The Seekers

Seekers are a very important part of this life I’m living out here, this life in a cottage in the heart of Ithilien. But what is a Seeker? And who are they?

Well, I am a seeker.

And everyone in this little valley is a Seeker, if for no longer than the time they are passing through.

Perhaps even we are all Seekers, though many seem to have forgotten the Quest.

But there are still those in whom the Quest is evident as a way of life, and it is of them I speak most properly when I use the term ‘Seeker.’

While Seekers share far more in common with each other than with anyone in whom the Quest is not evident, there are, broadly speaking, three distinct orders: Eremitic Seekers, Coenobitic Seekers, and Seekers-Errant.

Eremitic Seekers

er•e•mite /'er-&-"mIt/
noun : one that retires from society and lives in solitude especially for religious reasons
Etymology: Middle English eremite, from Old French, from Late Latin eremita, from Late Greek erEmitEs, from Greek, adjective, living in the desert, from erEmia desert, from erEmos desolate
er•e•mit•ic /"er-&-'mi-tik/ or er•e•mit•i•cal /-ti-k&l/ adjective

An Eremitic Seeker is one who carries on the Quest chiefly in solitude – though not necessarily in isolation. Some do prefer great isolation, but others do not. Some go so far as to prefer caves. Others, even in their solitude, are fairly woven into the fabric of human society. Most are more or less ascetic, though some are connoisseurs. Historically, The Desert Fathers are the most notable. Henry David Thoreau, was an eremitic in his own way. Søren Kierkegaard was, I believe, an Eremitic Seeker. Many of the great Eastern thinkers I have encountered, even those who spent their lives in the monasteries, were spiritual eremites – Lao Tzu, Kenko, Yamamoto Tsunetomo.

And I am, of course, living the life of an Eremitic Seeker out here in my little cottage. There are others in the surrounding valleys, more that I’ve heard of than met. We don’t encounter each other very often, for obvious reasons, and more than one of us in a valley of this size would be a bit awkward, I think. For some reason we are more comfortable with Seekers-Errant or Coenobitic Seekers than with others of the eremitic persuasion.

Coenobitic Seekers

ceon•o•bite /'se-n&-"bIt, esp British 'sE-/
noun : a member of a religious group living together in a monastic community
Etymology: Late Latin coenobita, from coenobium monastery, from Late Greek koinobion, ultimately from Greek koin- coen- + bios life
ceon•o•bit•ic /"se-n&-'bi-tik, "sE-/ adjective

Coenobitic Seekers carry out the Quest in a community of like minded seekers, sharing a pattern of life, a discipline and a devotion. Monastic communities are a good example of the coenobitic life. Some other historic communities like the Devotio Moderna (Brethren of the Common Life), Bruderhof, or Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Finkenwalde uld also qualify. For some, the academic life is a coenobitic life in pursuit of the Quest.

In my little valley, the Coenobitic Seekers have gathered at St. Godric’s, down on the lake. I enjoy their company and they welcome mine; but we both know that I could never formally join them.

Seekers-Errant

er·rant /'er-&nt/
adjective : traveling or given to traveling (an errant knight)
Etymology: Middle English erraunt, from Middle French errant, present participle of errer to err & errer to travel, from Late Latin iterare, from Latin itiner-, iter journey, way; akin to Hittite itar way, Latin ire to go

Seekers-Errant are in many ways truest to the questing dimension of the life of a Seeker. They are the wanderers, the rambling men, the hitchhikers and hobos of the Quest. Historically, they are anyone who has ever purchased a six-month Euro-rail pass, stayed in hostels, biked across America, gone two weeks without taking a bath; anyone who doesn’t know where their next meal is coming from but knows they’ll get one; anyone who would drop everything and leave; anyone who’s looking for a master to guide them but doesn’t think they’ll ever find one. I think of Percy Shelley in Europe, John Steinbeck traveling with Charlie, Mark Twain on a boat with Innocents Abroad.

Seekers-Errant are dangerous. They are unstable. They are unreliable, passionate and whimsical. They come without an invitation and leave without saying goodbye. But they are beautiful. In them the seed of the Quest is deeply lodged, though it may never bear fruit.

Many Seekers-Errant come and go through the valley, drawn like a moth to the flame but never quite finding a reason to stay. Some are just passing through, crisscrossing not only Ithilien but the wide world. Some are with us for a couple of days, some for a couple of months.

Interestingly, the Seekers-Errant who come to our valley rarely get along with the monks of St. Godric and the feeling is mutual. While I don’t thoroughly understand this tension, I believe it has something to do not only with my knowledge that I could never become a novitiate at St. Godric’s but also with the vague distrust I have of all the Seekers-Errant who come through here. We Eremitic Seekers, you see, are something of a compromise between the two other orders. We have one foot in each - a bit afraid, I think, of fully committing to either.

One way or the other, if you too wish to be a Seeker, pull up a chair, pitch a tent, don the habit or hit the trail. Move on through, stay a while or stay for a lifetime.

You are always welcome, friend.

__________
Welcome to Ithilien

Posts Concerning Eremitic Seekers - Myself or Others
Seekers and Rilke's "The Solitary"

Posts on Coenobitic Seekers
A Trip Down the Valley
Quail and Rashomon at St. Godric's

Posts on Seekers-Errant
Grotten Brown from a Seeker-Errant
A Note from Mr. P
One of the Errant Seekers-Errant