Every religion provides for monastics. Monasticism may be a way of life only for a few, but the spirit of monasticism must animate the soul of every spiritual seeker. This handy book explains the ideals of monasticism and its practice in various traditions.
When we have become free, we need not go mad and throw up society and rush off to die in the forest or the cave; we shall remain where we were, only we shall understand the whole thing.
-Swami Vivekananda