BUDDHIST NUNs
Throughout time, men and women have sought solitude and silence in the search for God. This is not solely a Christian vocation for other faiths have followed the same path. Over a number of years, John Robert Young managed to persuade certain communities of monks, friars and nuns to allow him to document their way of life. A life of silence, prayer and work.
The community of the Buddhists Nuns of Chithurst Monastery was established in 1979 when four Western women became interested in the monastic lifestyle and were admitted as white-robed ‘Precept nuns’ at Chithurst Monastery. For the first five years, they lived in a cottage located on the edge of Chithurst Forest, (where these photos were taken in 1979) about ten minutes walk from the monastery’s main house, observing a celibate, contemplative life.
‘The monk is one who, alone and poor, yet rich in a love that is wide enough to embrace the world, feels within him the silence of God expanding into a tremendous smile: it is the presence of the infinite Word claiming possession of another humanity, a possession due to Him not only as Head of the human race but by the right conquest. He has won the right to exult our hearts by the triumph of His Cross.’
Silence in Heaven: Thomas Merton.
