Monachism

Monachism, the principle of leading a life of seclusion in religious houses in the manner of monks (monachi) and nuns. Properly the life is solitary, each member of the religious community occupying a separate cell and keeping silence at meals. Monachism, or the corporate life of collections of solitaries, was first instituted among Christians in the 4th century in Upper Egypt, but amongst Buddhists before the Christian era.