Monasticism
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Monasticism (from Greek μοναχός, monachos, derived from Greek monos, alone) is the religious practice in which someone renounces worldly pursuits to fully devote their life to spiritual work. The origin of the word is from Ancient Greek, and the idea originally related to Christian monks. Monasticism is a religious way of life.
In the Christian tradition, those pursuing a monastic life are usually called monks or brethren (brothers) if male, and nuns or sisters if female. Both monks and nuns may also be called monastics. Some other religions also include what could be described as "monastic" elements, most notably Buddhism, but also Taoism, Hinduism, and Jainism, though the expressions differ considerably.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Monasticism" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
