rule of saint benedict is given credit for writing the rules of behavior for the monks living in the monasteries.
who is given credit for writing the rules of behavior for the monks living in the monasteries?
rule of saint benedict
monastic life began to develop in ukraine in the times of saint vladimir the great (980-1015), when the first monks settled in the caves near kiev led by saints anthony and theodosius. after the mongol invasions in the 13th century the monks fled to western lands of halych-volhynia and the grand duchy of lithuania, spreading eastern monasticism there. after the eastern rite ruthenian church (in modern-day belarus and ukraine) has re-affirmed its communion with the catholic church in the union of brest in 1596. the monasteries living according to the rules of st. basil and st. theodore studite, previously undergoing a period of laxity and decline, were reformed by the initiative of saint josaphat kuntsevych and joseph benjamin rutsky started in the monastery of the holy trinity in vilnius. following this reform in 1617 the individual monasteries united into a single congregation under a protarchimandrite directly subject to the metropolitan, similar to the path western rite monasticism took during the middle ages. in 1739 a second congregation was formed by monasteries in halychyna and in 1744 both congregations were united in the ruthenian order of st. basil the great by pope benedict xiv.
order of saint basil the great
with forest land allotted by the government of india, two arms of the sera monastery, representing the migrant monks of the tibetan sera je and sera me colleges were established; 193 sera je monks got and 107 monks of sera me got an allotment of the balance area. further, 38 tenements were built with grants by the government of india for the monks to reside and pursue their vocation of monkshood coupled with tilling the surrounding allotted land for raising food crops for survival. well established as an organised monastery with dedicated efforts of the monks, an assembly prayer hall that could accommodate 1500 monks was also completed in 1978. this monastery is now the nodal monastery, with its affiliation to several smaller monasteries spread across various regions in tibet; its popularity could be gauged by the 3000 or more monks living here now. encouraged by this success and noting the pressure on existing infrastructure, an additional, much larger and an impressive assembly hall (measuring , high with 110 pillars) has been built that can accommodate 3500 monks to assemble for prayers. with this development, sera has now two facets, the original “tibetan sera” and the bylakuppe “new sera” of the “tibetan diaspora” with the counterpart jé, mé monasteries, with the ngakpa college counterpart also added recently. the sera-india monk community of the bylakuppe monastery, has gone global with their missionary activity by establishing “dharma centres” in many parts the world, thus removing the cultural isolation of pre-1959 years in tibet.
sera monastery