St Benedict's Rule nourishes the monks in their interior life to struggle with detachment. As a matter of fact, detachment is the goal of monks' interior journeying to a deeper observance of their monastic practices.
With detachment, the monks are able to remove all possible obstacles to a deepening relationship with God. These obstacles could take several forms. They could be affected by an internalized tyrant that drives them to over-achievement, or they may be unaware of their most-favored attachments to many things inside the Cloister, or they could be overwhelmed by their expectations of how GOD will act, behave or respond. Monks can also become unaware of their idolatry putting God-images that say: "God is just like this, never like that" etc . Monks could be living with an unconscious stubborn determination to get their own way.
For monks, achieving detachment requires courage, discipline and determination as suffering accompanies the process. Suffering has some of its roots in attachment to attitudes, thoughts, and desires. Suffering remains until the heart lets go. But in the end, suffering can be the avenue toward freedom, maturity, and humility.
Evidence of detachment?
Yes, there is evidence that one can observe and experience when monks deepen in the interior discipline of detachment. Growth is revealed when judgmental and critical attitudes begin to soften among the monks. They can see a bit of themselves reflected in another monk's behavior. Instead of reacting with irritation and sharp words, they hold their tongues. They become more tolerant of each other's weaknesses and each other's individual habits and behaviors as they grow in compassion. They work constructively with their passions and desires. They become far more tolerant and their irritation level drops of each others habits, behaviors and their ways of being inside the Cloister.
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