1) Are you looking for a systemic 'divine' fix for the monk, or just something which can apply to a particular character or characters in your game?
Systemic- I'd love for the monk to share that predominant feature of divine spellcasting with the other divine base classes.
2) How much of a consideration is balance?
I'm not enslaved to the concept of balance, but neither am I unrealistically unaware that it plays a role- otherwise, I'd simply add the cleric's spell chart to the monk.
So I'm 100% with the idea that adding spells- possibly even as a half-caster- would require removing other class features. And since anothe poste pointed out, there are spells that mimic many of those features, this probably wouldn't have much of an effect on legacy playstyle.
Or to put it differently, I'm not so much interested in boosting the class' power so much as I am unifying it's design with the other PHB and the majority of other WotC divine-themed base classes.
3) Are newer subsystems on the table, or not? You cite your dislike of ToB, but go on to suggest a possible incarnum-route. In post #6 you are "reiterating your dislike of ToB" but you haven't previously iterated it in this thread.
I really want to stay within the game's base mechanics.
That initial response about the ToB to Nifft's was- admittedly- terse, but I've been in dozens of discussions with Nifft (and others) about my dislike of that book, and thought he might remember. An unfair assumption.
(My other responses, however, merely echo his tone.)
As for MoI, my musings shouldn't have been posted here due to the confusion it was likely to cause. To clarify, shortly after that book came out, I was doing MoI versions of MANY base classes, including Sohei, Samurai, Ninjas, Rangers, and so forth, to what end, I cannot now say.
4) Are you averse to reskinning other mechanics (psi, invocations, incarnum whatever) with a 'divine' feel, or are you specifically looking for a conventional divine spellcasting progression?
Again, divine spellcasting, please.
5) Later in the thread, you express dissatisfaction with the monk's lack of flexibility. Are you looking for a class which can encompass a specialization in one or more of several areas (stealth, mystical prowess, unarmed combat etc.)?
That was a different poster- my link about monk weapons notwithstanding, I was just commenting on the number of builds I've personally seen in play and on the web, expanding upon his shorter list.
While I like my revised weapon list, there are a lot of different ways the monk weapon list can be expanded in 3.X (see link in my sig). What my list does is improve the base class' ability to model RW martial arts styles without forcing the player to burn a feat or use a semi-obscure variant.
IOW, its a minor tweak.
Adding divine spellcasting, OTOH, is a major design change that, IMHO, would serve to unify the class with other divine-themed classes.
