I'm a monk, you're a monk.

Monk is more than the title in our hierarchy, it is the name of a - and of our - profession in the monastery.

Imagine you were hired as a "programmer" and given the tile of an "aspirant programmer" or whatever, next might be "assistent programmer" eventually reaching "junior programmer" and eventually "programmer" before being a "senior ..." - get the idea?
All the time you have been a programmer. Maybe even with seniority which the hierarchy failed to honour you with.

Distinguish between an honorific title in a hierarchy (that doesn't really matter) and the name of the profession. We're all monks in this monastery.

Cheers, Sören