How to be a monk

[Ensapa]

I thought that it would be nice to share about the process and rules of becoming an ordained person so that we understand more about how and what is it like to be an ordained person. After all, our own protector was a monk and he was famous for being able to hold the vinaya vows very well. We should aslo learn up to understand and appreciate our Guru and Dharma protector and at the same time, plant the seeds in our mind that we can become ordained too one day:

Ordination in the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition

His Holiness the Dalai Lama feels that it is important to know that nuns and monks ordained in the Tibetan tradition follow the vows set forth in the Mulasarvastivadin school of monastic codes. The gelong/gelongma (bhikshu/bhikshuni--the fully ordained monk/nun) level are recorded in the Mulasarvastivadin school's Individual Liberation Sutras. Interspersed throughout their Tibetan translation is an easy to remember set of chantable verses summarising the gelong or gelongma vows. These versified mnemonics are known as the "Interleaved Summaries of the Vinaya Discours".

In 1973 His Holiness the Dalai Lama wrote the "Direct Instruction From Shakyamuni Buddha -- A Gelong's Training in Brief" (1), a vinaya text based on the Interleaved Summaries presenting the fully ordained monk's vows. In this commentary His Holiness comments on the 253 vows of a fully ordained monk according to the Mulasarvativadin school of Vinaya.

Mulasarvativadin school of Vinaya was brought to Tibet by the Indian Abbot Shantarakshita in the 8th century who visited there at the invitation of the Tibetan Monarch Trisong Deutsan. At the request of the Tibetans he founded the first monastic community by first ordaining seven young and promising Tibetans. Gradually monks more were ordained by him, thereby establishing the Buddhist monastic order of the Mulasarvastivadin system in Tibet. We are now in the 2554th year since the Buddha passed away beyond sorrow. Ever since the Buddhist monastic lineage of this tradition was established in Tibet it has continued unbroken despite great difficulties in the century following Udum Tsanpo's persecution of Buddhist monastics and Buddhists during his reign.

The getsuls/getsulmas (novice monks and nuns) keep vows similar to the fully ordained monks. All the eight different pratimoksha vows are meant for a whole life from and not just a part of one's life, except for the one-day fasting upavasa vows. Therefore, the motivation must be for the rest of one's life while taking the getsul, getsulma, and gelong ordinations.
The 253 vows of a fully ordained monk--these are the ones explicitly prescribed for the ordained persons by the Buddha himself in the vinaya scriptures--in the Mulasarvastivadin school of vinaya are broadly divided into five categories or classes with sets of ten, twenty and so forth as you can see below:

I. Fist Class: 4 Defeats
1. Unchasity; 2. stealing; 3. omicide; and 4. ying speech

II. Second Class: 13 Remainders

1. Emission of semen  2. lustfully making a physical contact  3. speaking words to do with sex  4. commending services  5. baseless accusation  6. subverting the lay folk  7. displeased with advice, and so forth.

III. Third Class: 120 Downfalls

30 Forfeiting Dowfalls:

Forfeiting downfalls, first set of ten: e.g. retaining cloth for 10 days; being separate from one's dharma robes; receiving cloth from gelongma (bhikshuni), etc.

Forfeiting downfalls, second set of ten: e.g. making a silk rug; making a rug of only black wool; not patching with a hand span; transporting wool; taking gold and silver; engaging in financial dealings, etc.

Forfeiting downfalls, third set of ten: e.g. 1. retaining and 2. seeking out an alms bowl; 3. engaging a weaver to weave a cloth and 4. increasing the woven, 5. reclaiming a gift,  and so forth

90 Simple Downfalls:

Simple downfalls, first set of ten: e.g. 1. telling a lie  2. criticising another gelong  3. divisive speech  4. reviving a dispute  5. falsely accusing of showing favouritism, etc.

Simple downfalls, second set of ten: e.g. 1. destroying seeds or a plant, 2. deaf to advice; 3. of eviction, etc.

Simple downfalls, third set of ten: e.g.: teaching the dharma unappointed, teaching dharma beyond sun set, etc.

Simple downfalls, fourth set of ten: e.g. 1. eating many meals,  2. taking more than two or three alms bowlfuls,  3. eating at the wrong time ; etc.

Simple downfalls, fifth set of ten: e.g. 1. using water with creatures in it  2. standing near a place where lay men and women are preparing for a sex act, etc.

Simple downfalls, sixth set of ten: e.g. 1. causing food to be cut off  2. touching fire  3. withdrawing consent, etc.

Simple downfalls, seventh set of ten: e.g. 1. killing an animal,  2. creating regret,  3. tickling  4. playing in water, etc.

Simple downfalls, eighth set of ten: e.g. 1. going along a road in company of a thief  2. conferring full ordination on someone not yet twenty years, etc.

Simple downfalls, ninth set of ten: e.g 1. visiting a king's palace at night,  2. deprecating  3. fabricating a needle case, etc.

IV. Fourth Class: 4 matters to be confessed individually

E.g. 1. the matter to be confessed of receiving food from a gelongma,  2. the matter to be confessed of breaking the training in entering a house, etc.

V. Fifth Class: 112 Misdeeds

Misdeeds, first set of ten: arising from the wearing of robes: e.g. the misdeeds of not wearing the monastic shamtab (lower robe) round, wearing it hitched up high, knees not covered, hung loe, covering the ankles, stretching down on one side like an elephant trunk, top folded above navel, etc. Also, the misdeeds of wearing the upper robes not round, wearing it hitched up high and wearing it low.

Misdeeds, second set of twenty: going to houses: e.g. Going to houses without maintaining mindfulness, etc.; going with dharma robes hoisted up, etc. ; going jumping, etc.; going swinging the arms, etc. Misdeeds, third set of nine: sitting in houses: e.g. sitting down on a seat without checking, sitting by dropping down heavily, etc;

Misdeeds, fourth set of eight: receiving food: e.g. not receiving food properly, receiving level with the brim of the bowl, etc.

Misdeeds, fifth set of twenty-one: eating food: e.g. not eating with good manners, eating in big gulps, etc.

Misdeeds, sixth set of fourteen: using the alms bowls: e.g. denigrating another's begging bowl, etc.; putting left over food in the bowl, etc.

Misdeeds, seventh set of twenty-six: teaching the Dharma: e.g. teaching the dharma while standing to the seated, etc.; teaching the dharma to one whose head is covered with a cloth and so forth, etc.

Misdeeds, eighth set of three: to be performed; and ninth set of one: going: e.g. discharging urine, faeces, and so forth into water, etc.; and climbing tree above a man's height with necessity.

These are the two hundred fifty three infractions which a gelong must guard against. For the actual infractions to occur fourteen of these infractions require a gelongma (bhikshuni) as a factor. To novice monks and nuns the actual infractions don't occur but something similar to them occur.

In the Mulasarvastivadin vinaya tradition, like the Theravada tradition, we follow the rules of ordination such as taking vows not yet taken, the ways of guarding them without causing degeneration and the ways to restore them if they degenerate. The ordained monks and nuns study and practice vinaya; they take part in the bi-monthly confession and restoration ceremony, etc.

In order to ordain people, the Tibetan tradition strictly follows the prescribed ordination guidelines and procedures for the novice and fully ordained monastics. Monasticism is regarded with highest reverence as the foundation of the teaching of the Buddha. His Holiness the Dalai Lama says:

In particular the moral code of individual liberation is the essence of Buddha's teachings, such that it is said that wherever there is gelong, a holder of the Vinaya, there the teachings of Buddha abide and that place is not devoid of the Teacher himself.(2)
Lord Buddha himself says in the Vinaya Bases:

Wherever there is a gelong, a holder of the vinaya, that place is luminous; that place is illuminated. See that place as not devoid of me. I also abide unperturbed in that place.(3)

Sutra Beloved of Monks reads:

For some morality is joy.
For some morality is pain.
Morality possessed in joy.
Morality transgressed is pain.

In order to keep morality pure the monastics must know these four doors through which infractions occur and close them off:

1. Not knowing
2. Disrespect
3. Heedlessness
4. Abundance of afflictions
Morality is the foundation of Buddhadharma. It is essential to the trainings of higher concentration and higher wisdom. Therefore, it is important to guard morality to progress through the dharma path and reach the ultimate goal of enlightenment.
"If we go right to the very base and foundation of all the good qualities set out above, we come down just to morality. Therefore, the exceptional basis and foundation for fulfilling the twin purposes of yourself and others is the moral code of individual liberation in your continuum, please endeavour with every effort to maintain purely, unsoiled by the faults of the stains of misdemeanours or infractions."(4)

I like this article as it is quite detailed and it explains the process very clearly. May I one day be able to be a monk too!

[Jessie Fong]

In this age we see that more and more people are staying away from being ordained as monks or nuns.  We are more involved in our daily pursuits than in our spiritual life.

It looks like the sangha is getting smaller in numbers.  What would happen if one day the sangha community does not survive at all?  Would the teachings end?

It will be good for initiates into monkhood (nunhood) to be fully prepared, to understand what is required of them to become a monk/nun and what is expected of them when they are finally accepted into ordination.  Will they be able to hold their vows?

[ratanasutra]

Thank you for the article Ensapa.

In this modern world most of people are looking for the happiness from outside ei material gained, the success of career, position in society etc and we neglect the real happy which come from within.

I do not worry about the lessen number of sangha but i more concern about the 'quality' of the sangha. As the qualify sangha will preserve the Buddha teaching and represent Buddha well even there just a small group.

I feel that education will play a good role in order to enrol more qualify monk/nun because if they have been educated and get to know what moral/discipline they need to hold after an ordination, the practice, the goal etc so that they can study about it, prepare and train themselves well before make the decision to ordain to become a monk/nun.

[Ensapa]

Monks and nuns are rare to come by these days because it is not easy to be one as there are many restrictions placed upon them and most people these days would not want to let go of their own desires and entertainment but in reality these restrictions help to prevent them from creating more misdeeds and also to give them less distractions to worry about so that they can focus purely on the Buddha's teachings. therefore, vows and percepts are the very foundations of Buddhist practice, as the Buddha had taught as the benefit is two fold: to free us from distractions and also to prevent us from gathering more negative karma.

The other reason why monks are hard to come by these days is because not many people understand what a monk should do and should not do. There is a kind of fear and misunderstanding on what entails of becoming a monk due to cultural and social perceptions. Due to these two main factors, many people do not see the point of become a monk. Also, there is also a trend among new age Buddhists that Buddhism does not require any form of belief or commitment, and that it's a very personal practice (right......why does that sound so familiar with the protestants?) when reality is that a lot of dedication, study and hard work as well as commitment is necessary for real Buddhist practice and many do not understand or wish to engage in anything that requires commitment.

The sangha is to be respected and is worth of the respect of the laity because they are of the following quaities:

They are the Blessed One's disciples who have practised well,
Who have practised directly,
Who have practised insightfully,
Those who are accomplished in the practice;
That is the four pairs, the eight kinds of noble beings,
These are the Blessed One's disciples.
Such ones are worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of respect;
They give occasion for incomparable goodness to arise in the world

I chant my praise to this Sangha,
I bow my head to this Sangha

Hence, since they are much more committed in the Dharma as compared to ordinary people, they should be given respect for being dedicated in their Dharma practice alone. However, some lay people have developed an idea that  since a monk receives alms from the people, it is their purity that 'feeds' them and keeps them alive and therefore in addition to the vinaya, a monk must also conform to the social norms as defined by the laity. If a monk goes against that, they are impure and that the laity are the guardians of the monk's purity. What do you guys think about that stance? It is widely popular in several countries.

[bambi]

In this age we see that more and more people are staying away from being ordained as monks or nuns.  We are more involved in our daily pursuits than in our spiritual life.

It looks like the sangha is getting smaller in numbers.  What would happen if one day the sangha community does not survive at all?  Would the teachings end?

It will be good for initiates into monkhood (nunhood) to be fully prepared, to understand what is required of them to become a monk/nun and what is expected of them when they are finally accepted into ordination.  Will they be able to hold their vows?

I understand what you meant about people staying away from being ordained. So many of us are going deeper into samsaric activities due to our attachment which is above everything else. Who would want to give up everything and become a Sangha? Some people say they want to become one but when they are faced with obstacles, they run and give everything up. Yes, I have heard of that. They have to understand that whenever anyone of us want to do Dharma work, definitely obstacles and negative emotions will arise. That is why we have protectors who helps us on this path.

An interesting teaching :

Being a Sangha brings many more extra benefits. It says in the text: “The merit a lay person can collect in 100 years, an ordained person can collect in one day. These are the benefits of living in ordination, every day is like that."

[Rinchen]

Thank you Ensapa for this great sharing about the vows of monks and nuns. In our time, this is definitely something that is highly needed as many of us do not know what does it really mean to be a monk nor a nun. Many people think that it is just to shave our heads, and wear robes. But it is the vows that hold up who the monks and nuns truly are. When we understand them and prepare for them, it is when we truly will become good monks and nuns.

This is just something so precious. Thank you for sharing.

[Pema8]

Quote from bambi:

"Being a Sangha brings many more extra benefits. It says in the text: “The merit a lay person can collect in 100 years, an ordained person can collect in one day. These are the benefits of living in ordination, every day is like that.""

In the end, it is how much can we change and improve ourselves to benefit others. It is not easy to renounce, be a Sangha and holding so many vows, but it will bring true happiness? Samsara brings more samsara... and more suffering.

[pgdharma]

In this degenerate time, people are not interested in getting ordained as they are more interested in pursuing worldly pleasures. Thus when a person wishes to be ordained as a monk or nun that means the person has the potential to renounce his/her attachments and taking the first steps towards enlightenment.

The vows of a Buddhist monk or nun are taken for life, thus it is important to spend time and take great care in reflecting on the various advantages and disadvantages before making a decision.  Once the decision is made, one has to behave and act like one to prepare oneself from being ordained.