei
confronti di taluni “tradizionalisti”, in particolare dei connazionali Vâlsan e Lovinescu. Cfr. Mutti, Eliade, Vâlsan,
Geticus e gli altri, p. 47, che riporta un passo diaristico di Eliade trascritto da Mac Linscott Ricketts : « Che cosa
   
avrebbero fatto un Vasile Lovinescu e un Vâlsan senza René Guénon ? Il primo avrebbe continuato ad essere un
 
mediocre saggista-giornalista [...] ; mentre Vâlsan sarebbe rimasto un mediocre funzionario e non si sarebbe ne-
 
anche permesso la sua barbetta a punta, così ricca di allusioni tradizionaliste... [...]. Oggi, ognuno di loro due de-
tiene la chiave dei misteri [...]. “Io penso”, essi dicono, “per il tramite di una Tradizione” ; vale a dire, non pensano
 
affatto, ma non fanno altro che richiamarsi all’ultimo articolo di Guénon [...]. Essi disprezzano l’erudizione, la
scienza, la filosofia e sono assai contenti di non saper operare in nessuno di questi campi, campi mediocri, sì, ma
che possono essere resi produttivi da un genio o anche da un intelletto profondo ». Si noti il finale del passo, con
 
l’evidente allusione di Eliade a se stesso, tanto elogiativa quanto svalutativa della cultura accademica corrente...
volgere lo sguardo a Occidente”. Eliade ribatte : « Mi considero un cavallo di Troia in    
campo scientifico » e « la mia missione è di porre una buona volta fine alla “guerra di
   
Troia” che dura da tanto fra scienza e filosofia ». 1 Riguardo al significato di “filosofia”,    
Marcello De Martino lo riferisce alla philosophia perennis, dunque in senso convergente

con le posizioni dei “tradizionalisti” : 2 ma a noi sembra che Eliade intendesse piuttosto
   
quella “filosofia della natura” che esisteva agli albori dell’Illuminismo e che in qualche
caso (Newton, Goethe) procedeva in parallelo con esso. 3 In questo senso, il periodo  
d’intesa di Eliade con Evola, verso la fine degli anni venti, si presta a un equivoco. Es-
so fu intenso al tempo dell’interesse di Evola per l’“idealismo magico” e di Eliade per
una “religione della volontà”. 4 Ma in questo periodo Evola non era ancora un “tradizio-
 
nalista” nel senso guénoniano del termine ed anzi non mancò di polemizzare aspra-
mente con Guénon. 5 Quando invece Evola aderì all’“orientamento tradizionale”, il
 
rapporto con Eliade, pur formalmente amichevole, cominciò a incrinarsi. Ne è prova,

tra l’altro, il fatto che in un saggio del 1937 Eliade accomunasse Evola e Guénon sotto
l’etichetta di “dilettanti” (cosa che non aveva mai fatto prima). Marcello De Martino
ha ragione di considerare il saggio in questione (Il folclore come strumento di conoscenza)
tra i più importanti della produzione di Eliade ; ma sbaglia, a nostro avviso, nel ritene-  
re che questo sia l’unico articolo certamente atto a “introdurre discorsi tradizionali in
ambito scientifico” e dunque ad accreditare l’idea del “cavallo di Troia” in senso “tra-
dizionalista”. 6 A noi sembra che lo studio sia importante, ma proprio perché sancisce
 
irrevocabilmente una presa di distanza rispetto a quello che Eliade ebbe a definire un
“tradizionalismo desueto” : 7 con alcuni studiosi recuperati perché scientificamente ac-
   
cettabili 8 ed altri invece rifiutati perché “dilettanti”. Al riguardo, occorre ricordare che
 
Eliade manifestò in varie occasioni un vero e proprio terrore di venir considerato un

“dilettante” : 9 ciò lo avrebbe escluso dal novero degli scienziati accademici e dunque
   
avrebbe reso di fatto irricevibile il suo progetto di sintesi fra i “lumi” e la “filosofia del-
la natura” che si proponeva di realizzare (soprattutto mediante la “dimostrabilità” dei
fenomeni paranormali e il recupero della religiosità “cosmica” attraverso il folclore
e la sapienza indiana). Questo, in fondo, è e resterà l’obiettivo centrale del pensiero
eliadiano : questo, e non l’impossibile conciliazione fra “mondo moderno” e “mondo
 
della Tradizione”.
In questo senso non è casuale che spesso, quando si riferisce ad autori legati alla “Tra-
dizione”, Eliade ribadisca che i libri che scriveva erano « destinati al pubblico di oggi e  
non agli iniziati ». 10 Per lui il “mondo moderno” esiste, non vi è alcuna “declinazione ci-
   
clica” che indichi che ci troviamo in una fase terminale e oscura ; anche il sacro sussiste,  
sia pure in forme dissimulate, e non tende – come invece sostengono i “tradizionalisti”
1 Eliade, Diario portoghese, p. 139. 2 De Martino, Eliade esoterico, p. 380 ss.

3 Newton : Eliade, Journal II, pp. 268 ss. ; Goethe : Eliade, Le promesse dell’equinozio, p. 309 ; Id., Giornale, pp.
       
251 ss. (1 giugno 1960). Cfr. T∞u rcanu, Mircea Eliade, pp. 39 ss. ; 112 ss. ; 319 ss.    
4 T∞u rcanu, Mircea Eliade, pp. 29 ss. ; 52 ss. ; 90 ss.    
5 Su ciò v. J. Evola, L’Idealismo Realistico (1924-1931), a cura di G.F. Lami, Roma, Antonio Pellicani, 1997, pp. 23
ss. 6 De Martino, Eliade esoterico, p. 307.
7 Eliade, Le promesse dell’equinozio, p. 215.
8 Tra questi, A. Coomaraswamy, H. Corbin, W. Andrae, P. Mus, A. Jeremias, G. Scholem, E. Conze, etc.
9 M. Eliade, Giornale, p. 177 (agosto 1977) ; Id., Diario portoghese, p. 207 ; M. Eliade, Mémoire IIème (1937-1960).
   
Les moissons du solstice, Paris, Gallimard, 1988, tr. it. Le messi del solstizio. Memorie 2. 1937-1960, Milano, Jaca Book,
1995, p. 211.
10 Eliade, Journal II, p. 194 ; è significativo che l’autore accenni a ciò quando parla della morte di Evola.
 
– a “ritirarsi” dal mondo moderno o a contrapporsi ad esso. 1 Al posto delle “dottrine  
segrete” dell’esoterismo tradizionale c’è la scienza storico-religiosa, che vale come una
saving discipline per l’uomo moderno. 2 Eliade vede la modernità come crisi (il sacro “ca-
 
muffato”), ma è nella modernità che può dispiegarsi il potere salvifico della storia delle
religioni. È la storia delle religioni che rende palesi i simboli mascherati nell’arte, che
rivela i significati religiosi delle “ierofanie”, che individua i meccanismi di “ripetizione”
nel tempo degli “archetipi” mitici, che valorizza i rapporti del simbolismo col folclore
e la religiosità popolare, che manifesta (ad es. con gli hippies) il riemergere della “reli-
giosità cosmica”, etc. In questo senso la sua ermeneutica è creatrice, dal momento che,
superando l’“opacità semantica” dei documenti, 3 ridà senso alle cose, ossia restituisce  
loro, disoccultandola, la dimensione del sacro. 4 Paradossalmente, nel momento in cui  
Eliade sceglie la “cultura” e rinuncia alla “santità”, rende la conoscenza storico-religio-

sa quasi “iniziatica” (in senso laico e profano). Per la sua funzione di riepilogazione e
conservazione di tutte le tradizioni religiose, 5 per il fatto di comportare un’ermeneuti-
 
ca “autentica e immaginativa”, la storia delle religioni “cambia l’uomo” : 6 e lo cambia a    
partire dagli stessi storici delle religioni. Questi si trovano a meditare su miti e simboli
arcaici e per ciò stesso subiscono « un cambiamento dal di dentro », di cui il singolo stu-
   
dioso « non si rende neanche conto ». 7

     
Di qui, la formulazione di un nuovo “mito”, fondante ed efficace ben più dell’ambi-

guo “cavallo di Troia” : quello della storia delle religioni come “arca di Noè” delle tradi-
 
zioni mitiche e religiose. Scrive in proposito Eliade :  
« Io credo che noi, che siamo il prodotto del mondo moderno –, siamo “condannati” a ricevere
 
qualsiasi rivelazione per il tramite della cultura [...]. Nell’Europa moderna non esiste più inse-
gnamento orale né creatività folclorica. E per questo credo che il libro abbia un’importanza
enorme, non soltanto culturale, ma anche religiosa, spirituale [...]. In questa crisi, in questo
smarrimento, la storia delle religioni è come un’arca di Noè delle tradizioni mitiche e religiose
[...]. Le pubblicazioni scientifiche costituiranno forse una riserva in cui si “camufferanno” tutti
i modelli e i valori religiosi tradizionali. Di qui – conclude l’autore – il mio sforzo costante di
mettere in evidenza il significato dei fatti religiosi ». 8    
Questo aspetto ricapitolativo, anamnesico 9 e, in qualche modo, iniziatico della discipli-

 
na finisce col riflettersi anche sul suo autore. Un esempio può aiutare a comprendere
il progressivo coinvolgimento personale di Eliade. Lo studioso era ben consapevole
del fatto che il tema del labirinto rappresentasse, fin dall’antichità, uno schema inizia-
tico. Nel Journal II, egli rammenta che il “ritorno al focolare” – in particolare il periplo
1 Secondo le concezioni fatte proprie da Guénon, i Rosa-Croce si sarebbero “ritirati” dall’Europa, recandosi
in “Oriente” e lasciando l’Occidente sostanzialmente privo di organizzazioni iniziatiche. Cfr. J.-M. Vivenza, Di-
zionario guénoniano, pp. 355 ss. Evola accoglie questo orientamento, mostrando in più un atteggiamento di ostilità
“militante” nei confronti della attuale civiltà occidentale (cfr., in particolare, il suo Rivolta contro il mondo moderno
[Milano, Hoepli, 1934], Roma, Edizioni Mediterranee, 20033).
2 Eliade, Giornale, p. 406. Cfr. Montanari, La fatica del cuore, p. 192 ; Eliade, La prova del labirinto, pp. 119 ss.
 
3 Eliade, Journal II, p. 90.

4 Eliade, La prova del labirinto, p. 163 ; Id., Journal II, pp. 263, 273, 282, etc. Cfr. Montanari, La fatica del cuore,
 
pp. 188 ss. 5 Eliade, Giornale, p. 300 (23 marzo 1962) ; 312 (8 gennaio 1963).
 
6 Eliade, Giornale, p. 357 (6 dicembre 1964). 7 Ibid.

8 Eliade, La prova del labirinto, pp. 60 e 136 ; Id., Giornale, p. 300 (23 marzo 1962) ; Id., Journal II, p. 271 (9 aprile
   
1976), sulla “planetizzazione” della cultura occidentale propiziata dalla storia delle religioni.
9 Eliade, Journal II, pp. 314-315 (7 febbraio 1977) ; Id., Fragments d’un journal III (1979-1985), Paris, Gallimard, 1991,
 
p. 91 (9 settembre 1981 : d’ora innanzi Journal III).

 
dell’Odissea – costituisce una “prova iniziatica”, 1 una riappropriazione del “centro”,  
che è anche centro di sé. Parallelamente, l’“errare” labirintico costituisce pure una for-
ma ritualizzata di (ri)conquista del centro in chiave iniziatica : una chiave che già nella  
Grecia classica era camouflée e che gli artisti moderni (ad esempio Gide nel Thésée) ave-
vano ulteriormente oscurato. Ma lo storico delle religioni, nella fattispecie Eliade, ha il
compito di disvelare l’antico senso iniziatico, ormai “sommerso” (nell’arte e nella vita
moderna). In una nota del Journal II, 2 egli richiama lo stato d’animo con cui rispondeva
 
alle domande di Charles-Henri Rocquet (luglio 1977). I riferimenti a Ulisse alla ricerca
della sua Itaca e al labirinto costituivano la metafora più appropriata del suo sforzo di
ricostruire il suo passato : uno sforzo che spesso lo lasciava “smarrito, stravolto” (égaré),
 
come se egli avanzasse « a tentoni in un labirinto ». 3 Non a caso il libro-intervista uscì

     
nel 1978 col titolo L’épreuve du labyrinthe. E tuttavia, col tempo, a mano a mano che
Eliade sviluppa il tema del (dis)occultamento del sacro, la metafora del labirinto si trasfor-
ma in metonimia. Il peregrinare dell’esule (Eliade) non assomiglia più a questo “errare
labirintico”, ma è questo peregrinare (in cui il labirinto è parte simbolica di un tutto, la
realtà “storica”). Sarebbe facile spiegare il ricorso a valenze iniziatiche come un segno
della vanagloria del personaggio. A noi sembra che, piuttosto, egli si calasse nella fun-
zione che si era attribuito, contribuisse cioè, anche attraverso la sua storia personale, a
quel “disoccultamento del sacro” che, assieme alla “religiosità cosmica”, costituisce il
nucleo essenziale della teoria storico-religiosa eliadiana.
È difficile individuare tutti i passi in cui Eliade allude alle sue peripezie (viaggi, con-
trarietà, malattie, etc.) assunte come prove iniziatiche. 4 A questo tema, che alfine di-  
viene quasi un topos letterario, si aggancia Marcello De Martino, quando ravvisa negli
ultimi tempi della vita dello studioso alcuni “segni” indicatori di una fine imminente
(ad es. l’incendio della sua biblioteca di Chicago), ma al tempo stesso preconizzatori di
un “nuovo inizio”, 5 secondo i principi di un destino configurato dalla sapienza indiana.
 
Questa posizione collima, in parte, con l’opinione di Antoine Faivre, che in merito al
pensiero eliadiano parla di « una filosofia religiosa, persino di un’ontologia [...] molto
 
personale », fino al punto di accennare a un “messianismo eliadiano”. 6 Eliade rifiutò

   
sempre di considerarsi « un maître à penser o un guru » : si sentiva piuttosto « un compa-

       
gno – un compagno un po’ più avanzato –, un compagno degli altri ». 7 Ma l’abitudine    
di usare un linguaggio iniziatico per descrivere le sue vicende personali (fossero anche
i suoi dolori artritici...) non lo abbandona, effettivamente, fino alla fine. Nel Journal III,
alla data del 20 ottobre 1984, parla ancora della sua ultima « prova iniziatica » – la « decre-      
1 Eliade, Journal II, p. 333 (21 luglio 1977). 2 Ivi, pp. 332-333. 3 Ivi, p. 333.
4 Indicheremo alcuni passi, senza pretesa di esaustività : M. Eliade, Giornale, p. 22 (27 agosto 1946 : discesa agli
   
inferi) ; 52 (11 agosto 1947 : iniziazione labirintica) ; p. 121 (22 novembre 1951 : « spaesamento » come prova iniziatica) ;
             
p. 170 (21 febbraio 1955 : scorge il « terrore iniziatico » in una vicenda onirica in cui sogna il suo cadavere) ; pp. 175-
       
176 (luglio 1957 : sogno « ad occhi aperti » di se stesso, morto e chiuso in una bara, come « esperienza di morte e
       
resurrezione iniziatica ») ; 239 (1 gennaio 1960 : Ulisse verso Itaca come insieme di prove iniziatiche) ; Id., Le messi
       
del solstizio, 141 (1950 : prove iniziatiche connesse all’“errare in un labirinto”) ; Id., La prova del labirinto, pp. 169 ss. :
     
simbolismo del labirinto come « modello di qualsiasi esistenza la quale, attraverso una quantità di prove, avanza
 
verso il proprio centro ») ; Id., Journal II, pp. 254 ss. (20 novembre 1975 : febbre, emicrania, reumatismi come “prove
     
iniziatiche”) ; p. 277 (5 giugno 1976 : peripezie di Ulisse come itinerario iniziatico) ; p. 333 (21 luglio 1977 : se stesso
       
come “Ulisse” nell’intervista di Rocquet) ; Id., Journal III, p. 113 (novembre 1982 : senso “iniziatico” della sua stan-
   
chezza fisica) ; p. 116 (9 marzo 1983 : ricordo di « tanti momenti iniziatici ») ; p. 174 (20 ottobre 1984 : sua decrepitezza
           
come « estrema prova iniziatica »). Cfr. T∞u rcanu, Mircea Eliade, p. 487, etc.
   
5 De Martino, Eliade esoterico, pp. 479-483.

6 A. Faivre, L’ambiguità della nozione di sacro in Mircea Eliade, in Confronto con Mircea Eliade, a cura di L. Arcella,
P. Pisi e R. Scagno, Milano, Jaca Book, 1998, p. 371. 7 Eliade, La prova del labirinto, p. 172.
pitezza della vecchiaia ». 1 Ora, come abbiamo rilevato in altra occasione, 2 questa con-
     
fusione fra “psichico” e “spirituale”, fra “esistenziale” e “ontologico”, è incompatibile

con l’“orientamento tradizionale”. Guénon ebbe a notare, riguardo alle prove iniziati-
che, che « non si vede perché si qualifichi comunemente una “prova” ogni avvenimento
 
penoso, e nemmeno perché si dica di qualcuno che soffre che è “provato” [...]. Se così
fosse sarebbe invero troppo semplice, ed allora tutti gli uomini sarebbero indubbia-
mente candidati all’iniziazione, ma sarebbe molto difficile dire da chi e in nome di chi
sarebbe stata loro conferita ». 3    
Un tale “abuso di linguaggio” – che talvolta trova un parallelo nelle metafore

“evangeliche” usate da alcuni storicisti (Pettazzoni, Ernesto de Martino, eccetera) :  
ma lì si tratta davvero soltanto di metafore ! –, si spiega forse col tentativo eliadiano di

 
definire un proprio indirizzo di pensiero che rispetto all’“orientamento tradizionale”

si pone in rapporto di concorrenza, piuttosto che di dipendenza. In questo senso ci
sembra condivisibile l’idea avanzata da Marcello De Martino, laddove parla di Eliade
come di un “mistico laico” : 4 un ossimoro calzante, che allude non tanto alla concilia-
   
zione tra alchimia e scienza moderna, 5 quanto al “dialogo post-istorico” fra branche
 
della scienza (come la fisica) e le filosofie orientali. In Mircea Eliade esoterico, l’autore
ha seguito costantemente il tema della psicanodia (“viaggio dell’anima”) intesa co-
me fenomeno paranormale. 6 Essa sarebbe in grado – assieme ad altri “stati alterati
 
di coscienza” : “sogni lucidi”, visioni indotte da allucinogeni, etc. – di far percepire

 
“distorsioni di campo” nella continuità spazio-temporale, trasferendo la coscienza

del presente in situazioni e ambienti anteriori o successivi alla realtà data. 7 Diverse  
opere letterarie di Eliade sono imperniate su questa “curvatura spazio-temporale”,

in particolare Notti a Serampore del 1940, 8 in cui interviene come personaggio anche
 
il suo guru Shivananda.

Più di recente (inizio 1980), Eliade scrisse un racconto, Dayan, 9 che rielaborava una  
tematica simile, ma con un maggior interesse al rapporto fra scienze fisico-matema-

tiche e simbolismo del tempo. In esso un matematico soprannominato Dayan aveva
formulato una “equazione assoluta”, non dedotta in base a procedimenti matematici
ma autorivelata per esperienza paranormale o estatica. Grazie ad essa sarebbe stato
possibile « integrare il sistema Materia-Energia in un altro insieme Spazio-Tempo », 10
     
rendendo possibile all’uomo la “compressione” del tempo verso il passato o verso il

futuro. Dayan è avvertito del rischio connesso a tale operazione : « ridurre in cenere    
l’intero globo in qualche secondo », ma anche ritrovarsi « a centinaia di migliaia o anche

   
milioni di anni indietro, all’inizio della vita sulla terra ». 11 Come evitare questo pericolo ?
     
Secondo Dayan (ossia secondo Eliade), preparando « un gruppo scelto, un’élite, non  
solo di matematici e fisici, ma anche di poeti e di mistici », in grado di innescare il processo

 
di anamnesi, ossia « di rifare la civiltà (se merita di essere rifatta ancora) ». 12 Questo moti-
     
vo, come si vede, s’innesta pienamente in quello dell’“arca di Noè” rappresentata dalla
storia delle religioni : una disciplina che può “salvare” l’uomo perché, riepilogando il
 
1 Eliade, Journal II, p. 174. 2 Montanari, La fatica del cuore, p. 199.

3 R. Guénon, Aperçu sur l’initiation (Paris, Éditions Traditionnelles, 1946), tr. it. Considerazioni sulla via inizia-
tica, Milano, Fratelli Bocca Editori, 1949, pp. 229-230. 4 De Martino, Eliade esoterico, pp. 467 ss.
5 Su ciò, per ultimo, Eliade, Journal II, pp. 265-267. 6 De Martino, Eliade esoterico, pp. 85 ss.
7 Ivi, pp. 83 ss. ; 152 ss. ; 263 ss.
   
8 M. Eliade, Nopt∞i la Serampore (Bucures∞ti, Cartex, 1940), tr. it. Notti a Serampore, Milano, Jaca Book, 1985.
9 Cfr. De Martino, Eliade esoterico, pp. 473 ss. 10 Ivi, p. 473. 11 Ivi, p. 475.
12 Ibid. Corsivo nostro.
sapere, è in grado di riattingere a un passato (anche lontanissimo) idee e progetti per
una palingenesi globale della civiltà.
L’idea di un Eliade “mistico laico”, suggerita da Marcello De Martino, non è una
mera suggestione, ma la logica conseguenza di un progetto coltivato da Eliade stes-
so, che era quello di comporre un’antologia di “mistici laici” che si sarebbe dovuta
estendere « dai presocratici fino a Nietzsche ». 1 L’idea gli era venuta da alcune consi-
     
derazioni di Einstein, riguardanti l’essenza di « ciò che ci è impenetrabile », ma che si

   
manifesterebbe nella coscienza « come la più alta saggezza e la più radiosa bellezza ». 2
     
L’accostamento di filosofi e di fisico-matematici sotto il segno di un “misticismo lai-

co” viene ribadita in Dayan, laddove si parla di un’élite di scienziati, di poeti e di misti-
ci. Riaffiora anche qui il postulato di una “élite intellettuale”, caro anche a Guénon : 3    
ma, ancora una volta, non si tratta di un’élite di “iniziati” in senso metafisico. Anco-
ra una volta Eliade scrive per “il pubblico di oggi” e non per gli “iniziati”. 4 Sarebbe  
interessante – ma rimandiamo il problema a una prossima occasione – confrontare

il “misticismo laico” auspicato da Eliade con la “religione laica” propugnata da Pet-
tazzoni. 5 Qui, ci limitiamo a ribadire che Eliade si pensò sempre come un auteur sans
 
modèle 6 non inserito in alcuna “catena del risveglio”. Verso la fine, egli si pensò anche,
 
più che un Ulisse nostalgico della sua Itaca, 7 come un Noè indaffarato con la sua
 
“arca”. Un’arca su cui, nel frattempo, sono saliti scienziati come Fritjof Capra, Julian
Barbour e Fred Alan Wolf, 8 ma dalla quale sono scesi tanti, improvvisati o sedicenti
 
storici delle religioni...
Bibliografia
Bordas∞ L., The Secret of Dr. Eliade, in The International Eliade, edited by B. Rennie, State Univer-
sity of New York, Suny Press, 2007.
De Martino M., Mircea Eliade esoterico. Ioan Petru Culianu e i “non detti”, Roma, Settimo Sigillo,
2008 (« Giano–L’altra storia », 9).
   
Eliade M., Expériences sensorielles et expérience mystique chez les primitives, « Les Études Carmeli-
 
taines », 33, 1954, 2, pp. 70-99 (=Mythes, rêves et mystères, Paris, Gallimard, 1957, tr. it., Miti, sogni
 
e misteri, Milano, Rusconi, 1976, pp. 87-116).

Eliade M., Folklorul ca instrument de cunoas∞tere, « Revista Fundat∞iilor Regale », iv, 1937, 4, pp.
   
137-152 (tr. it. Il folclore come strumento di conoscenza, in L’Isola di Euthanasius, Torino, Bollati
Boringhieri, 2000, pp. 31-47).
Eliade M., Fragments d’un journal, Paris, Gallimard, 1973 (tr. it. Giornale, Torino, Bollati Borin-
ghieri, 1976).
Eliade M., Fragments d’un journal II (1970-1978), Paris, Gallimard, 1981.
Fragments d’un journal III (1979-1985), Paris, Gallimard, 1991.
Eliade M., Jurnalul portughez, Bucures∞ti, Humanitas, 2006 (tr. it., Diario portoghese, Milano, Jaca
Book, 2009).
1 Eliade, Journal II, p. 68 ; cfr. De Martino, Eliade esoterico, pp. 472-473.

 
2 Eliade, Journal II, p. 68.

3 R. Guénon, Orient et Occident (Paris, Vega, 1924), tr. it., Oriente e Occidente, Torino, Edizioni Studi Tradizio-
nali, 1965, 185 ss. ; Id., La crise du monde moderne (Paris, éditions Boccard, 1927), tr. it. La crisi del mondo moderno, a
 
cura di J. Evola, Roma, Edizioni dell’Ascia, 1953, pp. 135 ss. 4 Eliade, Journal II, p. 194.
5 E. Montanari, Il concetto di “fede laica” in Raffaele Pettazzoni. Verso una ‘religione dello Stato’, « Historia Religio-
 
num », 2, 2010, pp. 39-59.

 
6 Eliade, Journal III, p. 73.
7 In Journal III, 225 (agosto 1985), Eliade medita sulle conseguenze del suo destino da esule : senza la felix culpa
 
di essere stato discepolo di Nae Ionescu, scrive, « sarei rimasto in Romania. Nel migliore dei casi, sarei morto di
 
tubercolosi in una prigione ».  

8 De Martino, Eliade esoterico, pp. 470-477.
Eliade M., L’épreuve du labyrinthe, éd. par C.-H. Rocquet, Paris, Pierre Belfond, 1978 (tr. it., La
prova del labirinto, Milano, Jaca Book, 1980).
Eliade M., Magie s∞i metapsihica˘, « Cuvântul », 17 giugno 1927, pp. 1-2.
   
Eliade M., Mémoire I (1907-1937). Les promesses de l’équinoxe, Paris, Gallimard, 1980 (tr. it. Le pro-
messe dell’equinozio, memorie 1. 1907-1937, Milano, Jaca Book, 1995).
Eliade M., Mémoire IIème (1937-1960). Les moissons du solstice, Paris, Gallimard, 1988 (tr. it. Le messi
del solstizio. Memorie 2. 1937-1960, Milano, Jaca Book, 1995).
Eliade M., Nopt∞i la Serampore, Bucures∞ti, Editura Socec, 1940 (tr. it. Notti a Serampore, Milano,
Jaca Book, 1985).
Eliade M., Oceanografia, Bucures∞ti, Editura Cultura Poporului, 1934 (tr. it. Milano, Jaca Book,
2007).
Eliade M., Os Romenos, Latinos do Oriente, Lisboa, Livraria Classica Editerà, 1943 (tr. it. Breve
storia della Romania e dei Rumeni, Roma, Settimo Sigillo, 1997).
Eliade M., Science, idéalisme et phénomènes paranormaux, « Critique », 21, 1948, pp. 315-323.
   
Eliade M., Speleologia, storia, folclore..., in Fragmentarium, Bucures∞ti, Editura Vremea, 1939 (tr. it.
Milano, Jaca Book, 2008).
Evola J., Rivolta contro il mondo moderno, Milano, Hoepli, 1934 e Roma, Edizioni Mediterranee,
20033.
Faivre A., L’ambiguità della nozione di sacro in Mircea Eliade, in Confronto con Mircea Eliade, a cura
di L. Arcella, P. Pisi e R. Scagno, Milano, Jaca Book, 1998, pp. 363-374.
J. Evola, L’Idealismo Realistico (1924-1931), a cura di G. F. Lami, Roma, Antonio Pellicani, 1997.
Guénon R., Aperçu sur l’initiation, Paris, Éditions Traditionnelles, 1946 (tr. it. Considerazioni sulla
via iniziatica, Milano, Fratelli Bocca Editori, 1949).
Guénon R., La crise du monde moderne, Paris, Gallimard, 1927 (tr. it. La crisi del mondo moderno, a
cura di J. Evola, Roma, Edizioni dell’Ascia, 1953).
Guénon R., L’Homme et son devenir selon le Vêdânta, Paris, éditions Bossard, 1925 (tr. it., L’uomo e
il suo divenire secondo il Vêdânta, Torino, Edizioni Studi Tradizionali, 1965).
Guénon R., Le symbolisme de la croix, Paris, éditions Véga, 1931 (tr. it., Il simbolismo della croce,
Edizioni Studi Tradizionali, 1964).
Guénon R., Orient et Occident, Paris, éditions Véga, 1924 (tr. it., Oriente e Occidente, Torino, Edi-
zioni Studi Tradizionali, 1965).
Medail C., Le piccole porte, Milano, Corbaccio, 2004.
Mircea Eliade e l’Italia, a cura di M. Mincu e R. Scagno, Milano, Jaca Book, 1987.
Montanari E., Il concetto di “fede laica” in Raffaele Pettazzoni. Verso una ‘religione dello Stato’, « Hi-
 
storia Religionum », 2, 2010, pp. 39-59.

 
Montanari E., La fatica del cuore, Saggio sull’ascesi esicasta, Milano, Jaca Book 2003.
Montanari E., Un Parsifal “smarrito”, « Diorama Letterario », 109, novembre 1987, pp. 18-23
   
(=Eliade e Guénon, in Id., La fatica del cuore, Milano, Jaca Book, 2003, pp. 183-203).
Mutti C., Eliade, Vâlsan, Geticus e gli altri. La fortuna di Guénon tra i Romeni, Parma, All’insegna
del veltro, 1999.
Shivananda S., Thought Power, Rishikesh, Divine Life Society, 1943 (tr. it. Roma, Ricciardi,
1973).
T∞u rcanu F., Mircea Eliade. Le prisonnier de l’histoire, Paris, La Découverte, 2003.
Vivenza J.-M., Le dictionnaire de René Guénon, Grenoble, Le Mercure Dauphinois, 2002 (tr. it.,
Dizionario guénoniano, Roma, Arkeios, 2007).
Sugli scritti giovanili di Furio Jesi
Enr ico Maner a
« Se penetriamo nelle grandi caverne, osserviamo gli affreschi meravigliosi che colmano le pare-
 
ti, ci soffermiamo sulle antiche testimonianze di devozione verso i morti, non possiamo sottrar-
ci ad un’emozione profonda e a un sentimento di incondizionata ammirazione. [...] La commo-
zione che coglie gli uomini di oggi di fronte alle opere dei loro più remoti predecessori è la forza
viva che consente all’uomo di riconoscere se stesso, di là dalle barriere del tempo ». 1    
F urio Jesi, storico delle idee e germanista impegnato in una ventennale ricerca
sulle scienze della mitologia, è, a oltre trent’anni dalla scomparsa, oggetto di un
recente interesse anche editoriale che è stato agevolato, oltre che dall’indubbio fascino
esercitato dalla sua saggistica, dall’attualità del concetto di « macchina mitologica » : 2
       
un originale conio teorico che nella convergenza tra storia della storiografia, episte-
mologia delle scienze umane e critica dell’ideologia sposta i termini del discorso dal
mito, come presunto oggetto di ordine metafisico, alla mitopoiesi, nelle sue accezioni
più ampie. 3 Meno noto è che nel percorso intellettuale di Jesi, concentrato in una feb-
 
brile attività intellettuale tra gli anni Sessanta e il 1980, data della prematura scomparsa,
si possano individuare dal punto di vista teorico due fasi, segnate dall’iniziale impegno
nella storia delle religioni e da una critica letteraria che è anche l’aspetto applicato di
una teoria della cultura.
Jesi parte da una concezione della mitologia ricca di fermenti umanistici e letterari
e perviene a una “scienza del mito” fortemente decostruttiva e “anti-mitologica”, lad-
dove il termine “mito” continui a essere usato in modo ingenuo e privo di una tema-
tizzazione metodologica preliminare. In questo articolo, con l’idea che la produzione
jesiana più feconda sia la più recente, si vuole mostrare qualcosa della prima elabora-
zione teorica dello studioso e si suggerisce l’ipotesi che il suo percorso risulti legato
alle trasformazioni in atto nella cultura europea in relazione agli interessi storico-reli-
gionistici.
Nella sua biografia intellettuale è rilevante il fatto che, da un’impostazione di matri-
ce junghiana e densa di implicazioni metafisiche, Jesi abbia maturato posizioni di criti-
ca della cultura (e in particolare della cultura “di destra” 4) attraverso lo “smontaggio”
 
dall’interno della propria formazione e mediante l’attraversamento dell’ermeneutica e

dello strutturalismo.
1. Morfologia della cultura

Nato nel 1941 a Torino, Jesi si mette in luce come precoce egittologo alla fine degli an-
ni Cinquanta per ritrovarsi nei Settanta, all’apice di un’intensa carriera intellettuale,
1 Furio Jesi, L’origine dell’uomo, « Storia illustrata », anno XVI, marzo 1966, 100, p. 95.
   
2 Cfr. Furio Jesi, Mito, Milano, ISEDI, 1973, pp. 105 ss. ; Id., Materiali mitologici, Torino, Einaudi, 2001 (ed. or.
 
1979), pp. 81-120 ; pp. 174-182 ; pp. 335-356.

   
3 Cfr. Enrico Manera, Furio Jesi. Mito, violenza, memoria, Roma, Carocci, 2012.
4 Furio Jesi, Cultura di destra, Roma, Nottetempo, 2011 (ed. or. 1979).
126 enrico manera
riconosciuto studioso di scienza del mito e germanista di rilievo. La sua formazione,
che ha dell’eccezionale, è iniziata in un ambiente familiare intellettuale molto stimo-
lante (il nonno Percy Chirone e la madre Vanna erano entrambi insegnanti e culto-
ri di storia e arte antica) ed è proseguita secondo un itinerario irregolare, basato sul
contatto diretto con la ricerca, scandito da permanenze presso scavi archeologici in
Grecia e Asia Minore, da viaggi presso biblioteche e musei europei e da pubblicazioni
ininterrotte. Tali esperienze lo hanno condotto, giovanissimo e privo di titoli, a diven-
tare interlocutore di Károly Kerényi : un maestro di filologia, metodo e approccio alla
 
cultura con cui egli ha intrattenuto un dialogo intenso e dialettico. 1 È lo stesso Jesi a  
riconoscere inoltre l’influenza di studiosi come Georges Dumézil, Gershom Scholem e

Claude Lévi-Strauss ; fin dagli esordi la sua produzione si caratterizza per il meticoloso
 
ma diversificato specialismo e per l’eclettismo nelle prospettive di riferimento. Il suo

stile consisterà sempre in una rielaborazione personale di « modelli interagenti » 2 che lo
     
porta a riformulare proposte di autori anche molto eterogenei – in questa prima fase
Frobenius, Pettazzoni, Propp, Jung, Giedion, Cassirer.
La prima monografia di Jesi è dedicata a La ceramica egizia. Dalle origini al termine
dell’età tinita (1958) : 3 si tratta del risultato di una ricerca « ineccepibile da un punto di vi-
     
sta storico-filologico », 4 che prende in considerazione reperti di ceramica della valle del
   
Nilo dall’età neolitica all’età tinita, in un arco cronologico che dal VI millennio giunge
al III millennio e all’Egitto proto-dinastico.
Il taglio critico-archeologico si rivolge alle metamorfosi iconografiche dei reperti
esaminati, dai quali si intende trarre conclusioni più generali relative a una teoria della
cultura e della mitologia : in questo senso vale la pena di notare che il libro sia intitola-
 
to alla memoria di Leo Frobenius, corredato di due introduzioni, una di Boris De Ra-
chewiltz 5 e una dello stesso Jesi.
 
Frobenius, autore della Kulturgeschichte Afrikas (1933), è presente nel testo come punto
di riferimento teorico, sia per il contesto specifico (sua la tesi per cui l’Egitto è il « vero  
punto di contatto dell’Africa nera con il Mediterraneo » 6) sia per la « Kulturmorphologie »

       
e la connessa teoria del « paideuma, il sorgere e trasformarsi di tutte le esperienze della

 
coscienza commossa, secondo l’intimo orientamento delle forme di una civiltà ». 7    
Sviluppando la teoria dei cicli culturali, l’etnologo ipotizzava ogni civiltà come com-
plesso organico dotato di una propria vita, la cui origine andava ricercata in una matri-
ce « oscura e profonda » responsabile dello sviluppo umano e tale da “afferrare” l’uomo
   
in senso non razionale spingendolo verso la trasformazione ; tale processo evolutivo  
si articola in stadi caratterizzati dallo stato cognitivo, dall’intuizione attraverso la ma-

turità razionale fino alla fase meccanica e materialista della decadenza di una civiltà.
1 Furio Jesi, Materiali mitologici, cit., pp. 3-80 ; Furio Jesi, Ka’roly Kerényi, Demone e mito. Carteggio 1964-1968,
 
Macerata, Quodlibet, 1999, con postfazione di Andrea Cavalletti, Demone e immagine, pp. 127-151.
2 Furio Jesi, Mito, p. 94.
3 Furio Jesi, Le ceramica egizia dalle origini all’età tinita, S.A.I.E., Torino, 1958 ; recentemente ripubblicato come
 
Furio Jesi, La ceramica egizia e altri scritti sull’Egitto e la Grecia (1958 ; 1956-1973), Torino, Aragno, 2010.
 
4 Margherita Cottone, Scienza del mito e critica letteraria : conoscere per composizione, in « Studi filosofici », n.
     
XVI-XVI, 1991-2, p. 229.

5 Boris de Rachewiltz, « egittologo ed esoterista », a cui si deve una edizione del cosiddetto Libro dei morti, e ma-
   
rito di Mary Pound, figlia dello scrittore. Hans T. Hakl, Eranos. An Alternative Intellectual History of the Twentieth
Century, Sheffield, Equinox, 2013, pp. 274-275.
6 Boris De Rachewiltz, Prefazione, in Furio Jesi, La ceramica egizia dalle origini all’età tinita, p. 9.
7 Ivi, p. 10.
sugli scritti giovanili di furio jesi 127
Paideuma 1 (ciò che si acquisisce nella cultura) è il principio dell’esperienza conoscitiva
 
primordiale, principio dinamico e attivo di cui l’uomo partecipa passivamente subendo

l’azione del mito : proprio il mito era pensato come l’elemento produttivo della civiltà,
 
le cui tracce possono essere colte nella dimensione culturale di cui l’arte è l’espressione
più alta. Per Jesi il « paideuma » è il « nucleo attivo » della « commozione », « determinante
             
prima della civiltà, trascendente l’uomo », concetto appartenente alla « metafisica tede-
   
sca di quegli anni » e derivante dal « tentativo di attingere alle fonti della civiltà attraver-
   
so l’oggettivazione dell’esperienza psichica collettiva, così come in un altro campo fu

la dottrina dell’inconscio collettivo di C.G. Jung ». 2    
Come si legge in un frammento autografo di Jesi : « nella sua fase originaria il mito è    
verità inesprimibile, accessibile soltanto tramite la commozione che permette di entrare

in contatto con un mondo super-umano. In tale fase il mito è la cosa dinanzi alla quale
la parola si arresta ». 3    
La filosofia della storia di Frobenius è analoga allo spengleriano “tramonto dell’oc-

cidente”, l’antropologia presupposta è un primitivismo tipico dell’etnologia ottocen-
tesca e proto-novecentesca : concezioni che de Rachewiltz professa scrivendo che « la
   
vitalità della coscienza africana si manifesta nel processo zoo-cefalo-antropomorfico

che si oppone al pensiero razionale ». 4 Nella prefazione questi presenta il lavoro di Jesi co-
   
me uno sviluppo originale della teoria della « commozione » (Ergriffenheit) nel rapporto    
uomo-ambiente (« sottratta alla legge di causalità e a quelle del determinismo ») con

   
la teoria delle « connessioni archetipiche, che in forma irrazionale si stabiliscono nella

 
psiche dell’individuo », definita una sorta di « psico-analisi » che consente di riportare

     
« la simbologia decorativa e la morfologia delle ceramiche agli elementi archetipici ». 5

     
Jesi esprime un analogo spirito antipositivista spiegando che « la forma di espressione  
cosciente di determinati fenomeni inconsci è rappresentata da una serie di concetti, le-

gati fra di loro in base ad affinità elettive dichiaratamente estranee ai rapporti logici » 6    
e dichiarando che « in un gioco che non sia regolato dall’illusione spazio temporale,
 
espressione significa mettersi in rapporto di commozione con determinate realtà ». 7    
Jesi accetta la morfologia della cultura di Frobenius e la teoria della “commozione”,

presupponendo, in base alle tesi sul carattere pre-logico della mentalità “primitiva”,
che la coscienza “arcaica” fosse estranea allo spazio-tempo ; 8 inoltre afferma che « tutto      
il volume rappresenta un piacevole esercizio [...] una forma di adattamento al gioco,

un’approssimazione ad un inesistente “vero scientifico” ». 9    
Il giovane Jesi appare lontano da quanto avrebbe sostenuto successivamente : ovvero  
che la lotta contro il razionalismo è uno dei sottotesti dell’opera di molti intellettuali
conservatori e reazionari che videro nella ragione e nel materialismo la causa di una
decadenza dell’Europa e dei suoi valori spirituali, richiamandosi al mito come garante
1 Il “paideuma” indica « la capacità di abbandonarsi spiritualmente e in piena “realtà” a un altro mondo feno-
 
menico ». Leo Frobenius, Storia della civiltà africana, ed. it. Torino, Einaudi, 1950, pp. 52-53.
 
2 Furio Jesi, Frobenius, voce firmata in Grande dizionario enciclopedico, Torino, Utet, 1968, vol. VIII, pp. 431.
L’autore sottolinea la vicinanza teorica con la concezione del simbolo di George, Gundolf e Klages, e la grande
stima che l’imperatore Guglielmo II aveva di lui.
3 Furio Jesi, Mito e linguaggio, in « Cultura tedesca » (a cura di G. Agamben e A. Cavalletti), dedicato a Furio
   
Jesi, n. 12, 1999, p. 84. 4 Furio Jesi, Le ceramica egizia dalle origini all’età tinita, p. 10.
5 Ivi, p. 12. 6 Ivi, p. 17. 7 Ivi, p. 21.
8 Com’è noto Malinowski, Cassirer e Lévi-Strauss, a cui Jesi si sarebbe rifatto successivamente, criticarono
apertamente tale idea. 9 Furio Jesi, Le ceramica egizia, p. 22.
128 enrico manera
della genuinità del senso della vita. 1 Nei lavori degli anni Settanta Jesi matura l’idea che
 
molti studi sul sacro, sul mito e sul simbolo siano strettamente imparentati con proces-
si identitari inseparabili dai nazionalismi otto-novecenteschi e connotati dalla presenza
di pregiudizi culturali razzisti radicati nei saperi antichisti e orientalisti.
Ernesto de Martino, commentando i presupposti della scuola di Frobenius, ha scritto
che « distribuzione nello spazio, seriazione cronologica e identificazione dei nessi cau-
 
sali appartengono al momento euristico dell’anamnesi storiografica » : 2 ; ma allo stes-        
so tempo avvertiva come la « morfologia della civiltà » presupponesse un’« assenza di

     
logos » e delineasse « un quadro statico di entità [...] rigide, senza sviluppo, ciascuna
   
chiusa in se stessa da contemplarsi ciascuna nella sua essenza gratuita », in modo tale  
da risolvere la storia « in una serie di destini culturali che si consumano in se stessi. [...]
 
Percorrendo questa strada sino in fondo si mette capo al relativismo, al fatalismo, al

pessimismo e al dilettantismo di Oswald Spengler ». 3    
Con molta attenzione alla salvaguardia della ragione storica contro teorie irraziona-
liste contigue con l’ideologia di destra, l’antropologo napoletano includeva Frobenius,
Rudolf Otto, Walter Furio Otto e anche Kerényi in una medesima temperie intellettua-
le politicamente problematica ; 4 ciò è rilevante nella misura in cui Jesi, dalla fine degli
   
anni Sessanta impegnato politicamente nella cosiddetta “nuova sinistra”, caratterizza

la sua attività nella fase matura come una critica della cultura e della società borghese
e dei suoi fondamenti intellettuali, 5 pur senza contatti con de Martino e la sua scuola. 6
   
Nei primi lavori teorici di Jesi compare uno sviluppo differente rispetto ai temi classici
della scienza della religione di marca metafisica e allo stesso tempo si possono cogliere
differenze rispetto alla posizione metodologica storicistica e materialistico-marxista :  
nata sulla scorta della psicologia analitica di Jung, la sua teoria delle “connessioni arche-
tipiche” si basa sull’associazione simbolica che viene collegata ai ritmi biologici e conta-
minata con elementi formalistici di stampo storico-semiotico come quelli di Propp.
Tale eclettismo trova una spiegazione anche nel fatto che le prime fonti di Jesi ven-
gono dalla Collana viola di Einaudi, la « Collezione di studi religiosi, etnologici e psi-
 
cologici » : in essa prospettive molto differenti sul sacro rischiavano di apparire coerenti
   
e organiche, come avvertivano gli stessi curatori, i quali, nella battaglia culturale nel
dopoguerra italiano, manifestavano opinioni differenti sulla necessità di avvisare i let-
tore sui rischi del “lato oscuro” di alcuni libri ; mentre de Martino riteneva necessario  
1 Cfr. Furio Jesi, Cultura di destra, pp. 14-17.

2 Ernesto de Martino, Prefazione, in Adolf E. Jensen, Come una cultura primitiva ha concepito il mondo, ed. it.
Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 1992, p. 10. 3 Ivi, p. 11.
4 Cfr. Furio Jesi, Materiali mitologici, p. 36 ss.
5 Il pensiero politico di Jesi si può definire un marxismo libertario. I suoi testi di filosofia politica sono il già ci-
tato Cultura di destra e il postumo Spartakus, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 2000. Da segnalare l’attività pubblicistica
sulle riviste « Comunità » (legata agli ambienti olivettiani), « Resistenza. Giustizia e libertà » dal 1967 al 1971 (legata
       
all’Istituto storico della Resistenza di Torino) e poi su « Nuova sinistra. Appunti torinesi » (1971) : Giorgio Agosti
     
mette in luce in quella esperienza culturale il conflitto politico e generazionale che opponeva la cultura azionista
dei “padri” a quella marxista dei “figli”. Giorgio Agosti, Dopo il tempo del furore. Diario 1946-1988, Torino, Einaudi,
2005, pp. 427, 461, 463 ; cfr. Diego Giachetti, Per la giustizia e la libertà. La stampa Gielle nel secondo dopoguerra, Mi-
 
lano, Franco Angeli, 2011 ; Furio Jesi, a cura di Marco Belpoliti, Enrico Manera, « Riga » n. 31, 2010, pp. 56-87.
     
6 Per il rapporto tra Jesi e la storia delle religioni italiana : Pietro Angelini, Il guardiano della soglia, in « Studi
   
filosofici », XIV-XV, 1991-2, pp. 222-3 ; Natale Spineto, Károly Kerényi e gli studi storici religiosi in Italia, in « Studi
     
e materiali di storia delle religioni », 69, 2003, pp. 385-410 : se già Kerényi, con il suo stile poetico, metaforico e di
   
complessa interpretazione era considerato un « dissidente » (Pettazzoni), Jesi non poteva avere migliore fortuna.
   
Per lo scambio epistolare con Raffale Pettazzoni : Mario Gandini, Raffaele Pettazzoni negli anni 1958-1959, in « Stra-
   
da maestra », 65, 2008, p. 36.

 
che ogni testo fosse introdotto da saggi “pedagogici”, per Pavese tale operazione era
superflua e invadente. 1 Per Jesi la questione delle matrici ideologiche degli studi sul
 
sacro, riemersa in seguito con forza, è fondamentale : « È come se, appartenente alla    
generazione che su questi libri si formò, nel suo lavoro Jesi abbia ereditato e rimeditato
alcuni aspetti del dibattito su una serie di autori ritenuti “pericolosi”, con il rischio che
la profilassi nei loro confronti risultasse ideologicamente contraddittoria quanto la ma-
teria “irrazionale” da cui ci si voleva difendere ». 2    
In questa fase lo studioso non ancora ventenne, pur non prevedendo gli esiti futuri
della sua ricerca e forse non dominando completamente il quadro delle sue molte fonti,
mostra di avere chiaro l’ambito di interesse, che non sarebbe variato : a mutare saranno  
presupposti teorici di partenza e metodo.
2. Rapporti tra immagini

Il saggio teorico Le connessioni archetipiche (1958) parte dalla constatazione della « presen-  
za costante di immagini affini, di “luoghi comuni” » che solcano la storia della cultura,  
in particolar modo per ciò che riguarda la tradizione letteraria popolare e il patrimonio
mitico-religioso che con questa è imparentata. Si tratta di « motivi che si ripetono nelle  
differenti forme in cui noi veniamo a conoscenza di ciascuna vicenda, mantenendosi a

volte inalterati formalmente, a volte subendo modifiche relative alla natura apparente
dei personaggi ed al procedere dell’azione ». 3    
Le varie metamorfosi, a volte così estreme da rendere irriconoscibile il collegamento

tra due elementi, sono da mettere in relazione con il regime sociale nel quale i racconti
prendono forma : in questo modo nella ricezione attraverso il tempo, quando i legami
 
diretti e conoscibili tra « motivo » e « istituto sociale » si siano persi, si apre uno spazio di
       
« libertà della creazione di ciascun narratore ». 4 Nell’impossibilità di cogliere l’origine

     
di un racconto, ogni narrazione è frutto di continua rielaborazione e può avere sempre

una sua “attualità”, risultando significante per i contemporanei che la condividono, i
quali hanno le chiavi contestuali per la sua comprensione.
Su questo presupposto marxiano (la struttura condiziona la sovrastruttura, la qua-
le si modifica meno rapidamente della prima), la ricostruzione del processo genetico
delle alterazioni formali e contenutistiche dei racconti mette in luce forme invarianti
(« universalità di particolari motivi ») che sono il « risultato di un processo spirituale ». 5
         
Tale universalità per Jesi « risulta chiarificata dal punto di vista psicanalitico dalle inda-
 
gini parallele di Jung e Kerényi » i quali la definiscono in termini di « archetipi » come

     
« automanifestazione dell’inconscio » di natura collettiva. 6

     
Su questo tema Jesi scrive :  
1 Cesare Pavese, Ernesto de Martino, La collana viola. Lettere 1945-1950, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 1991 ;  
Pietro Angelini La collana viola, in Studi antropologici italiani e rapporti di classe, Milano, Franco Angeli, 1980. Cfr.
Furio Jesi, Materiali mitologici, pp. 36 ss. : « Parlare di “mentalità primitiva” come di “facoltà creatrice” significava
   
far puntare il fucile [...] a de Martino ».  
2 Riccardo Ferrari, Saggio e romanzo in Furio Jesi, Tesi di dottorato in Scienze dell’Antichità e Filologico let-
terarie dell’Università di Genova, XIX ciclo, pp. 34 ss.
3 Furio Jesi, Le connessioni archetipiche, « Archivio internazionale di Etnografia e Preistoria », I, 1958, p. 35. Ora
   
in Furio Jesi, La ceramica egizia e altri scritti sull’Egitto e la Grecia, pp. 209-218. 4 Ivi, p. 36.
5 Ivi, p. 37.
6 Ibidem ; cfr. Carl G. Jung, La libido. Simboli e trasformazioni, ed. it. Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 1965 ; Carl G.
   
Jung, Károly. Kerényi, Prolegomeni allo studio scientifico della mitologia, ed. it. Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 1972.
130 enrico manera
« La mia critica ai concetti tradizionali nel campo della mitologia procede inizialmente dalla
 
constatazione che soltanto le connessioni fra due elementi possono ritenersi archetipiche. Se, a
proposito della connessione fra tali elementi, si può parlare di una forma della “partecipazione”
di Lévy-Bruhl, non si deve pensare che le “essenze comuni” in funzione delle quali vengono
“sentiti” i singoli individui, corrispondano alle nostre rappresentazioni di figure archetipiche.
La forma di maggior approssimazione all’immagine di “essenza comune” è rappresentata dalla
natura stessa, dall’essere di due concetti fra cui sussista una connessione archetipica ». 1    
Un connessione può avere luogo tra immagini astratte e concrete, le quali attraverso
le relazioni reciproche creano un senso : è impossibile separare una immagine dal suo
 
significato, come se l’una fosse concetto esemplificato e l’altro un concetto astratto.

« Relazione reciproca » vuol dire, per esempio, che « il concetto ctonico-oracolare è il
     
significato, il valore dell’immagine del serpente, così come il serpente è il significato, il

valore del concetto ctonico-oracolare ». 2    
Si tratta di una formulazione più articolata di ciò che lo storico dell’arte e dell’ar-
chitettura Sigfried Giedion, altra fonte del giovane Jesi, afferma quando scrive che in
età preistorica « il simbolo stesso fu realtà, mezzo di possesso del potere magico, tale
 
da influenzare direttamente il corso degli eventi ». 3 Il tipo di conoscenza che ne deriva

   
è quello di « creazione fittizia, puramente formale ed estranea al senso o al non-senso

 
delle connessioni », ma capace di significare la realtà : l’esame delle connessioni, indipen-

   
dentemente dal contesto, può rivelare qualcosa circa la concezione del mondo che esse
esprimono. La capacità cognitiva degli uomini della preistoria sarebbe dunque caratte-
rizzata da una identità della conoscenza-espressione come partecipazione all’inconscio
collettivo, in modo tale che in ogni « fenomeno espressivo si ritrova una personalità
 
umana e una realtà ». 4    
Il pensiero, come mostrerebbero le serie prese in esame di motivi riportati sulla ce-
ramica egizia (piante, animali, battelli, grafismi geometrici), manifesta una « presa di  
contatto con il mondo » espressa mediante « simbolismo reciproco ». 5 « Ogni elemento

         
è in rapporto con gli altri : lo si può considerare un significato degli altri o viceversa » : 6
       
una sorta di flusso privo ancora di un « “senso”, di una direzione » 7 che mantiene la pos-
     
sibile intellegibilità nei limiti della sola associazione. Compare qui la stessa precedente
definizione di “affinità elettive estranee ai rapporti logici” che viene presentata come
ciò che caratterizza il « gioco della mitologia ». 8
     
In un altro scritto dello stesso periodo (Studi cosmogonici 9) Jesi interpreta le insegne  
dei battelli egizi come simboli di clan e segni di nomi, posti in rapporto con divinità
locali e soggetti a diffusione e come tali le considera elaborazioni di materiale « tote-  
1 Furio Jesi, Le connessioni archetipiche, p. 37.

2 Furio Jesi, La ceramica egizia dalle origini all’età tinita, p. 19.
3 Sigfried Giedion, L’eterno presente. Uno studio sulla costanza e sul mutamento. 1. Le origini dell’arte, ed. it. Mi-
lano, Feltrinelli, 1965, p. 94. Nel 1958 Jesi partecipò come relatore al V° Congresso internazionale di Preistoria di
Amburgo durante il quale presentò un intervento (Bès initiateur. Élements d’institutions préhistoriques dans le culte
et dans la magie de l’ancienne Égypte), per poi prendere parte a un viaggio in diverse località nordeuropee tra cui
Berlino e Buchenwald. In quell’occasione Jesi conobbe Giedion, con cui sarebbe rimasto in contatto e del quale
avrebbe tradotto proprio il volume L’eterno presente ; Jesi è più volte citato nei lavori di Giedion.
 
4 Furio Jesi, Le connessioni archetipiche, p. 38. 5 Ivi, p. 39.

6 Furio Jesi, La ceramica egizia dalle origini all’età tinita, p. 19.
7 Furio Jesi, Le connessioni archetipiche, p. 40. 8 Ivi, pp. 40-41.
9 Furio Jesi, Studi cosmogonici, in « Archivio internazionale di Etnografia e Preistoria, vol. I, Torino, 1958, pp.
 
46-47 ; Ora in Furio Jesi, La ceramica egizia e altri scritti sull’Egitto e la Grecia, pp. 219-230.
 
mico » : elementi formali indissolubili non più compresi ricevono nuovo significato in
   
un periodo successivo. Anche qui ciò che in uno strato arcaico risulta connesso cambia
di segno sulla base di una riattivazione e in tal senso la « realtà mitologica » delle figure    
divine viene spiegata come « trasposizione costante del medesimo schema di immagini
 
in innumerevoli “leggende” ». 1    
Le connessioni sono potenzialmente nella « psiche di ciascun individuo » in uno sta-    
dio di latenza e possono passare in atto in presenza di una determinante fisiologica,

sotto l’effetto della commozione. Jesi parla qui di una catena “archetipica” tra ambien-
te, biotipo e immagini : 2 il fenomeno è accostato al principio pavloviano dei riflessi
   
condizionati ma in assenza della concezione e della consapevolezza del rapporto di

causalità :  
« la connessione archetipica descrive il comportamento psichico determinato da stimoli sensori

 
condizionatamente alle potenzialità psichiche di realizzazione delle connessioni stesse, risultan-

ti a loro volta manifestazioni coscienti di fenomeni inconsci. La connessione archetipica informa
il successivo comportamento fisiologico : anzi è giusto dire che intuitivamente è esattamente
 
comprensibile il concetto di connessione archetipica da un punto di vista dinamico e non statico,

come un fenomeno nel suo corso. Si ricade così nella mitologia vissuta ». 3    
La radicale differenza tra realtà dinamica indeterminata e successiva strutturazione lo-

gica è sostanzialmente impensabile a causa di una « inevitabile deficienza del linguaggio  
riguardo alle cosiddette “rappresentazioni intuitive” » : la sua descrizione non può che    
configurarsi come quella di « uno dei tanti elementi di un meccanismo ». 4 Ma, continua
     
Jesi, sarebbe errato leggere tale teoria « trasferendo sul piano metafisico la natura intrin-
 
seca dell’adattamento » ovvero l’equilibrio di un sistema complesso uomo-ambiente : se

   
teniamo conto le premesse sono quelle di un pensiero ad alta significatività metafisica,

qui gli elementi archetipici sono interpretati in chiave naturalistica, come prodotti su
base biologica del sistema nervoso umano. 5  
In un inedito dal titolo l’Archeologia e i riflessi condizionati la teoria e i suoi presupposti

sono riformulati in modo più chiaro e diretto :  
« Pavlov aveva spiegato il fenomeno dei riflessi condizionati con la presenza di una specie di
 
grande circuito : dalle superfici sensibili partono degli stimoli che confluiscono a centri d’at-
 
tenzione (quasi campi magnetici) posti nei grandi emisferi del cervello ; di qui, altre correnti  
muovono in varie direzioni, provocando azioni in apparenza non connesse con gli stimoli (ap-
parizione d’una luce : stimolo che parte dall’occhio, giunge al centro di raccolta, mette in moto
 
una corrente che suscita la salivazione) ». 6    
Jesi afferma di voler trasporre il principio per via analogica nell’ambito degli studi ar-
cheologico-antropologici, nel senso che « anche l’uomo in presenza di un certo stimolo
 
sensorio (una temperatura, un dolore, una difficoltà fisica), che condizionava uno stato
di benessere [...] era portato a ad associare l’idea di tale sensazione a quella della sua
conseguenza benefica ». 7    
La teoria della connessioni archetipiche, « basandosi sulle conquiste della moderna

 
psico-analisi così come della fisiologia, si ripromette di indagare il fenomeno del pensie-
1 Ivi, p. 56. 2 Ivi, p. 55. 3 Furio Jesi, Le connessioni archetipiche, p. 37.

4 Ivi, pp. 43-44. 5 Ivi, p. 44.
6 Furio Jesi, L’archeologia e i riflessi condizionati, Archivio privato : dattiloscritto risalente al 1958-60, p. 2. Ora in
 
« Riga » 31, pp. 36-41.

   
7 Ivi, p. 3.
132 enrico manera
ro e dell’attività umana, partendo dello studio delle creazioni di civiltà » : 1 l’analisi della      
cultura materiale è il sintomo, la traccia o l’indizio tale da permettere allo scienziato di

risalire alla « scintilla creatrice » che presiede alle varie fasi di realizzazione dei fenomeni
   
culturali. Questa è la « commozione » a partire dalla quale si verifica « la connessione di

     
due immagini, le quali erano latenti nella psiche » e che, in questo testo, sono esempli-  
ficate con figure tratte da miti, leggende, favole : uomini e animali, leone e sole, sangue  
e vita, primavera e nascita, autunno e morte. Poiché l’essere umano « associa di volta in  
volta l’una o l’altra immagine a seconda delle condizioni materiali in cui si trova » una  
cultura agricola « giungerà a connettere il nascere e il morire della natura con la nascita
 
e la morte di un dio ». 2    
Jesi considera inevitabile nell’essere umano la domanda metafisica di senso come fat-
to psichico – anni dopo parlerà di fame di mito – giungendo a considerare la mitopoiesi
come tratto costitutivo della cultura umana in tutte le sue fasi, anche recenti :  
« Ma perché [un popolo] non può accontentarsi di mangiare pane di grano senza collegare la
 
nascita di un grano a quella di un dio ? [...] Perché la connessione dell’elemento materiale – il

 
grano – con l’immagine, la nascita e la morte del dio – porta l’uomo ad un equilibrio fisico e
psichico quasi assoluto, ad uno stato di benessere primitivo la cui mancanza determina lo squilibrio
e l’angoscia ». 3   
Il bisogno di armonia psichica e fisica è necessario per il mantenimento di un equilibrio

nella conduzione materiale dell’esistenza singola e collettiva, un « pieno sviluppo della  
vita », per garantire il quale “primitivi”, antichi e moderni, mettono in atto analoghe ri-
 
sorse da un punto di vista formale, intrecciate tra di loro da un punto di vista tematico.
In questo senso lo sviluppo della capacità simbolica (« abisso tra l’animale e l’uomo »)    
è considerata in termini antropologici come la caratteristica straordinaria dell’essere

umano, rendere ragione della quale è il compito della scienza che verrà.
Questa linea interpretativa sembra confermata da un testo del 1966, il saggio divul-
gativo L’origine dell’uomo (scritto per « Storia illustrata ») che ripercorre la teoria dell’evo-
   
luzione, in senso darwiniano, da Talete a Oparin. Qui l’essere umano, già in epoca prei-
storica, appare caratterizzato dalla sua « capacità simbolica », con esplicito riferimento a
   
Cassirer, coincidente con una « fase della graduale complessificazione degli organismi
 
considerati dall’evoluzionismo ». 4 Facendo riferimento alle raffigurazione pittoriche

   
del paleolitico, le immagini parietali delle grotte di Altamira e Lascaux sono descritte
come capaci di attraversare tempi e generazioni : « ogni generazione aggiungeva figure,    
e tutte le figure – quelle tracciate dagli antenati, dai padri e dai figli – vivevano simulta-
neamente della medesima vita sacrale ». 5 Per concludere con la grazia del narratore :
     
« Ma l’evoluzione era in atto, e con essa il fenomeno della conoscenza. Se in un’epoca primordiale
 
l’uomo aveva potuto dire “in me si pensa”, giunse un giorno in cui egli disse “Io penso”. Ed
allora egli prese coscienza di sé, e invece di abbandonarsi alle emozioni che gli giungevano dal
mondo esterno, cercò di imporsi su quel mondo : di imporvi la sua volontà ». 6      
3. Fenomenologia della storia

L’attenzione per le metamorfosi e per la “reversione del mito”, teorie che Jesi ripren-
de da Propp, è una costante dell’indagine sui rapporti tra mito e storia : da un lato  
1 Ivi, pp. 3-4. 2 Ivi, p. 4. 3 Ivi, pp. 4-5.

4 Furio Jesi, L’origine dell’uomo, in « Storia illustrata », p. 94.
   
5 Ivi, p. 95. 6 Ivi, p. 96.
Jesi è interessato a cogliere le origini storiche di un fenomeno mitologico, anche se
si tratta di un progetto a cui rinuncerà presto ; dall’altro lato ne segue le diverse rise-
 
mantizzazioni nel tempo, che concepisce come l’unica strategia possibile in termini
epistemologici.
La già citata influenza di Siegfried Giedion è stata determinante per l’orientamento
di Jesi anche per la concezione secondo cui lo sguardo rivolto verso il passato trasforma
il suo oggetto, rendendo la pretesa obiettività illusoria e ingenua. Un analogo ruolo
ha avuto il magistero di Albino Galvano, pittore e filosofo frequentato negli ambienti
torinesi, in un periodo in cui gli interessi artistici di Jesi erano molto forti. Sensibili al
simbolismo e alle “sopravvivenze” dell’antichità, i due studiosi hanno trasmesso all’al-
lievo una impostazione psicologica con tratti utopistici, volta a valorizzare gli aspetti
emotivi ed esistenziali delle scienze umane e a riequilibrare gli eccessi della razionalità
storicista e tecnica. 1 In questo senso il giovane Jesi condivide una prospettiva che si può
 
definire ermeneutica : nell’arte, nella letteratura e nella scienza moderna l’osservatore

 
e l’oggetto osservato sono reciprocamente coimplicati al punto che occuparsi del pas-
sato significa modificarlo nell’atto della sua ricostruzione.
Alcuni saggi sulla religione della Grecia arcaica, scritti durante i soggiorni archeolo-
gici dei primi anni Sessanta ed editi solo nel 2010, ci restituiscono la sua prospettiva in
modo più chiaro anche grazie alla maggior libertà espressiva offerta da una destinazio-
ne diversa dalla pubblicazione scientifica. Per Jesi l’influenza che l’Egitto e Creta hanno
esercitato sulla civiltà ellenica arcaica, a sua volta centro di irradiazione e di contatto
per tutta l’area mediterranea, attestano come le civiltà ereditino e conservino forme di
cultura, materiale e immateriale, provenienti da un passato illeggibile, risultando “at-
tuali” in virtù della risignificazione.
« Al momento in cui un fenomeno cessa di essere vitale, non scompaiono automaticamente
 
tutte le sue tracce, bensì le vestigia di fenomeni trascorsi possono essere individuate in civiltà
cronologicamente posteriori, travisati e alterati quando la loro stessa natura permetteva l’attri-
buzione di un nuovo tipo di significato, in rapporto a un nuovo tipo di civiltà ». 2    
I Greci antichi ereditarono materiali architettonici, artistici e mitologici di epoche pre-

cedenti, di cui non erano più in grado di cogliere il significato e su cui edificarono il pro-
prio sistema ideologico. I diversi strati di civilizzazione documentabili a partire dal II
millennio a.C. nella vasta koiné culturale mediterranea che connette mondo egeo, mi-
noico, vicino-orientale, tracio-frigio, mostrano una catena che lega miti di età arcaica
di origine minoica e micenea con quelli di età classica, quando la teologia convive con
epica e racconto favolistico, con letteratura colta e teatro politico, fino alla rivisitazione
e alla critica. Ma oltre a questa lettura di lungo periodo, che attesta grande attenzione
alla bibliografia e al dibattito coevo, compare già in questi testi di Jesi la tendenza ad af-
frontare contenuti storici facendo emergere problemi gnoseologici ed epistemologici.
La condizione degli uomini del mondo antico è la stessa di chi si trovi a leggere un
passato che ha cessato di essere intellegibile ed è assimilabile a un paradigma ermeneu-
tico di ordine generale. Ogni ricerca è una Katàbasis :  
« una discesa fra i relitti più incomprensibili, più morti e insieme e insieme [...] più facili in appa-
 
renza da spiegare fin nei loro minimi dettagli, dal momento che l’espressione pura del concetto
1 Cfr. Riccardo Ferrari, Saggio e romanzo in Furio Jesi, pp. 12 ss.

2 Furio Jesi, La ceramica egizia e altri scritti sull’Egitto e la Grecia, pp. 235-236.
134 enrico manera
più univoco è la frase più ambigua, il luogo comune. Ci siamo inabissati, infatti in un complesso
di luoghi comuni che sono interi e inaccessibili nel loro valore di rivelazione, tanto quanto pos-
sono divenire chiari in un loro “significato” ». 1    
Per Jesi il passato di cui restano tracce opache e mute genera una risonanza emotiva,
in rapporto di analogia con le proprie vicende personali più intime, i « pensieri segreti »    
che vivono di epifanie e folgorazioni, intuizioni e « affinità elettive ». Le pagine dedica-

   
te a un viaggio archeologico sembrano riassumere il suo approccio alla cultura e alla

storia :
 
« Ricordo di aver atteso un giorno a Dodona, vicino all’oracolo, il buio della notte. Tutto
 
intorno, monti e colline, avevano raggiunto la vibrazione opaca e intensa delle cose vive,
pronte a immergersi nel mistero notturno. Una lunga ondata di commozione interruppe il
discorso logico e quanto mai scientifico che avevo iniziato : una sorta di monologo a voce alta
 
nella penombra di Dodona. “Qual era mai la forza che legava la Grande Dea, la signora del
mondo, ai morti abitatori dell’Ade ? [...] Chi era, in conclusione la prima regina di Dodona,
 
quella che parlava attraverso l’oracolo ? [...]”. La risposta venne dal cerchio delle colline silen-
 
ziose. “Cosa ti fa restare qui in attesa della notte ? Cosa ti incanta lo sguardo sulla pianura e
 
sull’orizzonte deserto” ? Il mistero di Dodona si svelava all’improvviso. Cinquemila anni fa

 
già la commozione aveva prevalso nell’animo dei primi greci, dinanzi a questa natura che sem-
bra personificare un segreto. E abbandonandosi alla commozione, lasciandosi travolgere dalla
sua marea, gli antichi sacerdoti e gli antichi fedeli erano giunti sulle soglie dell’Ade. Adoratori
della Grande Dea, si erano abbandonati all’impulso che giungeva loro dalla natura, dal regno
della dea stessa. Un’emozione profonda che annullava la personalità di ciascuno in un unico
flusso, inalterato e perenne attraverso gli anni. E questa forza, che stava a metà fra il regno
degli dèi e quello dei morti, che conduceva nell’Ade, doveva essersi personificato in un’imma-
gine divina ». 2
   
Numerosi sono i passi che attestano il sentimento di meraviglia alla radice di ogni de-
siderio di conoscenza e testimoniano una personale elaborazione dell’influenza di Fro-
benius, svuotata di presupposti metafisici e letta in termini di rapporto con una forma
di trascendenza quale è il passato : la « commozione che coglie gli uomini di oggi di
   
fronte alle opere dei loro più remoti predecessori è la forza viva che consente all’uomo
di riconoscere se stesso, di là dalle barriere del tempo » 3.    
Come nelle “connessioni archetipiche”, l’esperienza di conoscenza è di tipo panico,

simile all’horror che Aby Warburg – erede di una tradizione che risale a Herder –, pone
alla base della propria scienza della cultura e dell’estetica delle « formule di pathos » (Pa-    
thosformeln). 4 La vertigine del passato è in questo caso l’emozione suscitata nel presente
 
dalla natura, dal silenzio e dalla distanza nel tempo.
4. Malattia e guarigione
Nei testi e nelle lettere di Jesi fino al 1965 le radici metafisiche e classico-umanistiche che
caratterizzano gli esordi risultano ancora operanti e il confronto con Kerényi spinge il
giovane mitologo a chiarire, innanzitutto a se stesso, le proprie posizioni. Nel giro di
pochi anni, come si è già anticipato, emergerà in Jesi una posizione politica radicale
nel segno della “nuova sinistra” strettamente legata per temi, metodi e presupposti alla
produzione sul mito.
1 Ivi, p. 280. 2 Ivi, pp. 363-364. 3 Furio Jesi, L’origine dell’uomo, p. 95.
4 Cfr. Michele Cometa, L’immagine in Jesi, in « Riga », 31, pp. 258-270.
   
Nel carteggio con Kerényi, già prima che si giunga nel 1968 a una rottura motivata
dalle diverse visioni politiche, 1 tra i due emerge un confronto sul modo di guardare la
 
cultura tedesca : nella fase più intensa del rapporto Jesi chiede a Kerényi consigli per
 
la redazione di Germania segreta, il libro in cui si prefigge di « studiare le sopravvivenze  
di talune immagini mitiche nella cultura tedesca del XIX secolo e del XX secolo » ; 2 nel      
dattiloscritto che invia espone sinteticamente « la necessità di prendere posizione net-  
tamente dinnanzi a ciò che si definisce germanesimo » 3 e considera necessario « andare      
più a fondo, riconoscere nelle colpe ciò che è responsabilità di tutti perché da tutti fu
accettato ». 4    
L’obiettivo specifico è indagare come la Geheimnes Deutschland, la cultura tedesca da

Hölderlin a George, abbia contribuito a trasformare « la missione d’una rinascenza della  
grande civiltà classica » nel fondamento di « orrori » e della « tragica ambiguità morale »
         
che hanno caratterizzato la seconda guerra mondiale, al fine di contribuire « al processo  
di guarigione dell’uomo da cui nasce ogni affermazione storica della morale ». 5 Jesi par-    
la di « abissi della psiche umana » e individua una « perenne riserva di realtà e di immagi-
     
ni dalla quale l’uomo può essere sopraffatto » 6 suggerendo l’idea che la cultura nazista    
consista in una « venerazione della morte [...] come strumento per conseguire i propri
 
interessi » : 7 le stesse immagini di morte, che un romanziere come Thomas Mann usava
     
per rappresentare la « realtà ineluttabile » dell’esistenza, possono venire accettate come

   
« norma di comportamento » 8e diventare pratiche di violenza, morte praticata e data,

     
all’interno di un regime totalitario.

In una lettera di poco seguente, insistendo sullo stesso tema, arriva a parlare di una
« forza temibile » che si cela dietro le azioni dei nazisti :
     
« Mio scopo è porre in evidenza come forze oscure – ciò che in Demian è Abraxas – abbiano agi-
 
to nella vicenda della Germania moderna, servendosi di uomini i quali appaiono ai nostri occhi
solo più come veicoli di orrore. Ciò mi consente di spiegare come taluni influssi di quelle forze
– che sono insieme orride e meravigliose, e pacificanti – abbiano condotto altri uomini [...] ad
opere di bellezza ». 9    
Continuando poi con la seguente affermazione :  
« Da quanto ho detto si ricava che l’uomo non è in nulla arbitro delle proprie azioni, ma solo
 
spoglia inerte, resa vitale da forze extra-umane, le quali appaiono di volta in volta ad occhi
umani splendide o orribili, e che sempre ad occhi umani – raggiungono unità nel concetto di
divino ». 10
   
In questa dichiarazione si scorge la concezione anti-soggettivistica espressa già nella

teoria delle connessioni archetipiche : eppure, qualora fosse intesa in un’accezione so-
 
stanzializzata (come indica l’espressione “forze extraumane”) si tratterebbe del tipo di

concezione contro cui Jesi ha costruito la sua successiva teoria, caratterizzata da una
1 Precedenti divergenze di opinioni si trasformano in conflitto quando Kerényi, di orientamento liberal-con-

servatore, si sente accusato di esprimere una « religio mortis » sulla base di una lettura dei propri testi di tipo mar-
   
xista. La risposta di Jesi è altrettanto ferma e improntata alla rivendicazione delle proprie convinzioni politiche.
Furio Jesi, Károly Kerényi, Demone e mito. Carteggio 1964-1968, pp. 114-118 ; cfr. Enrico Manera, Furio Jesi. Mito,  
violenza, memoria, pp. 48 ss.

2 Lettera del 2 maggio 1965, in Furio Jesi, Károly Kerényi, Demone e mito. Carteggio 1964-1968, p. 44.
3 Ivi, pp. 45-49. 4 Ivi, p. 47. 5 Ivi, pp. 46-47. 6 Ibidem. 7 Ivi, p. 49.
8 Ivi, p. 48. 9 Ivi, p. 52 ; il riferimento è al romanzo di Hermann Hesse, Demian (1919).
 
10 Ibidem.
136 enrico manera
rigorosa cautela in senso anti-metafisico e dalla teoria della “macchina mitologica”, la
quale si inscrive in un clima culturale che si può definire post-strutturalista. 1 Jesi stesso  
suggerisce una chiave « catartica » nel momento in cui chiede al maestro consiglio per
   
« trovare qualche chiarezza in quella parte di me che è più affine o meno difesa nei con-
 
fronti delle forze oscure agenti nella tragedia tedesca ». 2 In altri termini, il giovane Jesi
   
sta cercando elementi per poter discriminare in ambito etico tra un potere della com-
mozione dagli esiti umanistici, capace cioè di “distruggere” nell’arte i limiti della sog-
gettività, e uno dagli esiti anti-umanistici, in cui la stessa dimensione estatica coincide
con l’esplodere di forze inconsce. 3  
Kerényi risponde inviando materiali di studio (con la dedica « A Furio Jesi per disto-  
glierlo dal progetto ciclopico non realizzabile con giustizia ») 4 e dissentendo da ogni    
possibile interpretazione “mitologica” del nazismo : secondo Kerényi  
« il nazismo fu una forma di conquista del potere da parte del quarto stato, [...] i delinquenti e gli
 
psicopatici, il tipo ‘gangster’, che la vita nelle città ha prodotto in pericolosa folla. Hitler fu un
delinquente e uno psicopatico e lo furono anche i suoi complici [...]. Per costoro anche il mito
falso era buono per ingannare consapevolmente il mondo – una chiacchiera, una scempiaggine
forgiata da intellettuali sciocchi, che per vanità starebbero agli ordini di qualsiasi movimento cri-
minale. Benché l’ateismo le appartenga, codesto ‘mito germanico’ non ha alcun posto nella sto-
ria delle religioni. L’aristocrazia era, in Germania come altrove, decadente, in parte finissima e
intelligente, in parte composta di idioti ; la borghesia tedesca mancava di educazione politica ; gli
   
operai, attraverso l’agitazione marxista, erano divenuti ancora più sprovvisti di senso critico di
quanto fossero originariamente : i primi tre stati se ne sono andati a braccetto con il quarto ». 5
     
Kerényi mette inoltre in luce l’orrore di ogni esperienza bellica e di ogni totalitarismo
(« orrori vennero commessi anche in Russia, e li furono persino inventati i campi di con-
 
centramento con il loro concreto culto di morte »), sottolineando la « delinquenza » e la

     
« psicopatia » degli uomini manifestata nella guerra come vere e proprie « malattie » :
         
« è l’uomo che deve essere curato, e non il mito incolpato [...] il “demonico” è una partecipazio-
 
ne umana al mito : partecipazione del delinquente e dello psicopatico, la cui presenza deve sem-
 
pre essere presunta nella storia dell’umanità, non la partecipazione del devoto, del vero sacro
poeta e veggente, del legislatore e del poeta ». 6    
Nella risposta successiva, che segue anche un incontro a Torino tra i due studiosi, 7 Jesi  
descrive gli insegnamenti ricevuti come una « “guarigione” profonda », capace di muta-
   
re le precedenti convinzioni :  
« le sue parole [...] mi hanno rivelato che [...] il mito genuino non è l’essenza del bene e del male
 
affrontati e congiunti, ma un “punto più in alto”, ove il demone non può esistere, giacché il demone
può essere solo dentro di noi, come un tragico “errore di vista” o come una forza da vincere,
giacente nel nostro sguardo : non sull’orizzonte della realtà ». 8
     
Si può constatare un mutamento di prospettiva in base al quale l’aspetto irrevocabile

del potere dell’inconscio collettivo cambia di segno, in modo tale che alla soggettività
1 Enrico Manera, Memoria e violenza. Immagini della macchina mitologica, in « Riga », 31, pp. 325-339.
   
2 Furio Jesi, Károly Kerényi, Demone e mito. Carteggio 1964-1968, p. 50.

3 Enrico Manera, La poetica di R. M. Rilke nella riflessione sul mito di Furio Jesi, in « Estetica », n. 1/2009, pp. 21-
   
47. 4 Furio Jesi, KÁroly Kerényi, Demone e mito. Carteggio 1964-1968, p. 53.
5 Ivi, pp. 57-58. 6 Ivi, pp. 58-59.
7 Il 27 e 28 maggio 1965 a Torino con annessa visita al Museo egizio e alla Pinacoteca sabauda ; ivi, p. 62.  
8 Ivi, p. 61.
umana sia assegnato un ruolo più ampio. Scrive Cavalletti, tenendo conto degli scritti
successivi, che Jesi avrebbe fatto proprio « l’insegnamento di Kerényi fino a riconoscerlo
 
come suo solo a posteriori » 1 ovvero dopo averlo ricollocato nella propria prospettiva.
   
Alla luce della produzione matura, ciò che prima di questa riflessione sembra essere
inteso in senso metafisico viene risolto come inconscio culturale, con una sottolinea-
tura dell’elemento umano. Per Jesi “divino” o “originario” è il mito in quanto parola
poetica in grado di parlare allegoricamente all’umanità dell’umanità ; senza il soggetto  
poietico, ricettore e “produttore” della miticità, il mito non potrebbe essere portatore
di significati. Inoltre, in contrasto con le parole del maestro, il terreno “politico” su cui
si rende possibile concepire non solo la “guarigione” ma anche la stessa “malattia”, è in-
dividuato, già in questo scambio risalente alla metà degli anni Sessanta, nel linguaggio
e nella cultura : la sfera di cui gli umanisti sono complici e responsabili.
 
Jesi infatti pubblica il suo libro sulla cultura tedesca (Germania segreta, 1967) che in-
tende come una ricerca « sugli aspetti demonici dei rapporti tra mito e artista nella
 
cultura tedesca del ‘900 » 2 capaci di preparare il terreno ideologico favorevole alla ditta-
   
tura nazionalsocialista : richiamandosi agli insegnamenti di Kerényi, egli scrive che « gli
   
uomini hanno visto negli dei inferi dei mostri divinizzati, riflettendo i loro mali nelle
sembianze del mito ». 3    
La deformazione del mito appare una proiezione di interessi e logiche di dominio

su immagini un tempo positive e divine, ovvero portatrici di benessere, felicità e giu-
stizia in base al senso comunitario che informa il “genuino” spirito religioso. Se questo
garantisce all’umanesimo di essere una continuazione di un remoto rapporto con il
sacro, con la tecnicizzazione moderna del mito « chi proietta sul mito genuino le pro-
 
prie colpe è disposto a sovvertire l’equilibrio umanistico fra inconscio e coscienza e ad

abbandonarsi totalmente all’inconscio fino all’annichilimento della coscienza ». 4    
Da questo punto di vista, Jesi individua un potenziale umanistico del mito artistico
che non è stato in grado di opporsi con sufficiente forza di « guarigione » all’epidemia
   
che ha intaccato lo spirito tedesco tra Ottocento e Novecento. 5 In altri termini, scrive,  
« ci sembra che il fenomeno di elaborazione dei contenuti forniti dall’inconscio arricchisca la

 
stessa coscienza quando tale contenuti siano particolarmente ricchi : [...] quando siano oggetto
 
di quell’elaborazione cosciente oggetti o contenuti pregni di valori umanistici. Tali valori uma-
nistici sono per noi quelle realtà mitiche che la volontà dell’uomo si abbandona ad accettare co-
me arricchimenti dell’uomo : quei miti, cioè che sgorgano genuini dalla profondità della psiche,
 
e la cui genuinità è determinata dalla loro fruibilità umana ». 6    
Vi è dunque un repertorio di immagini mitologiche, di significati umani, che gli uomi-

ni hanno condiviso e rielaborato storicamente nel tempo. Si tratta di non rivitalizzare
“forze oscure”, simboli di valori anti-umani, e di non negare in modo riduzionistico
aspetti della vita umana irriducibili alla logica ; contro l’una e l’altra opzione, Jesi rico-
 
nosce al mito un valore irrinunciabile per la definizione di un modello etico e allo stes-
so tempo mette in luce i rischi dell’uso strumentale del discorso mitico in virtù della
sua performatività.
1 Andrea Cavalletti, Demone e immagine, cit., p. 144.

2 Furio Jesi, Germania segreta. Miti nella cultura tedesca del ‘900, Milano, Feltrinelli, 1995, p. 36.
3 Ivi, p. 15. 4 Ivi, p. 26.
5 Cfr. Furio Jesi, Rilke, Nietzsche e il nietzscheanesimo del primo ‘900, in « Studi germanici », anno XIV, giugno-
   
ottobre 1976, nn. 2-3, pp. 255-295. 6 Furio Jesi, Germania segreta, p. 43.
138 enrico manera
Il discorso etico è centrale e si pone come cuore di quello estetico : l’« umanesimo [...]    
consiste nella salvaguardia degli elementi che garantiscono oggi all’uomo, sopravvi-
venza, amore e libertà » 1 e contro il dilagare incontenibile di una disumana irrazionalità
   
« l’uomo deve, se vuole restare uomo, passare attraverso le porte della coscienza ». 2 L’ar-
     
tista è colui che, dopo aver captato la dimensione simbolica profonda, è in grado di resti-
tuirla in forma umana come mitologia dell’uomo contro la tecnicizzazione che simula
l’origine extraumana. Solo in questo modo « la realtà del mito estrinsecantesi nella sto-
 
ria » è « necessariamente coincidente con ciascuna vicenda personale, poiché essa deriva
   
dalla natura intrinseca delle epifanie del mito » : nelle epifanie del mito « l’uomo attinge
     
alla realtà del suo essere che è “comunità” nell’istante stesso in cui è “individuo” ». 3    
5. Struttura e storia
In un dolente articolo scritto a ridosso della prematura scomparsa di Jesi, Sergio Mo-
ravia scriveva :  
« Una delle porte aperte nel nostro paese a un certo tipo di approccio alla dimensione del sacro
 
l’ha spalancata proprio Jesi : negli anni Sessanta, quando in Europa dilaga lo strutturalismo e tut-
 
ti (o quasi tutti) giurano sulla sofistica delle modellistiche logico-matematiche di Lévi-Strauss,

Jesi continua a guardare a un’altra metodologia, ad un un’altra procedura, che si apriva verso
l’ermeneutica, si agganciava a Mircea Eliade per poi tornare ai prediletti Kerényi e Dumézil ». 4    
Alla luce di uno studio complessivo sull’opera di Jesi il giudizio riguardante Lévi-Strauss
sembra eccessivamente tranchant : è vero che Jesi criticò lo strutturalismo, 5 ma è altret-
   
tanto vero che le opere del maestro francese, in particolare le Mythologiques, influenza-
rono molto e in senso fecondo un’intera generazione di studiosi, tra cui Jesi. 6  
Già il Lévi-Strauss di Antropologie Structurale (1958) con lo spostamento dello studio

dei fenomeni linguistici coscienti a livello delle « infrastrutture incoscienti » e con l’as-
   
sunzione del metodo della linguistica, metteva alla base delle sue analisi le relazioni tra
i termini di un sistema. Nelle opere tarde di Jesi sono espresse forti riserve nei confronti
della possibilità di individuare il sistema trascendentale di funzionamento dell’ésprit ;  
tuttavia la concettualizzazione profonda che è alla base del paradigma ricombinatorio

è riconosciuta come fondamentale per la comprensione dei processi di genesi di nuovo
senso : ogni cultura elabora il proprio sistema di classificazione della realtà basandosi
 
su regole inconsce che danno vita a un’infinita varietà di rappresentazioni incrociando

elementi invarianti, che si trasmettono nel tempo e costituiscono la sua storia.
Le critiche rivolte a Lévi-Strauss di aver “neutralizzato” la storia e negato valore ai
fatti (che risulterebbero meno importanti della forma) 7 parrebbero, alla luce di una  
1 Ivi, p. 42.
2 È una affermazione di Karl Jaspers nel 1931, citata in Manfred Frank, Il dio a venire. Lezioni sulla nuova mito-
logia, Torino, Einaudi, 1994, p. 24. 3 Furio Jesi, Germania segreta, p. 156.
4 Sergio Moravia, Jesi, l’interprete del mito, « Tuttolibri » de « La stampa », 28 giugno 1980, p. 4.
       
5 Furio Jesi, Mito, pp. 87 ss. e Id., Materiali mitologici, pp. 98, 352.
6 Furio Jesi, Materiali mitologici, p. 348 : Georges Dumézil, Gershom Scholem e Claude Lévi-Strauss sono
 
indicati come « continuo punto di riferimento », « stimolo » e « rettifica del proprio lavoro » ; cfr. Id., Bachofen, To-
             
rino, Bollati Boringhieri, 2005, p. 61 (in cui vengono ringraziati anche Jean Starobinski, Karl Meuli e Siegfried
Giedion).
7 Alfred Schmidt, La negazione della storia, ed. it. Milano, Lampugnani Nigri, 1972. Cfr. Sergio Moravia,
La ragione nascosta. Scienza e filosofia in Cl. Lévi-Strauss, Firenze, Sansoni, 1969 ; Francesco Remotti, Lévi-Strauss.
 
Storia e struttura, Torino, Einaudi, 1971.

riconsiderazione attuale, eccessivamente severe. In modo particolare se si tiene conto
del fortunato connubio di strutturalismo e marxismo in virtù del « potere polemico del  
metodo strutturale » : « la descrizione sincronica delle strutture, condotta in un certo

     
modo, può risultare anch’essa armata di un efficace potere contro ogni mistificazione :  
come la Storia, l’idea di Cultura non è forse l’antidoto all’idea di Natura ? ». 1      
Nelle Mythologiques (1964-1971) Lévi-Strauss ha proposto un’analisi dei patrimoni mi-

tologici in modo che sia possibile tornare da un mito verso un altro da cui si erano pre-
se le mosse : l’analisi strutturalista permette di “smontare” e rendere analizzabili i miti
 
presentandoli in forma di elementi allo stato disaggregato. Si tratta del procedimento

inverso all’uso politico dei miti, che è il caso estremo di manipolazione di un materiale
linguistico o iconografico : tale processo (che Kerényi e Jesi definivano tecnicizzazione
 
del mito) è l’intervento in virtù del quale elementi sintagmatici sono resi operativi dalla
“violenza” che separa il linguaggio dalle pratiche sociali in cui era inserito in un deter-
minato punto della sua storia e diviene qualcosa di diverso, un simbolo caricato di un
aumentato potere performativo in un momento della sua ricezione. 2  
Secondo Moravia « Jesi non era nato per limitarsi a divulgare il pensiero altrui » : 3
       
egli apprezza in modo particolare gli studi di Dumézil 4 per l’approccio storico-mor-
 
fologico, mentre più complesso è il giudizio sull’opera di Eliade, che passa dall’ini-
ziale entusiasmo a una presa di distanza molto critica 5. Nella sua rielaborazione, in
 
particolare negli anni Settanta, ha cercato di rendere storicamente dinamico ciò che
Lévi-Strauss ha inteso “raffreddare”, ipotizzando che dietro a una serie mitologica si
possa individuare il mito come struttura. Nei suoi lavori lo studioso torinese spesso
ha analizzato in senso diacronico elementi statici e sincronici, cercando il mutamento
dei valori da una fase storica all’altra (più che lo studio della coesistenza simultanea
dei fenomeni).
Su questa via Jesi ha sviluppato la teoria della « macchina mitologica » : un modello
     
epistemologico tale da cogliere i processi mitopoietici nella storia della storiografia,

nella letteratura e nella costruzione degli immaginari culturali, il quale prende in con-
siderazione le nozioni di “mito” alla luce della funzione strategica della fabbricazione
di mitologie, cioè la produzione di conoscenze che si autocertificano come verità.
Ulteriori elementi intervengono a mutare l’orientamento generale del lavoro intel-
lettuale di Jesi dagli esordi alla maturità : un umanesimo militante che è anche il preci-
 
pitato dell’influenza di Walter Benjamin, sia per il modo militante di intendere la critica
sia per l’affinità con l’idea della redenzione profana e della cultura come utopia. Nel
critico berlinese egli ha trovato un modello per la rielaborazione in chiave personale dei
suoi interessi all’interno della costante problematizzazione del “mito”. 6  
1 Roland Barthes, Introduzione a Il grado zero della scrittura, ed. it. Milano, Lerici, 1960, pp. 16-17.
2 Cfr. Jean-Pierre Faye, Violenza, in Enciclopedia Einaudi, vol. XIV, Torino, Einaudi, 1981, pp. 1098 ss.
3 Sergio Moravia, Jesi, l’interprete del mito, p. 4.
4 Cfr. Furio Jesi, Mito, pp. 85 ss. ; cfr. Id., Dumézil e la frangia di ultra-storia, in Georges Dumézil, Ventura e
 
sventura del guerriero, Torino, Rosenberg & Sellier, 1974, pp. VII-XXXI. I due erano in contatto a seguito alla tradu-
zione del libro ; lo studioso francese ha inoltre scritto una prefazione a un libro di Jesi : Georges Dumézil, Mito
   
e storia. Appunti di un comparatista, in Furio Jesi, La vera terra. Antologia di storici e altri pensatori greci sul mito e la
storia, Torino, Paravia, 1974. L’Archivio privato custodisce lo scambio epistolare.
5 Cfr. Enrico Manera, Furio Jesi. Mito, violenza, memoria, pp. 128-133.
6 Furio Jesi, Il testo come versione interlineare del commento, in Caleidoscopio benjaminiano, a cura di Enzo Ruti-
gliano e Giulio Schiavoni, Roma, Istituto italiano di studi germanici, 1987, pp. 217-220 ; cfr. Enrico Manera, Furio
 
Jesi. Mito, violenza, memoria, pp. 74 ss.

140 enrico manera
6. Continuità e rottura
« Quando ho cominciato a studiare materiali mitologici, simboli, prove metodologiche di scien-
 
za del mito alle fine degli anni ‘50 i testi di Jung mi emozionavano moltissimo, più di quelli di
Kerény. “Inconscio collettivo”, “archetipo”, “mandala”, mi sembravano parole di sapienza. [...]
i miei primi scritti in questo ambito (...) sono per molti aspetti junghiani, anche se fin da allora
provavo un certo disagio verso l’“archetipo” come forma in cavo di una figura a tutto tondo,
e cercavo di rimediarvi con il modello delle “connessioni archetipiche” : costanti – direi oggi  
– linguistiche, norme obbligate della composizione anziché figure organiche di una galleria di
ritratti ». 1    
Così l’autore si presenta in uno degli ultimi scritti : prendendo in considerazione l’opera
 
giovanile in questa prospettiva, gli elementi datati paiono minoritari rispetto alle istan-
ze di innovazione che emergono.
Per David Bidussa, a cui si deve una delle ricostruzione più convincenti dell’intera
produzione di Jesi, le connessioni archetipiche sono elementi per la « costruzione di  
sistemi di classificazione simbolica basati su una complementarità o anche un’opposi-

zione resi paradigmatici dalla loro riproposizione costante », 2 e vanno lette nel contesto
   
della svolta semiotica degli studi della cultura, sulle indicazioni dello stesso Jesi.
L’invarianza, ottenuta dalla serie di trasformazioni e combinazioni configura l’idea
della « sovrapposizione » come « via intermedia tra persistenza e ripetizione » ; 3 in ogget-
           
to è la porosità dei tempi nella loro stratificazione, come orizzonte per la comprensio-
ne delle modalità di « reiscrizione del sapere tradizionale dopo che si sia persa la sua
 
origine » ; in altri termini la questione che Jesi mette a fuoco è la rielaborazione dei
   
patrimoni mitologici in ambito letterario e del loro inserimento nei differenti contesti
ideologici, « che prepara la questione dell’uso politico dei materiali sacri e mitologici ».
   
La teoria giovanile contiene le condizioni per lo sviluppo di una fenomenologia della

cultura e anticipa la riflessione sulla metastoria che caratterizzano le opere più mature
di Jesi :  
« Le connessioni archetipiche sono solo il primo passo verso una grammatica dell’immaginario,
 
non forniscono la sua sintassi. Perché questo sia evidente, o almeno ricostruibile, occorre che
si considerino altri documenti che si determini una serie, o comunque si correlino tra loro più
serie, che si valuti come quelle connessioni archetipiche agiscano all’interno di materiali verbali
e iconografici che si strutturano [...] con l’impalcatura del mito. Ovvero con qualcosa che non
è più il mito, ma che non è nemmeno la sua memoria o il suo significato. Questo qualcosa che
ancora non ha un nome, che non giunge ancora a concettualizzarsi è “la macchina mitologi-
ca” ». 4
   
Studiare il mito diventa oggetto di interesse per una storia della storiografia tale da co-
gliere la vicenda dialettica di demitologizzazione e rimitologizzazione che caratterizza
la modernità : all’interno di essa il “mito” assume un ulteriore valore di nostalgia e
 
coincide con la mitizzazione del mondo antico nella storia culturale europea, pensato e
presentato nelle storiografie nazionali come fondativo e migliore del presente, corrotto
1 Furio Jesi, Così Kerényi mi distrasse da Jung, (auto)intervista su un itinerario di ricerca, in « Alias », 30, luglio 2007,
   
p. 21.
2 David Bidussa, Macchina mitologica e indagine storica. A proposito di Pasque di sangue e del « mestiere di storico »,
   
in Vero e falso. L’uso politico della storia, a cura di Marina Caffiero, Micaela Procaccia, Roma, Donzelli, 2008, p. 154.
3 Ivi, p. 155. 4 Ivi, pp. 155-156.
e decaduto. « La dimensione “altra” del mito determinata dalla sua assenza » è ciò che
   
costituisce il suo fascino, che risiede nel suo « campo magnetico ». 1

     
Sulla base da quanto affermato fin ora nella formazione e nella produzione jesiana
riferimenti e teorie sono interpretate e talvolta rielaborate in modo personale. Da que-
sto punto di vista il riferimento a Jung è esemplare e sembra essere una sorta di pretesto
euristico per disporre originali proposte teoriche in un quadro di riferimento.
Nel 1973 Jesi attribuisce alle « strutture psichiche universali e identiche » 2 una sostan-
     
ziale affinità da un lato con le dottrine della destra tradizionale (di cui è diventato stu-
dioso e critico), le quali vedono negli elementi “primordiali” una sostanza metafisica e
sacrale ; dall’altro con lo strutturalismo di Lévi-Strauss, per il quale archetipiche sareb-
 
bero le « epifanie obbligate delle norme di logica interna dei miti ». 3 Tale interpretazio-
     
ne è funzionale alla lettura jesiana in quanto entrambi gli autori vengono considerati
studiosi di un mito impossibile da conoscere, da contrapporre a Kerényi che nella mito-
logia, concepita in modo immanente, ha indicato invece ciò che è conoscibile in quanto
umano e oggetto di una possibile comprensione “commossa”.
Determinante in Jesi sarebbe l’influenza indiretta che la ricezione di Jung ha esercita-
to sul surrealismo e su Benjamin, con la concezione della conoscenza in quanto « stato  
di sogno » 4. In tale senso, autori-fonte, con un procedimento che risulta tipico, vengono
   
sostanzialmente ridotti a “formule” utilizzate in senso originale.

Come si è detto, Jesi approda a una critica letteraria e culturale venata da una pole-
mica antistoricista. Anche l’opera matura, densa di riferimenti e rinvi alla cultura degli
anni Settanta, mantiene tracce dei diversi “maestri” i cui risultati vengono “usati” in
modo personale e, come si è visto, svuotati di intenzioni metafisiche : se gli scritti gio-  
vanili sono permeati dal fascino ancestrale del mito, in modo sempre più consapevole
e dichiarato Jesi per spiegare le metamorfosi del mito ricorre a una metapsicologia in
chiave antropologica, semiotica e cognitiva.
Con molta attenzione a individuare i limiti epistemologici delle scienze umane, il
metodo jesiano sorge proprio come antidoto alla dimensione ontologica legate alla
riflessione filosofica “classica” sul mito, inteso come mito dell’origine (e delle origini). La
concezione ingenua del mito in quanto “essere originario” deve essere rovesciata con
l’interesse per la storia della ricezione storica di ogni mito e sostituita dall’idea in base
alla quale qualsiasi oggetto culturale, in determinazione condizioni, può assumere ca-
rattere mitico. 5  
Da questo punto di vista è presente in Jesi l’idea, comune alla « coscienza ermeneuti-  
ca, iper-riflessa e concentrata tutta sulla Wirkungsgeschichte », che non può esistere mito
 
« fuori del processo della demitizzazione, fuori della critica che lo dissolve » : « tutte le
       
differenti “filosofia della mitologia” elaborate dal romanticismo in poi si configurano

come risemantizzazioni funzionali di una “sostanzialità” che il pensiero moderno con-
tinua ad evocare spinto dal rimorso per averla infranta ». 6    
Jesi rimane affascinato dalla vertigine dell’originario fino a quando a metà degli anni
Settanta matura uno stile saggistico con il quale rinuncia alla storia delle religioni e alla
1 Ivi, p. 160. 2 Furio Jesi, Mito, pp. 88-89. 3 Ivi, p. 89.

4 Georges Didi-Huberman, Storia dell’arte e anacronismo delle immagini, ed. it. Torino, Bollati Boringhieri,
2007, p. 109.
5 Cfr. Hans Blumenberg, Elaborazione del mito, ed. it. Bologna, Il mulino, 1991 ; Jan Assmann, La memoria
 
culturale, ed. it. Einaudi, Torino, 1997 ; Marcel Detienne, L’invenzione della mitologia, ed. it. Bologna, Il mulino,
 
2000.
6 Gianni Carchia, Mito. Esperienza del presente e critica della demitizzazione, in « aut aut », 243-244, 1991, p. 3.
   
142 enrico manera
teoria dello “spirito” umano, per approdare a una critica letteraria venata di filosofia
politica.
Il “primo” Jesi può essere considerato come studioso ancora in transito tra la scienza
del mito classica, gravata da ipotesi metafisiche, e una più complessa costellazione di
scienze storiche che si andava definendo con progressive specializzazioni, la cui matrice
è principalmente l’antropologia. Finemente erudito, agli esordi lo studioso si mostra
interessato a partire da studi specifici in ambito antichistico a formulare teorie di ampio
respiro, con tratti intellettualistici e non privi di capziosità che lo hanno fatto apparire
a taluni critici « estremamente soggettivo e [...] difficile da seguire ». 1
     
Negli anni Settanta, con uno sguardo storico-storiografico e un progetto di critica

dell’ideologia, tali elementi sarebbero scomparsi, risolti grazie a una felice pratica sag-
gistica e all’interesse per le trasformazioni del mito nella cultura moderna e contem-
poranea, con particolare riferimento alla germanistica. All’interno di questi confini il
lavoro di Jesi non ha cessato di interrogare il plesso sacro-potere-letteratura, in modo
tale da costituire una continua, e incompiuta, riflessione sulla cultura e sui meccanismi
trascendentali e sociali del suo costituirsi.
1 Lettera a Furio Jesi di Keith C. Seele, editor del « Journal of Near Eastern Studies », 2 luglio 1960. Archivio
   
privato.
R ECA PITO DEI COLLA BOR ATOR I
DEL PR ESENTE FASCICOLO
Hiroko Kawanami, Lancaster University, UK, h.kawanami@lancaster.ac.uk
Enrico Manera, istoreto, enrico.manera@istoreto.it
Enrico Montanari, Università « La Sapienza » Roma, enrico.montanari@uniroma1.
   
it.
Giovanni Filoramo, Università degli Studi di Torino, giovanni.filoramo@unito.it
Maria Chiara Giorda, Università degli Studi di Torino, mariachiara.giorda@unito.
it
Stefania Palmisano, Università degli Studi di Torino, stefania.palmisano@unito.it
Isabelle Jonveaux, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, isabelle.jonveaux@uni-graz.at
Danielle Hervieu-Léger, EHESS, Paris, daniele.hervieu-leger@ehess.fr
Justin McDaniel, University of Pennsylvania, jmcdan@sas.upenn.edu
Sara Hejazi, Università degli Studi di Torino, sara.hejazi@unito.it
Matteo Nicolini-Zani, Comunità Monastica di Bose, matteo.nicolinizani@mona-
sterodibose.it
NORME REDAZIONALI
DELLA CASA EDITRICE*
Citazioni bibliografiche
U na corretta citazione bibliografica di opere monografiche è costituita dalle seguenti parti,
separate fra loro da virgole:
- Autore, in maiuscolo/maiuscoletto sia il nome che il cognome; da omettere se l’opera ha soltanto

dei curatori o se è senza attribuzione. Se vi sono più autori, essi vanno posti uno di seguito all’altro, in
maiuscolo/maiuscoletto e separati fra loro da una virgola, omettendo la congiunzione ‘e’;
- Titolo dell’opera, in corsivo alto/basso, seguìto dall’eventuale Sottotitolo, in corsivo alto/basso, separato
da un punto. Se il titolo è unico, è seguìto dalla virgola; se è quello principale di un’opera in più tomi, è

seguìto dalla virgola, da eventuali indicazioni relative al numero di tomi, in cifre romane tonde, omettendo
‘vol.’, seguìte dalla virgola e dal titolo del tomo, in corsivo alto/basso, seguìto dall’eventuale Sottotitolo,
in corsivo alto/basso, separato da un punto;
- eventuale numero del volume, se l’opera è composta da più tomi, omettendo ‘vol.’, in cifre romane
tonde;
- eventuale curatore, in tondo alto/basso, preceduto da ‘a cura di’, in tondo minuscolo. Se vi sono più
curatori, essi, in tondo alto/basso, seguono la dizione ‘a cura di’, in tondo minuscolo, l’uno dopo l’altro
e separati tra loro da una virgola, omettendo la congiunzione ‘e’;
- eventuali prefatori, traduttori, ecc. vanno posti analogamente ai curatori;
- luogo di edizione, in tondo alto/basso;
- casa editrice, o stampatore per le pubblicazioni antiche, in tondo alto/basso;
- anno di edizione e, in esponente, l’eventuale numero di edizione, in cifre arabe tonde;
- eventuale collana di appartenenza della pubblicazione, senza la virgola che seguirebbe l’anno di edizione
precedentemente indicato, fra parentesi tonde, col titolo della serie fra virgolette ‘a caporale’, in tondo
alto/basso, eventualmente seguìto dalla virgola e dal numero di serie, in cifre arabe o romane tonde,
del volume;
- eventuali numeri di pagina, in cifre arabe e/o romane tonde, da indicare con ‘p.’ o ‘pp.’, in tondo
minuscolo.
Esempi di citazioni bibliografiche di opere monografiche:
Sergio Petrelli, La stampa in Occidente. Analisi critica, iv, Berlino-New York, de Gruyter, 20005, pp. 23-28.
Anna Dolfi, Giacomo Di Stefano, Arturo Onofri e la «Rivista degli studi orientali», Firenze, La Nuova Italia,

1976 («Nuovi saggi», 36).

Filippo De Pisis, Le memorie del marchesino pittore, a cura di Bruno De Pisis, Sandro Zanotto, Torino,
Einaudi, 1987, pp. vii-14 e 155-168.
Storia di Venezia, v, Il Rinascimento. Società ed economia, a cura di Alberto Tenenti, Umberto Tucci, Renato
Massa, Roma, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani, 1996.
Umberto F. Giannone et alii, La virtù nel Decamerone e nelle opere del Boccaccio, Milano-Napoli, Ricciardi,
1974, pp. xi-xiv e 23-68.
*
Una corretta citazione bibliografica di articoli editi in opere generali o seriali (ad es. enciclo-
pedie, raccolte di saggi, ecc.) o del medesimo autore oppure in Atti è costituita dalle seguenti
parti, separate fra loro da virgole:
* Fabrizio Serra, Regole editoriali, tipografiche & redazionali, Pisa-Roma, Serra, 20092, § 1. 17 (Euro 34.00, ordini a : fse@libraweb.net).

Le Norme sono consultabili e scaricabili alle pagine ‘Pubblicare con noi’ e ‘Publish with us’ del sito Internet www.libraweb.net.
146 norme redazionali della casa editrice
- Autore, in maiuscolo/maiuscoletto sia il nome che il cognome; da omettere se l’articolo ha soltanto

- Titolo dell’articolo, in corsivo alto/basso, seguìto dall’eventuale Sottotitolo, in corsivo alto/basso, sepa-
rato da un punto;
- Titolo ed eventuale Sottotitolo di Atti o di un lavoro a più firme, preceduto dall’eventuale Autore: si
antepone la preposizione ‘in’, in tondo minuscolo, e l’eventuale Autore va in maiuscolo/maiuscoletto

(sostituito da Idem o Eadem, in forma non abbreviata, se è il medesimo dell’articolo), il Titolo va in corsivo
alto/basso, seguìto dall’eventuale Sottotitolo, in corsivo alto/basso, separato da un punto;
- eventuale numero del volume, se l’opera è composta da più tomi, omettendo ‘vol.’, in cifre romane
tonde;
- luogo di pubblicazione, in tondo alto/basso;
- casa editrice, o stampatore per le pubblicazioni antiche, in tondo alto/basso;
- anno di edizione e, in esponente, l’eventuale numero di edizione, in cifre arabe tonde;
- eventuale collana di appartenenza della pubblicazione, senza la virgola che seguirebbe l’anno di edi-
zione precedentemente indicato, fra parentesi tonde, col titolo della serie fra virgolette ‘a caporale’, in
tondo alto/basso, eventualmente seguìto dalla virgola e dal numero di serie, in cifre arabe o romane
tonde, del volume;
minuscolo.
Esempi di citazioni bibliografiche di articoli editi in opere generali o seriali (ad es. enciclopedie,
raccolte di saggi, ecc.) o del medesimo autore oppure in Atti:
Sergio Petrelli, La stampa a Roma e a Pisa. Editoria e tipografia, in La stampa in Italia. Cinque secoli di cultura,
ii, Leida, Brill, 20024, pp. 5-208.
Paul Larivaille, L’Ariosto da Cassaria a Lena. Per un’analisi narratologica della trama comica, in Idem, La
semiotica e il doppio teatrale, iii, a cura di Giulio Ferroni, Torino, utet, 1981, pp. 117-136.
Giorgio Marini, Simone Cai, Ermeneutica e linguistica, in Atti della Società Italiana di Glottologia, a cura di Al-
berto De Juliis, Pisa, Giardini, 1981 («Biblioteca della Società Italiana di Glottologia», 27), pp. 117-136.

*
Una corretta citazione bibliografica di articoli editi in pubblicazioni periodiche è costituita dalle
seguenti parti, separate fra loro da virgole:
- Autore, in maiuscolo/maiuscoletto sia il nome che il cognome; da omettere se l’articolo ha soltanto

- Titolo dell’articolo, in corsivo alto/basso, seguìto dall’eventuale Sottotitolo, in corsivo alto/basso, sepa-
rato da un punto;
- «Titolo rivista», in tondo alto/basso (o «Sigla rivista», in tondo alto/basso o in maiuscoletto spaziato,

secondo la specifica abbreviazione), preceduto e seguìto da virgolette ‘a caporale’, non preceduto da ‘in’
in tondo minuscolo;
- eventuale numero di serie, in cifra romana tonda, con l’abbreviazione ‘s.’, in tondo minuscolo;
norme redazionali della casa editrice 147
- eventuale numero di annata e/o di volume, in cifre romane tonde, e, solo se presenti entrambi, preceduti
da ‘a.’ e/o da ‘vol.’, in tondo minuscolo, separati dalla virgola;
- eventuale numero di fascicolo, in cifre arabe tonde;
- luogo di pubblicazione, in tondo alto/basso (opzionale);
- casa editrice, o stampatore per le pubblicazioni antiche, in tondo alto/basso (opzionale);
- anno di edizione, in cifre arabe tonde;
minuscolo; eventuale interpunzione ‘:’, seguìta da uno spazio mobile, per specificare la pagina che

interessa.
Esempi di citazioni bibliografiche di articoli editi in pubblicazioni periodiche:
Bruno Porcelli, Psicologia, abito, nome di due adolescenti pirandelliane, «rli», xxxi, 2, Pisa, 2002, pp. -:

.
Giovanni De Marco, I ‘sogni sepolti’: Antonia Pozzi, «Esperienze letterarie», a. xiv, vol. xii, 4, 1989, pp.

23-24.
Rita Gianfelice, Valentina Pagnan, Sergio Petrelli, La stampa in Europa. Studi e riflessioni, «Bibliologia»,

s. ii, a. iii, vol. ii, 3, 2001, pp. v-xii e 43-46.

Fonti (Le) metriche della tradizione nella poesia di Giovanni Giudici. Una nota critica, a cura di Roberto Zucco,
«StNov», XXIV, 2, Pisa, Giardini, 1993, pp. VII-VIII e 171-208.

*
Nel caso di bibliografie realizzate nello ‘stile anglosassone’, identiche per volumi e periodici, al
cognome dell’autore, in maiuscolo/maiuscoletto, segue la virgola, il nome e l’anno di pubblica-
zione fra parentesi tonde seguito da virgola, a cui deve seguire direttamente la rimanente speci-
fica bibliografica come prima esposta, con le caratteristiche tipografiche inalterate, omettendo
l’anno già indicato; oppure, al cognome e nome dell’autore, separati dalla virgola, e all’anno,

fra parentesi tonde, tutto in tondo alto/basso, segue ‘=’ e l’intera citazione bibliografica, come
prima esposta, con le caratteristiche tipografiche inalterate. Nell’opera si utilizzerà, a mo’ di
richiamo di nota, la citazione del cognome dell’autore seguìto dall’anno di pubblicazione,
ponendo fra parentesi tonde il solo anno o l’intera citazione (con la virgola fra autore e anno),
a seconda della posizione – ad es.: De Pisis (1987); (De Pisis, 1987) –.

È da evitare l’uso di comporre in tondo alto/basso, anche fra apici singoli, il titolo e in corsivo
il nome o le sigle delle riviste.
Esempi di citazioni bibliografiche per lo ‘stile anglosassone’:
De Pisis, Filippo (1987), Le memorie del marchesino pittore, a cura di Bruno De Pisis, Sandro Zanotto, Torino,
Einaudi, pp. 123-146 e 155.
De Pisis, Filippo (1987) = Filippo De Pisis, Le memorie del marchesino pittore, a cura di Bruno De Pisis,
Sandro Zanotto, Torino, Einaudi, 1987.
*
Nelle citazioni bibliografiche poste in nota a pie’ di pagina, è preferibile anteporre il nome al
cognome, eccetto in quelle realizzate nello ‘stile anglosassone’. Nelle altre tipologie bibliogra-
fiche è invece preferibile anteporre il cognome al nome. Nelle citazioni bibliografiche relative
ai curatori, prefatori, traduttori, ecc. è preferibile anteporre il nome al cognome.
L’abbreviazione ‘Aa. Vv.’ (cioè ‘autori vari’) deve essere assolutamente evitata, non avendo
alcun valore bibliografico. Può essere correttamente sostituita citando il primo nome degli
autori seguìto da ‘et alii’ o con l’indicazione, in successione, degli autori, separati tra loro da
una virgola, qualora essi siano tre o quattro.
Per completezza bibliografica è preferibile indicare, accanto al cognome, il nome per este-
so degli autori, curatori, prefatori, traduttori, ecc. anche negli indici, nei sommari, nei titoli
correnti, nelle bibliografie, ecc.
I nomi dei curatori, prefatori, traduttori, ecc. vanno in tondo alto/basso, per distinguerli da
quelli degli autori, in maiuscolo/maiuscoletto.
L’espressione ‘a cura di’ si scrive per esteso.
Qualora sia necessario indicare, in forma abbreviata, un doppio nome, si deve lasciare uno
spazio fisso fine pari a ½ pt (o, in subordine, uno spazio mobile) anche tra le lettere maiuscole
puntate del nome (ad es.: P. G. Greco; G. B. Shaw).

Nel caso che i nomi degli autori, curatori, prefatori, traduttori, ecc. siano più di uno, essi
si separano con una virgola (ad es.: Francesco De Rosa, Giorgio Simonetti; Francesco De

Rosa, Giorgio Simonetti) e non con il lineato breve unito, anche per evitare confusioni con i
cognomi doppi, omettendo la congiunzione ‘e’.
Il lineato breve unito deve essere usato per i luoghi di edizione (ad es.: Pisa-Roma), le case

editrici (ad es.: Fabbri-Mondadori), gli anni (ad es.: 1966-1972), i nomi e i cognomi doppi (ad

es.: Anne-Christine Faitrop-Porta; Hans-Christian Weiss-Trotta).

Nelle bibliografie elencate alfabeticamente sulla base del cognome dell’autore, si deve far
seguire al cognome il nome, omettendo la virgola fra le due parole; se gli autori sono più di

uno, essi vanno separati da una virgola, omettendo la congiunzione ‘e’.

Nelle bibliografie, l’articolo, fra parentesi tonde, può essere posposto alla prima parola del
titolo – ad es.: Alpi (Le) di Buzzati –.

Nei brani in corsivo va posto in tondo ciò che usualmente va in corsivo; ad esempio i titoli
delle opere. Vedi supra.

Gli acronimi vanno composti integralmente in maiuscoletto spaziato. Ad es.: agip, clueb,
cnr, isbn, issn, rai, usa, utet, ecc.

I numeri delle pagine e degli anni vanno indicati per esteso (ad es.: pp. 112-146 e non 112-46;

113-118 e non 113-8; 1953-1964 e non 1953-964 o 1953-64 o 1953-4).

Nelle abbreviazioni in cifre arabe degli anni, deve essere usato l’apostrofo (ad es.: anni ’).
I nomi dei secoli successivi al mille vanno per esteso e con iniziale maiuscola (ad es.: Settecen-
to); con iniziale minuscola vanno invece quelli prima del mille (ad es.: settecento). I nomi dei

decenni vanno per esteso e con iniziale minuscola (ad es.: anni venti dell’Ottocento).

L’ultima pagina di un volume è pari e così va citata. In un articolo la pagina finale dispari
esiste, e così va citata solo qualora la successiva pari sia di un altro contesto; altrimenti va citata,

quale ultima pagina, quella pari, anche se bianca.

Le cifre della numerazione romana vanno rispettivamente in maiuscoletto se la numerazione
araba è in numeri maiuscoletti, in maiuscolo se la numerazione araba è in numeri maiuscoli
(ad es.: xxiv, 1987; XXIV, 1987). Vedi supra.

L’indispensabile indicazione bibliografica del nome della casa editrice va in forma abbre-
viata (‘Einaudi’ e non ‘Giulio Einaudi Editore’), citando altre parti (nome dell’editore, ecc.)
qualora per chiarezza ciò sia necessario (ad es.: ‘Arnoldo Mondadori’, ‘Bruno Mondadori’,

‘Salerno Editrice’).
Opera citata
Nel ripetere la medesima citazione bibliografica successiva alla prima in assoluto, si indicano
qui le norme da seguire, per le opere in lingua italiana:
- può essere usata l’abbreviazione ‘op. cit.’ (‘art. cit.’ per gli articoli; in corsivo poiché sostituiscono
anche il titolo) dopo il nome, con l’omissione del titolo e della parte successiva ad esso:
Giorgio Massa, op. cit., p. 162.

ove la prima citazione era:
Giorgio Massa, Parigi, Londra e l’Europa. Saggi di economia politica, Milano, Feltrinelli, 1976.
- onde evitare confusioni qualora si citino opere differenti dello stesso autore, si cita l’autore,
il titolo (o la parte principale di esso) seguìto da ‘, cit.,’, in tondo minuscolo, e si omette la
parte successiva al titolo:
Giorgio Massa, Parigi, Londra e l’Europa, cit., p. 162.

- se si cita un articolo inserito in un’opera a più firme già precedentemente citata, si scriva:
Corrado Alvaro, Avvertenza per una guida, in Lettere parigine, cit., p. 128.
ove la prima citazione era:
Corrado Alvaro, Avvertenza per una guida, in Lettere parigine. Scritti 1922-1925, a cura di Anne-Christine
Faitrop-Porta, Roma, Edizioni dell’Ateneo, 1996.
Brani riportati
I brani riportati brevi vanno nel testo tra virgolette ‘a caporale’ e, se di poesia, con le strofe
separate fra loro da una barra obliqua (ad es. : « Quest’ermo colle, / e questa siepe, che da tanta
parte »). Se lunghi oltre le venticinque parole (o due-tre righe), vanno in corpo infratesto, senza
virgolette ; devono essere preceduti e seguìti da un’interlinea di mezza riga bianca e non devo-
no essere rientrati rispetto alla giustezza del testo. Essi debbono essere riprodotti fedelmente
rispetto all’originale, anche se difformi dalle nostre norme.
I brani riportati di testi poetici più lunghi e di formule vanno in corpo infratesto centrati
sul rigo più lungo.
Nel caso in cui siano presenti, in successione, più brani tratti dalla medesima opera, è suffi-
ciente indicare il relativo numero di pagina (tra parentesi tonda) alla fine di ogni singolo brano
riportato, preceduto da ‘p.’, ‘pp.’, evitando l’uso di note.
Abbreviazioni
Diamo qui un breve elenco di abbreviazioni per le opere in lingua italiana (facendo presente
che, per alcune discipline, esistono liste specifiche):
a. = annata ecc. = eccetera

a.a. = anno accademico ed., edd. = edizione, -i
A., Aa. = autore, -i (m.lo/m.tto) es., ess. = esempio, -i
a.C. = avanti Cristo et alii = et alii (per esteso; c.vo)
ad es. = ad esempio F = grado Farenheit
ad v. = ad vocem (c.vo) f., ff. = foglio, -i
an. = anonimo f.t. = fuori testo
anast. = anastatico facs. = facsimile
app. = appendice fasc. = fascicolo
art., artt. = articolo, -i Fig., Figg. = figura, -e (m.lo/m.tto)
art. cit., artt. citt. = articolo citato, articoli citati lett. = lettera, -e
(c.vo perché sostituiscono anche il titolo) loc. cit. = località citata
autogr. = autografo, -i m.lo = maiuscolo (tip.)
°C = grado Centigrado m.lo/m.tto = maiuscolo/maiuscoletto (tip.)
ca = circa (senza punto basso) m.tto = maiuscoletto (tip.)
cap., capp. = capitolo, -i misc. = miscellanea
cfr. = confronta ms., mss. = manoscritto, -i
cit., citt. = citato, -i n.n. = non numerato
cl. = classe n., nn. = numero, -i
cm, m, km, gr, kg = centimetro, ecc. (senza N.d.A. = nota dell’autore
punto basso) N.d.C. = nota del curatore
cod., codd. = codice, -i N.d.E. = nota dell’editore
col., coll. = colonna, -e N.d.R. = nota del redattore
cpv. = capoverso N.d.T. = nota del traduttore
c.vo = corsivo (tip.) nota = nota (per esteso)
d.C. = dopo Cristo n.s. = nuova serie
n.t. = nel testo s.t. = senza indicazione di tipografo
op., opp. = opera, -e sec., secc. = secolo, -i
op. cit., opp. citt. = opera citata, opere citate (c.vo sez. = sezione
perché sostituiscono anche il titolo) sg., sgg. = seguente, -i
p., pp. = pagina, -e suppl. = supplemento
par., parr., §, §§ = paragrafo, -i supra = sopra
passim = passim (la citazione ricorre frequente t., tt. = tomo, -i
nell’opera citata; c.vo) t.do = tondo (tip.)
r = recto (per la numerazione delle carte dei ma- Tab., Tabb. = tabella, -e (m.lo/m.tto)
noscritti; c.vo, senza punto basso) Tav., Tavv. = tavola, -e (m.lo/m.tto)
rist. = ristampa tip. = tipografico
s. = serie tit., titt. = titolo, -i
s.a. = senza anno di stampa trad. = traduzione
s.d. = senza data v = verso (per la numerazione delle carte dei ma-
s.e. = senza indicazione di editore noscritti; c.vo, senza punto basso)
s.l. = senza luogo v., vv. = verso, -i
s.l.m. = sul livello del mare vedi = vedi (per esteso)
s.n.t. = senza note tipografiche vol., voll. = volume, -i
Diamo qui un breve elenco di abbreviazioni per le opere in lingua inglese:
A., Aa. = author, -s (m.lo/m.tto, caps and small caps) ms., mss. = manuscript, -s
a.d. = anno Domini (m.tto, small caps) n.n. = not numbered
an. = anonymous n., nn./no., nos. = number, -s
anast. = anastatic n.s. = new series
app. = appendix p., pp. = page, -s
art., artt. = article, -s Pl., Pls. = plate, -s (m.lo/m.tto, caps and small caps)
autogr. = autograph r = recto (c.vo, italic; senza punto basso, without
b.c. = before Christ (m.tto, small caps) full stop)
cm, m, km, gr, kg = centimetre, ecc. (senza punto s. = series
basso, without full stop) suppl. = supplement
cod., codd. = codex, -es t., tt. = tome, -s
ed. = edition tit. = title
facs. = facsimile v = verso (c.vo, italic; senza punto basso, without
f., ff. = following, -s full stop)
lett. = letter vs = versus (senza punto basso, without full stop)
misc. = miscellaneous vol., vols. = volume, -s
Le abbreviazioni Fig., Figg., Pl., Pls., Tab., Tabb., Tav. e Tavv. vanno in maiuscolo/maiusco-
letto, nel testo come in didascalia.
Paragrafi
La gerarchia dei titoli dei vari livelli dei paragrafi (anche nel rispetto delle centrature, degli
allineamenti e dei caratteri – maiuscolo/maiuscoletto spaziato, alto/basso corsivo e tondo –)
è la seguente:
1. Istituti editoriali
1. 1. Istituti editoriali
1. 1. 1. Istituti editoriali
1. 1. 1. 1. Istituti editoriali
1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Istituti editoriali
1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Istituti editoriali
L’indicazione numerica, in cifre arabe o romane, nelle titolazioni dei vari livelli dei paragrafi,
qui indicata per mera chiarezza, è opzionale.
Virgolette e apici
L’uso delle virgolette e degli apici si diversifica principalmente tra:
- « », virgolette ‘a caporale’: per i brani riportati che non siano posti in corpo infratesto o per i discorsi

diretti;
- “ ”, apici doppi: per i brani riportati all’interno delle « » (se occorre un 3° grado di virgolette, usare gli

apici singoli ‘ ’);
- ‘ ’, apici singoli: per le parole e le frasi da evidenziare, le espressioni enfatiche, le parafrasi, le traduzioni

di parole straniere, ecc.
Note
In una pubblicazione le note sono importantissime e manifestano la precisione dell’autore.
Il numero in esponente di richiamo di nota deve seguire, senza parentesi, un eventuale segno
di interpunzione e deve essere preceduto da uno spazio finissimo.
I numeri di richiamo della nota vanno sia nel testo che in nota in esponente.
Le note, numerate progressivamente per pagina (o eccezionalmente per articolo o capitolo
o saggio), vanno poste a pie’ di pagina e non alla fine dell’articolo o del capitolo o del saggio.
Gli autori sono comunque pregati di consegnare i testi con le note numerate progressivamente
per articolo o capitolo o saggio.
Analogamente alle poesie poste in infratesto, le note seguono la tradizionale impostazione
della costruzione della pagina sull’asse centrale propria della ‘tipografia classica’ e di tutte
le nostre pubblicazioni. Le note brevi (anche se più d’una, affiancate una all’altra a una
distanza di tre righe tipografiche) vanno dunque posizionate centralmente o nello spazio
bianco dell’ultima riga della nota precedente (lasciando in questo caso almeno un quadra-
tone bianco a fine giustezza). La prima nota di una pagina è distanziata dall’eventuale parte
finale dell’ultima nota della pagina precedente da un’interlinea pari a tre punti tipografici
(nelle composizioni su due colonne l’interlinea deve essere pari a una riga di nota). Le note
a fine articolo, capitolo o saggio sono poste a una riga tipografica (o mezzo centimetro) dal
termine del testo.
Ivi e I bidem · Idem e Eadem

Nei casi in cui si debba ripetere di seguito la citazione della medesima opera, variata in qualche
suo elemento – ad esempio con l’aggiunta dei numeri di pagina –, si usa ‘ivi’ (in tondo alto/
basso); si usa ‘ibidem’ (in corsivo alto/basso), in forma non abbreviata, quando la citazione è

invece ripetuta in maniera identica subito dopo.

Esempi:
Lezioni su Dante, cit., pp. 295-302.

Ivi, pp. 320-326.
Benedetto Varchi, Di quei cinque capi, cit., p. 307.
Ibidem. Le cinque categorie incluse nella lettera (1, 2, 4, 7 e 8) sono schematicamente descritte da Varchi.
Quando si cita una nuova opera di un autore già citato precedentemente, nelle bibliografie
generali si può porre, in luogo del nome dell’autore, un lineato lungo; nelle bibliografie ge-

nerali, nelle note a pie’ di pagina e nella citazione di uno scritto compreso in una raccolta di
saggi dello stesso autore (vedi supra) si può anche utilizzare, al posto del nome dell’autore,
l’indicazione ‘Idem’ (maschile) o ‘Eadem’ (femminile), in maiuscolo/maiuscoletto e mai in
forma abbreviata.
Esempi:
Luigi Pirandello, Il fu Mattia Pascal, Milano, Sonzogno, 1936.

––, L’umorismo, Milano, Arnoldo Mondadori, 1.
Luigi Pirandello, L’esclusa, Milano, Arnoldo Mondadori, 1996.
Idem, L’umorismo, Milano, Arnoldo Mondadori, 1999.
Maria Luisa Altieri Biagi, La lingua in scena, Bologna, Zanichelli, 1980, p. 174.
––, Fra lingua scientifica e lingua letteraria, Pisa-Roma, Istituti Editoriali e Poligrafici Internazionali, 1998,
pp. 93-98.
Maria Luisa Altieri Biagi, La lingua italiana, Pisa-Roma, Istituti Editoriali e Poligrafici Internazionali,
2004.
Eadem, Fra lingua scientifica e lingua letteraria, Pisa-Roma, Istituti Editoriali e Poligrafici Internazionali,
1998, pp. 93-98.
Parole in carattere tondo

Vanno in carattere tondo le parole straniere che sono entrate nel linguaggio corrente, come:
boom, cabaret, chic, cineforum, computer, dance, film, flipper, gag, garage, horror, leader,
monitor, pop, rock, routine, set, spray, star, stress, thè, tea, tic, vamp, week-end, ecc. Esse
vanno poste nella forma singolare.
Parole in carattere corsivo

In genere vanno in carattere corsivo tutte le parole straniere. Vanno inoltre in carattere corsivo : alter
ego (senza lineato breve unito), aut-aut (con lineato breve unito), budget, équipe, media (mezzi di
comunicazione), passim, revival, sex-appeal, sit-com (entrambe con lineato breve unito), soft.
Illustrazioni
Le illustrazioni devono avere l’estensione eps o tif. Quelle in bianco e nero (bitmap) devono
avere una risoluzione di almeno 600 pixels; quelle in scala di grigio e a colori (cmyk e non rgb)

devono avere una risoluzione di almeno 300 pixels.
Varie
Il primo capoverso di ogni nuova parte, anche dopo un infratesto, deve iniziare senza il rientro,
in genere pari a mm 3,5.
Nelle bibliografie generali, le righe di ogni citazione che girano al rigo successivo devono
rientrare di uno spazio pari al capoverso.
Vanno evitate le composizioni in carattere neretto, sottolineato, in minuscolo spaziato e
integralmente in maiuscolo.
All’interno del testo, un intervento esterno (ad esempio la traduzione) va posto tra parentesi
quadre.
Le omissioni si segnalano con tre puntini tra parentesi quadre.
Nelle titolazioni, è nostra norma l’uso del punto centrale in luogo del lineato.
Per informazione, in tipografia è obbligatorio l’uso dei corretti fonts sia per il carattere corsivo
che per il carattere maiuscoletto.
Esempi:
Laura (errato); Laura (corretto)

LAURA (errato); Laura (corretto)

Analogamente è obbligatorio l’uso delle legature della ‘f ’ sia in tondo che in corsivo (ad es.:
‘ff ’, ‘fi ’, ‘ffi ’, ‘fl ’, ‘ffl ’; ‘ff’, ‘fi’, ‘ffi’, ‘fl’, ‘ffl’).

Uno spazio finissimo deve precedere tutte le interpunzioni, eccetto i punti bassi, le virgole, le
parentesi e gli apici. Le virgolette ‘a caporale’ devono essere, in apertura, seguìte e, in chiusura,
precedute da uno spazio finissimo.
I caratteri delle titolazioni (non dei testi) in maiuscolo, maiuscolo/maiuscoletto e maiusco-
letto devono essere equilibratamente spaziati.
Le opere da noi edite sono composte nel carattere Dante Monotype.
Negli originali cartacei ‘dattiloscritti’, il corsivo va sottolineato una volta, il maiuscoletto
due volte, il maiuscolo tre volte.
È una consuetudine, per i redattori interni della casa editrice, l’uso di penne con inchiostro
verde per la correzione delle bozze cartacee, al fine di distinguere i propri interventi redazio-
nali.
c o mposto in car atter e dan t e mon ot y p e d a l l a
fabr izio serr a editor e , p i s a · r om a .
stamp ato e rileg at o n e l l a
t ipog r afia di ag n an o, ag n a n o p i s a n o ( p i s a ) .
*
??? 2015
(cz 2 · fg 3)

HR2015 Volume PDF

Transféré par

Informations du document

Titre original

Copyright

Formats disponibles

Partager ce document

Partager ou intégrer le document

Options de partage

Avez-vous trouvé ce document utile ?

Ce contenu est-il inapproprié ?

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

HR2015 Volume PDF

Transféré par

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

h istor i a

A norma del codice civile italiano, è vietata la riproduzione, totale o parziale

Proprietà riservata · All rights reserved

Direttore responsabile: Fabrizio Serra.

monastic transmutation. monks

Virgil to Dante, Inferno – I, 91-93

I n recent years monasticism has returned to be a focus of attention for analysts of

collectively, a pathway to perfection in order to enter the restricted field of religious

and sobriety, which by definition stands as an alternative to a capitalist economy

by Fausto Taiten Guareschi, disciple of Taisen Deshimaru Roshi, a Japanese master of

inter-religious dialogue between monastics belonging to different religious traditions

Interreligieux Monastique/Monastic Interreligious Dialogue ». The author focuses on

may be a useful way of understanding the society in which it is organized.

C ontemporary Catholic monasticism is dominated by two main groups : the pre-

a) “Traditional” or “classical” communities are those which were founded throughout

b) “Traditionalist” or “conservative” communities which, although they existed be-

sections 1, 3 and 4, Palmisano ; sections 2 and 5, Jonveaux.

c) “Ultratraditionalist” communities. The “ultra-traditionalists” counterpoint the

e) “Ultra-innovative” New Monastic Communities. They are labelled « ultra-innova-

f ) “Traditional” New Monastic Communities which, born as reaction to the Coun-

City (USA) ; Kloster Reichenstein - Monschau (Germany).

Petits Monastères de l’Agneau (France).

dictine monasteries through interviews with monks and ethnographical observation. 1

2. From tradition to traditions : Old monasticism

and its modern recompositions

the very same as those of the structures or systems of plausibility of an epoch or of

to be at variance with society, it nevertheless has to remain plausible in order to be ac-

world ». As an Austrian monk says, monks are accompanied by the « Zeitgeist ». 1

2. 1. Transmutations to a new individualism in traditional monastic life

movement of the first centuries presented itself as an extremely strong accentuation

cally united in his or her person.

The unification of life, however, is not only understood as continuous contempla-

solved, we observe new tendencies of individualism in modern monastic life.

do the nuns have to be subjected to a different – stricter – discipline of enclosure than

Séguy’s conception, Danièle Hervieu-Léger speaks about a « metaphorization of en-

nastic communities is an impassable barrier for traditional communities, where sexual

« The renunciation of marriage on the part of a consecrated woman no longer signifies

de l’histoire des religions », 219, 2002, p. 322. Our translation.

has also to be understood as a new affirmation of the independence of female monas-

2. 2. How socio-historical context builds monasticism

des thèses, 2004. 2 Research in progress.

This faithfulness to tradition is present under different guises in traditional commu-

3. New Monasticism. An ouverture

– which is only partial as it represents a preliminary reconnaissance sortie – shows that

Vatican II is a symbolic point in the « authorized biography » of most NMCs. Never-

its documents. More specifically, their Weltanschauung – recognizable in their theologi-

2 Rocca, Primo censimento delle nuove comunità.

point of view because their co-presence delegitimizes their claim to be institutions of

in what way(s) ? What elements have been rejected, and why ?

In the Italian communities, rationalisation of collective prayer times has meant

part of New Monasticsm’s (more-or-less explicit) challenge to the old order.

jecting the ceremonial uniformity expected in pre-Conciliar convents and monasteries.

ricerca qualitativa », 2, 2012, pp. 185-202.

2. Particular NMC innovations have proved to be founding characteristics of tradi-

and Monasticism, cit., pp. 71-86.

une double mutation

C es réflexions procèdent d’une enquête conduite dans les monastères bénédictins

le temps chrétien et le temps du monde, objet d’un ouvrage à paraître.

« Il y a cinquante ans, on ne parlait pas de communauté… »

« fidélité à la tradition » parfaitement préservée. Néanmoins, tous s’attardent, en même

temps, sur la transformation intervenue dans le style des relations communautaires,

la préoccupation de la communauté n’était pas vraiment à l’agenda des monastères

vie monastique. Evoquant un livret de présentation du monastère préparé par de jeu-

e) “Ultra-innovative” New Monastic Communities. They are labelled « ultra-innova-  

dictine monasteries through interviews with monks and ethnographical observation. 1  

2. From tradition to traditions : Old monasticism 

Séguy’s conception, Danièle Hervieu-Léger speaks about a « metaphorization of en-  

temps, comme « normale ».    

de son Abbé “qu’il regarde comme le représentant du Père” (Règle) »  

écho un moine de Landévennec – le sens de l’obéissance n’y a rien perdu, au contraire ».  

selon une formule entendue partout, est le « garant de l’unité de la communauté ». Il    

in Italy), with some references to the case of Rougemont, in Canada. 5  

with the changing context ?  

a) to create a place suitable for worship, prayer and meditation ;  

c) to cultivate land, pastures and woods ;  

e) to buy and raise livestock ;  

a) to promote and support activities of religion and worship ;  

c) to join associations or bodies characterized by similar or parallel purposes ;  

f ) to perform all activities related to the achievement of the above purposes ;  