A few months ago (in March) someone offered to provide the addresses of monasteries where one can go spend some time and also get guidance.I'd like to know more - any suggestions for monasteries in Cumbria or in Scotland?Thanks

Guidance? Glad to hear you're open minded in your pursuit of best-practice.Well:http://www.yell.com/ucs/UcsSearchAction.do?ssm=0&scrambleSeed=96101939&keywords=monasteries&companyName=&location=cumbria&M=0&x=46&y=15

There are a few in Scotland - Elgin Abbey in Moray, and another in Lothian (near Edinburgh, cannot think of the name but it is a Cistercian abbey - look on google and you'll find it). Both offer retreats for a donation (and if the retreat is intended to discern a possible vocation then they are entirely free). Both places are for deep contemplation and silence, but with some arrangement in advance you should be able to spend some time with one or more of the brothers to get some guidance (and I do suggest you arrange this in advance - monks are surprisingly busy people!).Hope it goes well.

A few questions:If I were to join a Benedictine order, would I enter at a graduate entry even though I have a PhD?Do these monasteries have wifi and/or Benugo?How do MBB view those with a prior career as a successful monk?How does Elgin Abbey compare to Accenture?All answers gratefully received.

I believe the Benedictine monks are experts in (internal) change management. They also have the most successful CEO in history.

They also brew Buckfast. For which all self respecting Scots thank them.

Don't you mean Benedictine? Buckfast is an Abbey in Devon...

Wrong Mars - production of Buckfast was outsourced to Elgin Abbey in 2006, with their customer call centre relocated to the Vatican.It was all pretty contraversial at the time, IIRC, and got quite a lot of coverage in the Western Morning News.

if you really want to find some peace, you need to go herehttp://www.kopan-monastery.com