Chapter 55: Clothing and footwear for the community (paragraphs 3-4)
In order to root out completely this vice of hoarding personal possessions, the superior must provide all members of the community with whatever they really need, that is: cowl, tunic, sandals, shoes, belt, knife, stylus, needle, handkerchief and writing tablets.
(From para. 3 of Ch. 55 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)
Five pieces of clothing, 3 sharp things, and two flat, rectangular things: This is what Benedict identifies as the necessary personal items for one living in community. I honestly can't begin to think of my material life in these simple and essential terms. And yet, even here, I trust that meditation helps me to let go of whatever is a distraction to my experience of being.
Five pieces of clothing, 3 sharp things, and two flat, rectangular things: This is what Benedict identifies as the necessary personal items for one living in community. I honestly can't begin to think of my material life in these simple and essential terms. And yet, even here, I trust that meditation helps me to let go of whatever is a distraction to my experience of being.
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