Part-time Monk

I am not quite sure what my fixation on monks is lately.  My last post was about an interview of trappist monks and now here we are on a more secular monk.  Now I am moving on to another kind of monk.  On March 9th, 2011,  J. Wilson began a fasting during the period of Lent.  He did not take the route that many Christians take of removing a few insignificant things from their lives.  Wilson survived for 46 days on a doppelbock style beer and water, four beers a day during the week and five beers a day on the weekend. The title for his journey was "Diary of a Part-Time Monk".  He followed the recipe that 17th century monks of Neudeck ob der Au used during their Lenten fasts.  The brew was referred to as "liquid bread".  The introspective reflection that Wilson had hoped to occur during the fast was interrupted by a flood of media requests.  Wilson eventually had to begin another fast from the media.  25.5 pounds later, Wilson learned the difference between the wants and needs we fill our daily lives with.  He used the experience to refine himself similarly to how monks used the fasts to become more aware of their imperfections.  Wilson published a book about the experience which is available from a variety of online retailers.