Rise of Monasticism

Moses, Elijah, Jesus, and Mohammad all holy men how went into the deserts outside of of Egypt and Syria to fast and to seek the solitude of the endless wasteland, and to fight the demands with-end them. But hermits? Not in the traditional terms for they came back after periods of time to share with their people there enlightenment. To think of them as the beginning of today's monk's, and how they have evolved from the harsh deserts of Egypt and Syria to today's monasteries is enlightening. One that I would have never given much thought too given the stretch from desert to damp dark dreary monastery, from solitude to communal living.