As you may have read on the site home page, Antiquatis Institute is dedicated to helping people reconnect with the spiritual side of life; to find, or find again, their connection to God. There are many paths to the spirit, and the Institute does not dictate any specific path—our belief is that ANY path that helps a person connect or reconnect to the spiritual and ethical side of life is a good thing.
The eventual goal of the Institute is to create a self sufficient, monastic community where people can live and work together, where the primary goal is to find out what man can achieve when he brings the body, mind, soul and spirit together in community, and report those findings back to the world at large, through books, multimedia, lectures and instructional courses. Sort of a “hands on” approach to God, where you learn by doing, rather than just talking or listening.(Personally, I'm sick of a world that is based on greed, selfishness, power and control. These things have their place and I firmly believe that mankind is capable of much more.)
As Bertrand Russell said, “It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly.” I'm not saying that it is wrong to want or need “possessions,” but it does not have to be the sole, driving motivation of a person's life. I think washing machines are great. They allow me to spend more time in my spiritual studies and helping others and less time scrubbing socks. (And I've lived a good part of my life without many of the modern conveniences, so I know just how much more effort it takes to get simple things done.)
Way back in 1973 when I was in Catholic High School, I saw a musical on the television called, “Lost Horizon,” that was based on the book written in 1933 by James Hilton. It showed a small community, hidden away in the Himalayas, where the only law was “be kind to one another.” The society was based on just two, simple principles: compassion and moderation. I really liked that idea, and that film has been a guiding influence on my entire life. Although mankind may not be to the point where such a community could work on a global scale, there is certainly room for a small community based on such a philosophy—and that community is the goal of Antiquatis Institute, what we are calling the Kheb Monastery.
