“Why did you become a monk?”

I am asked this question so often it’s not easy

to answer. I imagine it’s roughly equivalent to being

asked to explain why you married your spouse…

I have offered various answers for various contexts.

But the answer I really want to give is : “I don’t know.”

I do not know why I became a monk, because the

reason I joined is not the reason I stayed. I joined

thinking I could save the world by being a monk;

I stayed because the monastery became the place

where I discovered my own need to be saved. Before

I could offer sanctuary, I had to find it.