WHY I JOINED A MONASTERY
On Saturday February 28, 2026 after a yearlong spiritual direction training with the monks of St. Meinrad I stood solo at a podium in the grand cathedral and spoke these words before my peers and the brothers, “I, Robert Ignatius Buxton, promise before God and all the Saints as my state in life permits; Stability of Heart, Fidelity to the Spirit of the Monastic Life, and Obedience to the Will of God, as an Oblate of the Venerable Monastery of Saint Meinrad. I now sign this document with my own hand.”
Why did I join a monastery? Why take a new name? Why make promises and commitments of obedience, fidelity, stability?
In AA they have a saying, “Your best thinking got you here.” It is supposed to serve as a rap on the knuckles to recalcitrant group members. However, the saying also works in the positive. If you have a great marriage . . . your best thinking got you there. If you have great relationships with your children . . . your best thinking got you there. After all the highs and lows of a life of fifty-three years my best thinking has led me to a spiritual vocation of simplicity, commitment, and dedication.
I have always been a seeker of the mystical. When I was in college I got a tattoo of a question mark on my leg without even comprehending what it meant. I’ve always sought to understand life at its deepest levels. One conclusion I have drawn in my searches is my belief that an individual’s consciousness continues after this physical life ends. If that’s true then the idea of God is not so far-fetched.
While the mystical is deeply meaningful to me, there are practical reasons why I joined a monastery. There is a moral component to this life that, when ignored, brings chaos and confusion. There is right and wrong. There is good and bad. What we say, think, and do matters a great deal. Another practical aspect of this decision is my desire to keep moving forward, advancing my life and ideas, and never getting too comfortable.
I believe the mind is an expression of the soul and therefore training the mind is both a mental and spiritual practice. One way I train my brain is striving to live according to the virtues of love, wisdom, and integrity.
The sunny, warm day I spent at the monastery attending lectures and rehearsing the ceremony I felt a great sense of peace. That is always a clue I am on the right path.
What does an Oblate do?
Being an Oblate is considered a vocation not a hobby. It is someone who commits to being obedient to the will of God, fidelity to the spirit of the monastic life, and stability of heart. In short, this means I seek God’s will, I have daily spiritual practices similar to the monks, and I am a stable person to myself, my friends, and my family. All these things I do outside the walls of the monastery in my everyday life. As one of my spiritual directors instructed, “Your home is your monastery. Your marriage is your monastery. Your work is your monastery.”
That is why I joined the monastery.
