Reader Deva Narayana das of Canada forwarded us this article about a large community of “Christian sannyasis” who live in a cloistered community upon Mt. Athos in Greece. We have edited the article for brevity.-Ed.
The Monks of Mount Athos
Krishna Chandra Das
I just returned from a pilgrimage to the holy Mount Athos in Greece, considered the spiritual center of the Orthodox tradition. Athos is an independent state and only monks can live there. There are (about two) thousand monks and few visitors are allowed to enter. Especially if one is non-orthodox, a special visa is required of which only four per day are issued. Meat is not allowed. There are also no cars, no restaurants and no buildings other than monasteries. For the last 1200 years it is forbidden for women or children to enter. For the past 1000 years also no female animals - that means also no milk and eggs.
The monks arise at 11 PM and chant japa for 3 hours in a completely dark room. Their "mantra" is the traditional Christian prayer kyrie jesu christo eleisonme: “Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” They chant this with the kombustini, a string with 100 knots resembling very much our japa mala. In the Bible it is mentioned, "You should pray without interruption." (Luke 18:1, 21:36, Ephesians 6:18, Timothy I 5:5, etc.) From 2 till 6 am they have mangala arati, singing and praying in the Kattholikon, the orthodox church.
When the monks are asked what they are doing they reply, “Only praying and dying. Nothing else.” They fast 260 days a year and sleep very little. And whatever they do, cooking, walking, eating, sleeping, they are advised to chant "kyrie jesu christo eleison me...”
Secrets of Byzantine Time
Patita Pavana das
The monks of Mt. Athos trace many of their traditions to the Byzantine Empire, which grew out of the Eastern portion of the Roman Empire and included parts of West Asia and Eastern Europe. Its capital Constantinople was founded on the site of an existing city, Byzantium, now Istanbul. As in the Vedic tradition, the Byzantine king held absolute authority. The king’s decrees were supported by the Christian Church, which later transformed into various forms of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The Byzantine Empire finally fell to the Turks in the mid-15th Century, but Mt. Athos survives as a living remnant of the religious practices of the day.
Intrigued by Shri Krishna Chandra’s article about his visit, I located an April 2011 broadcast of the American TV show “60 Minutes” on You Tube featuring reporter Bob Simon’s visit to Mt. Athos. [Take an arm chair pilgrimage here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9nQI6T3Ajw]
If the life of the monks at Mt. Athos reminds you of more ancient, lingering Vedic roots, here is another clue to their distant Vedic tradition, Byzantine time. In the show, the reporter is shown standing before a clock that reads half past eight. Yet, he notes that his own watch reads two thirty in the afternoon. “That’s because,” he explains, “the monks set their clocks from sunset.” He has made a blunder; the monks do not set their clocks from sunset, but from sunrise. In other words, the first hour from sunrise is one o’clock, and so on. Hence, if sunrise is at 6:00 am, then at 2:30 pm the clock will read 8:30, meaning “eight and a half hours after sunrise.”
This system of so-called Byzantine time actually reflects the older Vedic system of beginning a day at the time the day actually starts, the first sandhya or sunrise (when the solar globe is half way upon the Eastern horizon). This system is still followed by Vedic pandits and astrologers. The time of day is further intricately intertwined with astrology, and this is a detail
that the monks of Mt. Athos are likely unaware of, and will scoff at. For example, Sunday is named for the Sun since the first hour on that day is ruled by the Sun. The first hour of Monday is ruled by the Moon, etc. According to Vedic time from sunrise, as the minute of sunrise moves forward or backward, so the time of day is adjusted accordingly.
Since time immemorial, this ingenious system of Vedic time has its origin in none other but Lord Shri Krishna the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By the dictates of Vedic time, the week-days carry the same names in Sanskrit as their equivalents in practically every language of the world, because Sanskrit language and culture are the oldest on earth. Sunday is Raviwara or Suryawara. Monday is Somawara or Chandrawara, etc. (wara means “day”). Daily measurement of time is a branch of jyotish shastra is called hora shastra, or “the science of hours.” The word “hour” is also derived from Sanskrit. It originates from the last syllable from aho, Sanskrit for “day” and the first syllable from ratri or “night.”
And just one more thought: Since this method of time measurement naturally accommodates the flexibility of a changing calendar due to days that either constantly lengthen or shorten, there is no fixed midnight point either. In other words, the time of Shri Krishna’s Appearance on Janmasthami is not at 12:00 midnight, but is at the point that bisects sunset and sunrise of the next day, the “mean midnight hour.” In the same way, the time of Lord Ramachandra’s appearance at mid-day is not at 12:00 noon, but at the Abhijit muhurta or “mean noon” that bisects sunrise and sunset.
The science of hora shastra is useful in obtaining a good muhurta in a jiffy, one which assures a successful outcome whether embarking on a long journey or merely going to the store. For more on the fascinating science, read our well-received article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=7057
The astute Vedic historian Shri P.N. Oak offers in his book World Vedic Heritage a very rational explanation as to why the mleccha cultures of Europe began changing the clocks in the middle of the night, at midnight. He conjectures that this is a tradition that began with deference to the time of sunrise in Delhi. When Delhi, or rather Indraprastha, was the world capital, the kings of Europe decreed that their kingdoms should keep time in deference to the time in India. When it is midnight in London, the sunrise of a new day has begun in Delhi. This is similar to the not-unheard-of practice of following a fast according to the day the event occurs in Vrindavana or Mayapur, though one may live on the other side of the world. Though this theory of why the date is changed at the midnight hour warrants further research, the idea appears sound in light of the fact that we know the Maharaja of Indraprastha was indeed the ruler of Bharatavarsha, or the entire seven islands of the Earth.
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