The early monks who came, who settled in the deserts of North Egypt in the third, fourth, and fifth centuries, they were not superheroes. They were lay people. They were simple Christians. They were living by the values of the Gospel: compassion, mercy, generosity, non-judgmentalism – refusing to defend yourself or to condemn others. And it was from this monastic movement, this early, sort of renewed Christian discipleship, that we have our teaching on meditation.
(Christian Life in the Light of Christian Meditation 1: Discipleship by Laurence Freeman OSB )
