I’ve heard of religious orders where the members are bound by vows of silence. Does this mean that all communication is banned, or just the spoken word? For instance would using a computer to discuss topics on a message board be breaking the rules? What about reading a book- is that permissable?
:rolleyes:
The Master speaks:
The vow of silence was taken by contemplatives long before the internet, of course, but the point of living a contemplative life is to reflect on one’s own prayer life. Outside communication is pretty much contra-indicated (but see below*). Even contemplatives use their voices to sing and pray aloud, and during meals there is often (usually?) someone who reads aloud from Scripture. While there may be some orders that impose absolute silence, all the groups that I have encountered have proscribed unnecessary conversation and chit-chat. They are quite free to engage in sufficient discussion to keep the monastery or convent operating. My (faulty) memory is that they may correspond with the outside world by mail, but that the correspondence is delivered only once a week or once a month. I suspect that the internet is pretty alien to their intentions and that various groups are either ignoring it or just beginning to wrestle with its use, now.
Contemplatives have often expressed themselves in writing journals–many of which have been published. The prohibition is geared to avoiding filling up the day with distracting chatter and gossip, not in avoiding necessary communication. I suspect that message boards and newsgroups would not be encouraged and chat rooms would be right out.
*(On the other hand, a desire to spread the word about their orders has prompted some such groups, such as The Monks of Adoration, to invest the energy to set up their own web sites.)
The preceding addresses Christian contemplative orders. The internet is filled with sites set up by Buddhist contemplatives, and I do not know enough about their traditions to comment.