Education

Serenity 101: Penn Class Teaches Students to Live Like Monks

Penn Monk Class

(AP) — Looking for a wild-and-crazy time at college? Don‘t sign up for Justin McDaniel’s religious studies class.

The associate professor’s course on monastic life and asceticism gives students at the University of Pennsylvania a firsthand experience of what it’s like to be a monk.

At various periods during the semester, students must forego technology, coffee, physical human contact and certain foods. They’ll also have to wake up at 5 a.m. — without an alarm clock.

That’s just a sample of the restrictions McDaniel imposes in an effort to help students become more observant, aware and disciplined. Each constraint represents an actual taboo observed by a monastic religious order.

“I’ve found in the past that students take this extremely seriously,” said McDaniel, who has taught the class twice before. “I’ve had very few people who try to get away with things, and you can always tell when they are.”

The discipline starts with a dress code for class: White shirts for the men, black shirts for women, and they must sit on opposite sides of the class. No makeup, jewelry or hair products. Laptops are prohibited; notes can be taken only with paper and pen. And don’t even think of checking your cellphone for texts or email.

The course, which focuses primarily on Catholic and Buddhist monastic traditions, stems in part from McDaniel’s own history. An expert on Asian religions, he spent a portion of his post-undergraduate life nearly 20 years ago as a Buddhist monk in Thailand and Laos and says he’s both a practicing Buddhist and a practicing Catholic.

Restrictions outside class are introduced gradually: Students sacrifice caffeine and alcohol during one week, then swear off vegetables that grow underground in another. The latter rule stems from an extremely non-violent sect that eschews such produce because uprooting the food could kill insects, McDaniel said.

The real test is a full month of restrictions that begins in mid-March. Students can only eat food in its natural form; nothing processed. They can‘t eat when it’s dark, nor speak to anyone while they eat. They must be celibate, foregoing even hugs, handshakes and extended eye contact. No technology except for electric light. They can read for other classes, but news from the outside world is forbidden.

So why would anyone sign up? It could be because McDaniel requires no term papers or exams. But sophomore Madelyn Keyser, 20, of Castro Valley, Calif., said that’s misleading.

“In reality, it’s much harder because your grade is based entirely on your participation and your integrity,” said Keyser.

As a nursing major at the Ivy League school in Philadelphia, Keyser said she hopes the class will help her become more observant and a better listener to her patients.

Students also have to write in a journal every 30 minutes during their waking hours. And required course research cannot be done online — students must consult books and librarians, or have conversations with religious leaders.

Freshman Rachel Eisenberg said she enrolled because it’s important “to figure out yourself before you can really help other people.”

“It would give me a chance to really listen to myself and focus on my needs and feelings,” said Eisenberg, 18, of Miami.

Keyser and Eisenberg are among 17 students in the class, a group carefully chosen from among nearly 100 applicants. McDaniel said he winnowed the list by contacting each student to make sure they understood what they were in for.

The numbers thinned quickly. One cited an inability to be without Facebook, McDaniel said, while another said she couldn’t go a day without talking to her mother on the phone.

Penn Monk Class

There are some exceptions to the rules, such as if another class requires students to watch a film. But any other infractions require confessions and acknowledgement in their journals.

In one recent class, three students were disciplined for the minor slip of having the labels of their T-shirts exposed, violating the dress code designed to enforce conformity. As a punishment, McDaniel made them compile a list of the countries where every one of their shirts was made.

McDaniel stresses he’s not advocating for a total lifestyle change. He uses technology as much as the next person and is now married with children.

But if someone is forced to just listen for a month, he is more aware of how he speaks, McDaniel said. If someone can‘t talk while she’s eating and has to count each chew, she’ll think more about her food, he said.

“It’s not about individual restrictions,” said McDaniel. “It’s about building hyperawareness of yourself and others.”

Comments (19)

  • piper60
    Posted on February 13, 2012 at 7:09am

    Perhaps this course should be a pre-requisite to holding office in D.C.

    Report Post » piper60  
  • ShyLow
    Posted on February 13, 2012 at 12:20am

    I just ordered a pizza…I told them to make me one with everthing

    Report Post » ShyLow  
  • beachcomber1017
    Posted on February 13, 2012 at 12:18am

    I still can‘t understand why you can’t eat vegetables that grow under ground.

    Report Post » beachcomber1017  
    • Elena2010
      Posted on February 13, 2012 at 1:30am

      When you pull the carrot, potato, etc., you could kill an insect that resides nearby the plant.

      Report Post » Elena2010  
  • LaudemGloriae
    Posted on February 12, 2012 at 8:56pm

    The professor says he is “a practicing Catholic and a practicing Buddhist.” My understanding is that Buddhism is not compatible with Catholocism, or even Christianity. I wish journalists reporting on religious issues would be more knowledgeable and not let these sorts of comments go unexplained.

    Report Post »  
    • lukerw
      Posted on February 12, 2012 at 9:36pm

      You are correct… Buddhism is about SELF & NIRVANA (being free from suffering)… Christianity is about SOUL, DEEDS (Reality of Life), & SALVATION (of the Individual).

      Report Post » lukerw  
  • mike3481
    Posted on February 12, 2012 at 8:49pm

    I read the headline and for a moment there I thought they were referring to the Joss Whedon film “Serenity”, which the students could learn a lot more from than from monks, such as;

    Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: Well, something sure the hell ain’t right.

    Jayne Cobb: Boy, it sure would be nice if we had some grenades, don’t you think?

    Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: This is how it is. Anybody doesn’t wanna fly with me any more, this is your port of harbor. There’s a lot of fine ways to die. I ain’t waiting for the Alliance to choose mine.

    And the rest ->

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379786/quotes

    Report Post »  
    • thetreyman
      Posted on February 13, 2012 at 5:25am

      i love that movie. of course i like any movie that is about fighting tyranny.

      Report Post » thetreyman  
  • thegreatcarnac
    Posted on February 12, 2012 at 7:53pm

    Most likely….about a month of quiet and prayerful sollitude would do us all a lot of good.

    Report Post »  
  • The Third Archon
    Posted on February 12, 2012 at 7:06pm

    I don’t agree that all the taboos are necessarily sensible, but I believe the pursuit of reflection and meditation is something both extremely beneficial, and absolutely necessary, to obtain wisdom.

    Report Post » The Third Archon  
    • lukerw
      Posted on February 12, 2012 at 11:15pm

      So… Knowledge, Wisdom, & Enlightenment come from the Self… reaching out into the pool of Humanity, or the Void of Space… as if to touch the Face of God? And, the rest of Humanity must suffer Education for the lack of this Super Ability?

      Report Post » lukerw  
  • lukerw
    Posted on February 12, 2012 at 6:01pm

    Now… if these are Monks alike the Knight Templars… then this could be interesting!

    Report Post » lukerw  
    • The Third Archon
      Posted on February 12, 2012 at 7:39pm

      Monastic Orders and Orders of Knighthood are VERY VERY different.

      Monasticism is almost universally pacifistic–Orders of Knighthood, literally the opposite.

      But yes, other than that, they have tons of similarities.

      Report Post » The Third Archon  
    • lukerw
      Posted on February 12, 2012 at 8:00pm

      @THE…
      Check your history… the Knights Templar were a Monastic Order created by the Pope!

      Report Post » lukerw  
  • Manchurian.Candidate
    Posted on February 12, 2012 at 5:53pm

    Here ya go MONK! This one’s for you.

    Report Post » Manchurian.Candidate  
    • Manchurian.Candidate
      Posted on February 12, 2012 at 5:57pm

      MONK,
      How long can you go without,………………making a comment? :-D

      Report Post » Manchurian.Candidate  
    • The-Monk
      Posted on February 13, 2012 at 12:04am

      @Manchurian.Candidate (aka JHC)
      Thank you for remembering me. Sunday is laundry day and house cleaning and I don’t view The Blaze until later in the day. What is it that you want me to respond to? This is a college class taught by a person who is not a Monk and will never be a Monk. This is what passes for higher education in your World. Imagine a professor teaching mathematics that failed Geometry and Algebra and Trigonometry but was certified to teach Math. If you passed his class where would that leave you? A degree in mathematics? No, that would leave you WANTING. Anyone that teaches you something and leaves you wanting is no teacher at all. The class; Serenity 101, will leave you wanting something because there is no class that can teach Serenity. It’s not a degree you can earn from any College.
      Monks live by Laws; Laws of Nature…
      Law 1; “What something is, is what it extends”. I read your posts and I know exactly who you are.
      Law 2; “Never try to explain any Law past Law 1 until you can confirm that the student is not an assw1pe progressive going by the name of Manchurian.Candidate or JZS or JESUSH.CHRIST.
      I hope you are attending classes at Penn State and have to wear “white or black” shirts. White for Men and Black for Women; have to sit on opposite sides of the class, no makeup, jewelry or hair products. Laptops are prohibited and no cell phones. Have your paper and pen ready, that’s all you will be allowed to have in your new utopia.

      Report Post » The-Monk  
    • The-Monk
      Posted on February 13, 2012 at 12:27am

      @Manchurian.Candidate
      Oh, and BTW… if I meet you on the field of battle…. I will spill your blood and give it not a second thought. If we meet… you will die.

      Report Post » The-Monk  

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