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The Dubist Monastery

Work in Progress

I had wanted to present my conception of the Dubist Monastery, but when I began working out the dollars and cents details, it wouldn’t compute. I did not see how all of that responsibility for all of those monks was going to be assumable with the amount of money expectable from the projected sources of revenue. So I did not depict the dubist monastery on the website, but the idea for it had been good, other than the finances. So I thought I would present the concept here -- perhaps someone in the future might think of a way to make it work financially.

In my ideal conception, the Dubist monastery would be situated in upstate New York, on a hundred acres of woodland containing a very large pond, either natural or man-made. The land would have natural gas under it, which could be tapped into and refined, so that the monastery would have free heat and cooking forever.

Upon this land would be the Dubist Monastery, built with concrete blocks. The building is circular, 55 feet in diameter, 110 feet across. The plan is four concentric circles. The inner circle is 28 feet in diameter, 56 feet across. Around this inner circle, which is a common room, are ringed the monastic cells.

Since the circumference of the inner circle is 175.93 feet, there can be 24 cells, each 7 feet wide. The length of each cell is 10 feet. This leaves 7.93 feet for the door to the outside. Each cell opens into the common room at one end, and a 7-foot wide circular corridor at the other end. The outer side of the corridor is the inner wall of the circular array of rooms, which are all 10 feet wide, and the outer wall of the circle of rooms is the outside of the monastery.

The 7.93-foot door of the common room leads through a passageway to the circular corridor, and continues through the circular room-array to the outside of the monastery. The height of the monastic cells is 8 feet. So we have now a drum shaped building, whose outer circumference is 345.5749 feet.

The outer wall of the circular corridor is the outer circle which, on the roof, is the beginning of a dome that rises from that parameter to its acme. This dome is 15 feet from the apex to the floor. Inside it is the temple.

Each manastic cell has a metal-runged ladder rising to a circular opening in the ceiling, so that the monk can climb the ladder, push the hinged covering up, and pull himself up to the temple, then closing the cover. He is then very close to his place in the Unist circle, for group devotions.

The temple is the inside of the dome. In the center is a cylindrical altar, six feet in height, two feet in diameter. Upon this altar is kept the symbol of Un, visible in the water of a stemmed glass drinking vessel, on a circular disk, two inches thick and two feet in diameter. The largest possible vessel should be used for this purpose. It is possible to elevate the disk by affixing a metal hoop to the edge of the disk on two sides, and carefully raising the entire disk four feet by an apparatus suspended from the apex of the dome. Any other divine symbol may then be placed on the altar for veneration.

During group devotions, the monks are arranged in a circle about the altar. The temple may be accessed also through other openings over the circular corridor, for visitors. There can be openings in the common room as well.

In the outermost circle is the array of rooms; here is a suggested layout, the walls being assumed to be about 2 inches thick.

Dining room (doubles as large group meeting)	30 feet
Kitchen	30 feet
Food storage room	15 feet
Bathrooms, (4, each 4' wide)	16 feet
Janatorial supplies	04 feet
Small group meeting rooms (2)	30 feet
Gymnasium	30 feet
Craft room	30 feet
Meditation rooms (8, 5' wide)	40 feet
Computer room	15 feet
President and secretary’s offices	30 feet
Entrance	10 feet
Total	280 feet

That leaves over two feet to spare, for walls -- just fudge it. The bathrooms contain a tub-with shower, a sink, and a toilet.

All of the tasks in the monestary, including that of being the titular head of the order, are assigned by the task assignment monk (TAM). Any monk in the monestary may become the task assignment monk by volunteering for it, and being assigned a time period approved by the assembled monks, who may also remove him from office by a simple majority vote.

Every monk is required to provide a yearly updated task-preference list (TPL), of the tasks that he most prefers, in order of preference. He may update it more often if he wishes. An effort is made to respect, as far as possible, the preferences indicated, and the TAM is to be computer-assisted in working out who will do what. There is also a “character building” square at the top of the TPL. If that block is checked off, the list is inverted, and an effort is made to give that monk the work that he least prefers.

Every task in the monastery, including that of being the titular head of the order, is performed by every monk in the monastery at one time or another. Every monk who is the superior to another monk, should at some point be the subordinate of that monk, and vice-versa. Over and over again, until each monk is thoroughly weaned of any notion of inherent superiority or inferiority.

The monks engage in personal discipline relationships with each other, and receive corporal punishment in the form of spanking on the bare bottom with a fraternity-style paddle while the monk is draped over something. If the spanking is to be a hard one, it is self applied, and the severity assigned by number, as defined in the technique section.

The monks wear a dark, solid-color belted tunic, reaching to somewhat above the mid-thigh area. It can be tucked into the trousers, which are conventional, for work purposes. A visitor demanding to see the head of the order is solemnly escorted into his office by the secretary, who may well have been the titular head the previous week, the head himself having perhaps been engaged in cleaning the bathrooms.

The monks live in traditional-sized cells which are arranged around an inner circular chamber in a ray formation. They do sadhana exercises in the mornings, and chant in a body in the evenings. If a monk appears for breakfast, his body belongs to the task-assignment monk after the meal, for four hours of work, Monday through Friday. If something of moment is happening in his spiritual life, he simply skips breakfast, and does not take food until the following morning.

Each monk may design his own sadhana, or take a spiritual preceptor if he wishes. It is the responsibility of his personal discipliner to review his spiritual life and practices, to make sure that a monkly life is indeed being lived. The discipliner may tell him to do more, but cannot specify which practices the monk must adopt. As with the Unist religion, belief in the Dubist Order is a personal matter, and a

monk may be anything from completely Buddhist with no Theism, to completely Theistic with no Buddhism, or any combination of the two. A Dubist monk is, of course, a Unist -- what unifies Unism is morality, and the acknowledgement that one ought to be as perfectly moral as one can. What the symbol of Un represents is what each individual says it represents, which should be in absolute accord with his own personal conscience.

No one in any part of Unism, including the Dubist Order of Monks, may insist or require that anyone else believe or disbelieve anything whatsoever, that there never be any need for compromise of truthfulness in the conscience of the adherent. The monks do not and will not accept personal power from the members of the Unist religion, and upon being proffered any, will immediately refer to the Godhead. They will firmly decline to rule anybody who offers submission, explaining to that person that only the Godhead and one’s own Buddha-self in Nirvana have any business ruling, assuring him further that his prayers are always, heard, understood, and sympathized with, and that he will become more aware of that communication to the extent that he emerges from the sin-state and enters grace.

To be admitted, a candidate must be clear of debt and life-obligation (such as being the parent of a parented-age child), and must also pass anonymous blackball in the monastery to which he applies for entry. If, after being interviewed, he is presented for membership, any monk in the monastery may blackball him, in which case he is not let in. If he passes it, he is allowed to buy a cell in the monastery, which he holds for life, as long as he continues to keep the rules.

A monk ordinarily requires permission from the current titular head of the order to leave the monestery grounds, and must return promptly if he is given a deadline, barring extenuating circumstances. If he leaves or is expelled, his cell becomes available, and an approved candidate on the waiting list may buy in at whatever the going rate for a cell is at that time. At this writing, I would put the figure at about a hundred thousand US dollars. If he has funds over and above that, he may keep them, and he may manage and invest his money, but the amount of time he may spend on that during the week will certainly be regulated, so that his life remains spiritual to the degree that a monk’s life ought to be spiritual.

Monastic chanting in the evenings will produce a group-soul consciousness, to address the needs and concerns of the Unist Religion, and the discipline of each and every monk, which is administered in personal relationships. For one season a monk will be disciplined by another, for a second he will discipline another, for a third he will play both roles, and for the fourth he will have neither, but will only discipline himself. Any monk found to be taking personal power for himself the way demons do in degenerate religions, will receive appropriate punishment and correction, being made to stop doing that in accordance with an agreement he makes on becoming a Dubist monk. If he does not cease it, he will be expelled. Morality is the order’s discipline, and this constitution is its rule. The monks will not need gurus, since they will be maintaining the grace state. They may, however, use gurus if they wish. Every monk is willing and consents to being made to be a good boy, as part of the agreement he enters into on becoming a monk. The agreements are not binding. Any monk may leave the order if he wishes, and will then be cheerfully released from all of his obedience agreements. His place in the monastery would be forfeit, and the money he paid for his cell is non-refundable.

These are the ideals of the order:

01. Right understanding

02. Right motives

03. Right speech

04. Right behavior

05. Right livelihood

06. Right effort

07. Right mindfulness

08. Right contemplation

09. Trustworthy

10. Loyal

11. Helpful

12. Friendly

13. Courteous

14. Kind

15. Obedient (promptly, cheerfully, well, and in the spirit of the behest enough)

16. Cheerful

17. Thrifty

18. Brave

19. Clean

20. Reverent

21. Diligent

22. Wholesome

23. Honest

24. Truthful

25. Sincere

26. Resolute and Completitive

27. Having proper humiliy

28. Manifesting the Compassion of the great vehicle

29. Not moping, sulking, or dawdling

30. Taking proper rewards and punishments to heart

31. Not stealing or usurping

32. Innocent

33. Not improperly injurious

34. Toward rather than froward

35. Not disingenuous

36. Rejecting or transmuting a temptation quickly enough

37. Not impure in thought or deed

38. Free from selfishness

39. Above all hardness of heart

40. Above petty resentment

41 Attentive during prayer, chanting, or meditation

42. Non offense-taking

43. No thrusting of hips or tactile stimulation

44. No acting like a brat

45. No acting out

46. No disrespect, flippancy, or sassing

47. No captious or carping complaining

48. Considerate (not inconsiderate)

49. No sullenness

50. No scamping

51. Dutiful

52. No sneakiness or improper evasiveness

The Agreement

I have read and understood the philosophy and rules of both the Unist Religion and the Dubist Order of Monks. I consent to them and agree to abide by them. I understand and agree that my place in the Dubist Monastery is mine for life unless I leave the order or am expelled for breaking a rule, in which case I will not receive any recompense for the money I put up for a cell. I agree to submit sincerely to being made to be a good boy, accepting submissively and with good grace what punishments I am given by my discipliner, including bare-bottom, draped-over paddlings, not to exceed seven whacks on any given day, or to exceed in severity the 13-34 formula. I understand that I will be required to spend at least one hour each morning in legitimate sadhana practices, and an hour or more in the evening in group chanting and meditation with the other monks. I agree to not accept submissions on the part of those who wish to be my followers or disciples, instead referring them to the Godhead or to their Buddha-selves in Nirvana, depending on whether they are theistic or Buddhist. I understand that on any day, Monday through Friday, I appear for breakfast, I may be assigned work for four hours by the task-assignment monk, and will perform it diligently. I agree to not leave the monestary grounds without the permission of the titular head of the order, and undertake to respect any deadline he may set for my return.

Details

The monastery should strive to be self-sufficient, and should generate some revenue in a clean, wholesome, morally uncompromised manner. The man-made or natural pond on the grounds should be carefully regulated and kept free from pollutants and excessive algae. It can and should, of course, be used for swimming, and could also be utilized for some aquaculture. Aquaculture can be an important protein-food source, for all except the vegetarians whose principles will not permit fish-eating. Beides the pond, it could be done in a tier of wooden tanks, aerated by a windmill, supplemented with solar for still days. If, say, Tilapia were to be used, the hatchlings would be placed in the top (smallest) tank; when they become larger, the next tank, and so forth, the largest, which are now harvestable, being in the bottom tank, water from which is pumped to the top to begin the cycle once more. Concurrently, earthworm farming could be underway, as a food source for the fish. Also, when the fish are harvested they are filleted and frozen, and what is left over is ground up, and either included in the fish feed or fed to the worms.

Large underground chambers should be dug, and each year, cheese should be placed in them for aging. The monastery should keep a few cows for the provision of milk, and excess made into cheese, which is placed in the aging chambers until there is enough, and any additional cheese consumed or sold. At the end of five years, there is five-year-old aged cheese to be sold on the internet. At the end of a hundred years, there is probably some hundred-year-old cheese to be offered at a high price. Each underground chamber should be implanted with a desireable mold, for flavoring. These can be imported if necessary.

The hundred acres of the property should contain a good amount of woodland, called the meditation woods, for solitary outdoor meditation, or meditation walks. The woods, as much as possible, should be planted with valuable timber such as walnut, so that after twenty years or so, these very valuable timbers can be harvested for income. I would expect some kitchen-gardening, both conventional and year-round hydroponic, to supply most of the vegetable need for the monastery. I would suggest a backhoe, for digging the subterranean chambers and for landscaping. This could be kept in a barn, along with the cows.

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