It is probably not wrong to equate proper “monasticism” with cenobitism. There seems to be a correlation between a formulated rule, or set of rules (known as regula in the Christian orders and as vinaya and shila in the Buddhist canon), and cenobitic institutions; eremitic and quasi-eremitic settings lack or diverge from formulated rules and give more scope to the individual’s self-imposed disciplines. In fact, the first Christian cenobitical communities were based on a rule prepared by Pachomius (c. 290–346) of the Thebaid, the traditional founder of organized cenobitism in the Western world, who is said to have built nine monasteries for men and two for women that were said to have had more than 7,000 residents. Smaller monasteries for men and women emerged in Cappadocia under the influence of the Greek theologian St. Basil the Great (c. 330–379), who composed the first widely authoritative monastic rule in Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The basis for all subsequent Eastern Christian (Greek) monastic institutions, it was simpler than some of the regulae of the orders founded in later centuries in western Europe. Avoiding the extreme austerities of the Desert Fathers, St. Basil’s rule was strict but not severe. Its asceticism was dedicated to the service of God, which was to be pursued through community life and obedience. Liturgical prayer and manual and mental work were obligatory. The Rule of St. Basil also enjoined or implied chastity and poverty, though these were far less explicitly stated than in the later regulae. Basil’s sister St. Macrina (c. 327–380) initiated monastic communities for women and “double houses” for both women and men.

What Basil’s rule was for Eastern monachism, St. Benedict’s rule was for early Western monasticism. Benedict of Nursia (c. 480–547) was a practical Roman whose rule, which was based on an earlier monastic rule known as the Rule of the Master, is often recognized for its humanity and moderation. His regula, which enjoined poverty, chastity, obedience, and stability, was followed until the 13th century by diverse orders, including the Knights Templars and most other paramilitary aristocratic orders, and it remains the rule of the Benedictine order today. It is notable for providing an effective model of monastic government and for its requirement, adopted by all subsequent Roman Catholic monastic orders, that the individual monk not own property.

The core of canonical literature in the southern Buddhist Theravada (Pali: “Way of the Elders”) tradition is vinaya (regulations concerning comportment), which is said to be the Buddha’s own formulation of more than 200 rules for his monks. These regulations constitute the distinguishing feature of Buddhist (particularly Theravada) monasticism; strictly speaking, there is no Buddhist monasticism apart from the life lived according to the vinaya. The vinaya has always exacted more intense asceticism from women than from men because, according to tradition, the historical Buddha did not at first desire women monastics and laid extra obligations on them when he conceded their existence.

The number of requirements in the rules of the monastic traditions of South Asia varies greatly. The later Brahmanic orders—such as the order founded by the Hindu reformer Shankara (8th century ce)—contain hardly any “rules” except an implicit renunciation of worldly desires, a detachment from society, and an indifference toward the “opposites,” such as pleasure and pain. The 6th-century-bce Jain reformer Mahavira, who probably flourished at least half a century before the Buddha, established the core Jain order, giving it a very elaborate rule that goes into minute regulations for monastic residence, restricting the itinerant monk’s sojourn to one week at a time in a village and one month in a town and requiring that he not sleep more than three hours and that he spend the day and the rest of the night in expiation, meditation, studying Jain scripture, and begging for alms. Some scholars believe that the Jain rule provided the model for all monastic rules in India and thus indirectly for the monastic traditions in all the Asian countries that came under India’s religious tutelage.

The Essenes, regardless of whether they were identical with the Qumrān settlement, probably had a written rule. They were highly formalistic, emphasizing ritualistic purity, with ablutions prescribed for the members, and they maintained a rigorous adherence to the letter of the Jewish ritualistic and legal books Leviticus and the Deuteronomy.

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At the opposite pole of rigour, certain hippie communes of the 1960s and later, insofar as they sought religious experience, can be classified as cenobitic organizations. In their case, growing food, preparing and consuming it jointly, and sharing common dormitory facilities were essential elements of the cenobitic structure, though they failed to take a vow of chastity or indeed any formal vow.

Quasi-monastic

Paramilitary, or quasi-monastic, associations are another type of monastic group. Whereas most Christian orders of this sort also fulfilled medical or healing commitments, non-Christian monastic orders of this type did not cater to the sick. The Knights Templars, a Crusading order founded in the Holy Land in the early 12th century, became the most prestigious and later the most defamed aristocratic organization in medieval Europe. Identifying themselves as “poor knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon,” the Templars took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience; the foundational commitment was the protection and the guidance of pilgrims en route to and in the Holy Land. The military model was evident in their hierarchical structure—there were chaplains, knights, and sergeants under a grand master—and their numbers grew rapidly, in part because of the support of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who wrote their rule. The fall of the last Crusader stronghold, Acre, in 1291 and highly sensationalized rumours that the knights denied Jesus Christ, spat on the cross, and were kissed on the mouth, the navel, and the base of the spine at their initiation into the order enabled the French king Philip IV the Fair, who coveted the Templars’ immense wealth, to bring about their destruction in the early 14th century.

The Templars were inspired by the Knights Hospitallers (or Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem), founded at the end of the 11th century. The classic nursing order, the Hospitallers were probably the first to provide genuine medical and hospital services, initially for pilgrims to Jerusalem. Their first foundation was the Hospital Saint-Antoine-de-Viennois (c. 1100), which was followed by foundations in southern France, Germany, and Italy. Their chief officers were ordained priests, but the majority of members were nonsacerdotal “hospitallers,” or lay brothers and sisters. They followed the Benedictine rule until 1231, meeting under an elected master and at an annually rotating chapter-general of “commanders”; the order switched to the “modern” rule of St. Augustine in 1247. Changing conditions in the eastern Mediterranean forced the Hospitallers to move their headquarters from Jerusalem to Acre and then to Cyprus and Rhodes. After moving to Malta in 1530, they became known as the Knights of Malta.

The Teutonic Order (German: Deutscher Ritterorden), founded in Jerusalem in 1189/90, enjoyed an independent relationship with Rome and with the papal administrative bureaucracy, the Curia. This arrangement was specially defined by more than 100 papal bulls. The grand master, who enjoyed the same rights as a prince of the Holy Roman Empire, was assisted by five “grand commanders.” The organization was composed of knights (usually noblemen), priests, and serving brothers and was established to do hospital service, later focusing more on military service. After the fall of Acre, the order moved its headquarters to various places in Europe. But the order revived its military function starting in the early 13th century, when European rulers, including the Holy Roman emperor Frederick II, authorized it to do battle against the Altaic and the Prussian pagan peoples. The order went into decline during the Reformation and was completely dissolved by Napoleon in the early 19th century, though it was revived by the Austrian emperor in 1834. It survives today in Germany and Austria as a service organization.

The popular but mistaken identification of Tibetan monks as lamas has obscured the highly segmented structure of the Buddhist clergy in that country. Among the Khamba (khams pa) of eastern Tibet, for example, men with minimal monastic initiation (lung) organized themselves as a military or police force to protect monastic territory and the unarmed higher-initiated clergy. They were conspicuous during Tibet’s confrontation with the Chinese communists from 1959 to 1965.

In the Islamic world, the mystical orders (Sufi) and the partially overlapping dervish (darwīsh) assemblies constituted a living critique of formalistic, rigorous orthopraxy oriented toward the Qurʾān (the Islamic holy book). The Sufis sought to experience divinity through meditative or ecstatic practices such as the dhikr (the chanting of the names of God). These practices were accompanied by various physical routines such as dances and songs and reportedly sometimes by the ingesting of drugs, usually cannabis (e.g., hashish). The Turkish Bektashi (Bektaşi) excelled in poetry and in humorous repartee. In Libya and other northeastern African countries, the Sanūsiyyah (Senussi) order of Sufis not only antagonized the Wahhābiyyah (a generic name for orthopraxy in Islam rather than a term denoting the specific group that emerged in what is now Saudi Arabia in the 18th century) but also achieved impressive stature during the early 20th century by opposing Italian colonial forces in Libya. Rather than seeking salvation through adherence to orthopraxy, as most Muslims do, these orders cultivated communion with God through mystical practices. “Not I and God but only God” was one of their mottoes.

At the time of its foundation, Sikhism did not encourage monasticism; Guru Nanak (1469–1539), the founder of the religion, was a married man, and so were most of the subsequent nine Gurus. In the late 17th century, however, the Nirmal-akhada was created in imitation of the celibate monastic orders of Hinduism and organized on the same principles. Underlying this development was the Hindu tendency to create monastic corollaries to lay teachings; the process was repeated in India in later times, as exemplified by the Arya Samaj, a Hindu reform society founded by Dayananda Sarasvati in 1875. Although Dayananda was a monk in the order of the Dashnami Sannyasi (“Holy Men of the Ten Names”), he discouraged monasticism. In response to Hindu cultural pressure, monks have been ordained in his organization since the early decades of the 20th century.

An older quasi-monastic and basically military organization among the Sikhs is the Nihang Sahibs, created to fight Muslim incursions into the Sikh communities of the Punjab. The Nihang Sahibs wear military uniforms of blue and yellow robes whose design has remained unchanged since the 17th century. The Nihang Sahibs are married, but during their temporary active service as nihangs (from Persian, “crocodile”) they abstain from sexual intercourse and live in a cenobitic manner.