Becoming a monk

reply to post by charles1952


Thank you very much for the links, I will look them through right away.

Originally posted by needlenight
Good evening people of ATS.
It is nearing the early morning hours here for me, and I have found myself thinking about this most of the night.
However I have had no luck finding an answer, in my own mind, nor anywhere on the internet.
So heres a question for you.

Picture yourself if you will, not really understanding the current world. You get an education, you get a work, you start a family, support the offspring through their educations and so on and so forth. Okay, so you get it, you know how it works, but it does not feel right for you. You could not imagine living that kind of life.
In fact, you would rather travel to some monestary and become a monk. You would rather go to a safe place, where you are not bound by the norms of society. A place where you can live a simple life, and take the time needed to listen to yourself and think of things, we think of much too rarely in our daily lives.

Picture a place where your duties would be nothing more, than keeping a garden pretty, preparing meals, and overall simple tasks, that allows your mind to keep calm and think of things more important than money, education, work and family.

I guess you can see why I am thinking monks and monasteries.

As for my question, are there still places like these, that you can go to and become a member, should you wish it? Also, are there other places then monestaries? What are the alternatives to someone longing for a simple life like that?

edit on 30-12-2011 by needlenight because: Simple typo fixing

edit on Fri Dec 30 2011 by DontTreadOnMe because: spelling in title fixed

edit on 30-12-2011 by needlenight because: (no reason given)

I have had similar thoughts. Goint to work and living in the normal world with all its stupidity is like weightlifting your patience. After a while you get tired and lash out a it or whine or get in a bad mood. But im not sure being in lowlevel weight enviroment is goint to make your patiance stronger or weaker. I sometimes belive that handeling your patiance somewhat ok in a enviroment that is really bad is a harder than the monestary. Don't be to hard on yourself if you are having a bad time in the normal world. I am totaly harmonious when I meditate and can feel the chi flow thru my body. But when I work I become somewhat moody. I know it is not where I want to be but it is where I am supposed to be . I will let the wave of change flow and either ride it like a surfer or let it pass thru me like i am not physical.

I cannot help change the world if im cutting myself to much from it. I had a spirutual awakening in february and that have totaly changed my life. If you need to get away because you need to figure out some things the do what you want to. We all have our place where we are supposed to be and how we are supposed to evolve. Try to find your own. Good luck in your evolution. Namaste

How was your childhood experience? For that matter, how was your life when you were younger? When you withdraw yourself from the world, these bad memories will resurface. Or are they resurfacing right now?

Originally posted by ChiForce
How was your childhood experience? For that matter, how was your life when you were younger? When you withdraw yourself from the world, these bad memories will resurface. Or are they resurfacing right now?

If I have any bad memories, they are very well hidden. There might be some buried down there somewhere, who knows? My childhood? Pretty standard, geek/clown of the class, bullied for about 10 years through school. Fought through it, got out on the other side of the tunnel more hardened and strong. Probably also less caring and emotionel than others because of this.

Why do you ask?

WOW!!! Just found out how much it costs to be enlightened, surely this cant be the way?

Begins: December 29, 2011
Ends: January 4, 2012
Cost: £282 single rooms, £216 twin room each, dorms £168. Suggested donation of £75

I assumed doing a bit of toil would suffice. I am gobsmacked!!!

reply to post by needlenight


Because when you withdraw yourself from the world, you would literally abandon your mask or ego. Without your ego or mask (an identity you use to function socially), to use Jungian terminology, any bad memories of your life in the past will come out. I went through these process. In another words, if you have many unresolved life issues in the past, it is very dangerous to withdraw yourself from the world. Is a dangerous crossing, as Nietzsche would have said...

Originally posted by ChiForce
reply to post by needlenight

 

Because when you withdraw yourself from the world, you would literally abandon your mask or ego. Without your ego or mask (an identity you use to function socially), to use Jungian terminology, any bad memories of your life in the past will come out. I went through these process. In another words, if you have many unresolved life issues in the past, it is very dangerous to withdraw yourself from the world. Is a dangerous crossing, as Nietzsche would have said...

You make it sound like a bad thing.

Originally posted by Numpty1
WOW!!! Just found out how much it costs to be enlightened, surely this cant be the way?

Begins: December 29, 2011
Ends: January 4, 2012
Cost: £282 single rooms, £216 twin room each, dorms £168. Suggested donation of £75

I assumed doing a bit of toil would suffice. I am gobsmacked!!!

Yup, thats why I created this topic. It seems wierd that people are taking your money to teach you of its evils.
Well, basicly. I know most religions do not mention money like that. But you get what I am saying.

Originally posted by needlenight

Originally posted by Numpty1
WOW!!! Just found out how much it costs to be enlightened, surely this cant be the way?

Begins: December 29, 2011
Ends: January 4, 2012
Cost: £282 single rooms, £216 twin room each, dorms £168. Suggested donation of £75

I assumed doing a bit of toil would suffice. I am gobsmacked!!!

Yup, thats why I created this topic. It seems wierd that people are taking your money to teach you of its evils.
Well, basicly. I know most religions do not mention money like that. But you get what I am saying.

That's why you really need to know why you want to become a monk. Otherwise, you will get suckered into these retreats.

Suggested donation of £75
I cant afford the donation if truth be told.This is not what I expected. This is merely a middle class operation. I apologise for posting the link.

reply to post by needlenight

What would they say to a young adult european guy asking to learn their ways?

I am writing to you from a largely Buddhist country in Asia. I have met many Europeans and a few Americans who have chosen the path of Buddhist monasticism. Some have found a true vocation, some are worldly charlatans living off the generosity of their friends and assorted suckers, and some have themselves been preyed upon and separated from their worldly goods by unscrupulous Asians, some of whom may have been Buddhist monks themselves. The last group are very unhappy people indeed, sometimes finding themselves trapped in a foreign country without the money or the freedom to find their way back home.

Becoming a bikkhu, a Buddhist monk, is not easy for someone not originally from a Buddhist culture. There are many dangers, discomforts and pitfalls. If you are really serious about it, you probably know something about Buddhism already. If you don't, and you just think being a Buddhist monk will make your life simpler and more satisfying, it would be better to forget the whole idea. Nothing in life is simple, certainly not Buddhist monasticism.

But if you do know about Buddhism and are attracted to the way of the bikkhu, your next step is to begin simplifying the life you live to the greatest extent that you can. When you have cut most of the ties of loyalty, love and responsibility that bind you to your life, you will be ready to take the next step, which would be to travel to a country where you may receive instruction in Buddhism and prepare yourself to take up the monastic life. During these years you may live as simply and modestly as you wish – indeed, the more simply you live, the longer your savings will last. Eventually, you may find a Buddhist order you wish to join, and which will admit you as a monk. Alternatively, you can spend the rest of your life living Asian-style as a freelance hermit, following whatever philosophy or rule of life you find acceptable to yourself.

Frankly, this sounds like more work and commitment than you seem to desire. If you have no particular objection to Christianity, you may consider becoming a Christian monk. There are Roman Catholic monasteries all over the world – you may join one if you convince the relevant authorities that you are serious about dedicating your life to God. If the Church of Rome is too doctrinaire and oppressive for you, you might consider one of the Anglican (Protestant) orders, where your beliefs are more your own business than in the Catholic world. I personally know an Anglican monk who seems to have found his own ideal balance between the monastic and the worldly. However, I believe the Anglican orders tend to be a bit snobbish – I get the impression that you need to be well-off, expensively educated and have good social connexions before they will take you in. But my knowledge of Anglican monasticism is scant, and what I have written here may well be slanderous. Incidentally, some Buddhist orders are equally snobbish – some only admit members of a certain caste, and so on.

Your simplest solution, though, would probably be to find work and accommodation on a farm in Denmark or elsewhere in Europe. Till the soil, tend the animals, sink a couple of litres of beer in the tavern of an evening without glancing at the barmaid's cleavage, and fall into your rough bed exhausted with honest toil and without a thought in your head.

The advantage of that kind of life is that you can try it for a while and see if you like it before you commit yourself.

Whatever you decide, I wish you good fortune on your quest for liberation.

Perhaps joining a religious order is not the be all and end all. Maybe joining some sort of reclusive organisation is more akin to your needs.Somewhere you can live a simpler life without the rigidity of religion thrown into the mix.I dont know of any offhand.

reply to post by Astyanax


Great post, thank you very much for your honest words. Your post have taught me a great deal, believe it or not.

Originally posted by BlackSatinDancer
Truly, it's the assholes who are the problem and I have yet to create a successful asshole deflector.

That's very good, made me smile anyway, afteral 'hell is other people'.

I dunno, it's all brainwashing but seriously, are you really sure a monastery of any dominion is the right idea? The real answers lie within you, you just have to find them, and I don't think the confines of a monastic life can truly do that as it shelters you from the external world.

I'd say, go out and experience the world... meet people from different cultures, smell the smells, do the walk, go off the beaten track and don't be afraid of ever diving into the Big Blue, you will find doors will always open. The greatest of all journeys always start with the first step. I've found the hardest part is always that initial inertia. Once you surpass that hump, and shelve all fears, you'll know this world for what it truly is in all its beauty. Travel the world. It's a tonic.
chocise, adventure motorcyclist & transworld rider

But whichever path you choose, just remember this.

The Prince Philip Movement is a cargo cult of the Yaohnanen tribe on the southern island of Tanna in Vanuatu. The Yaohnanen believe that Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the consort to Queen Elizabeth II, is a divine being, the pale-skinned son of a mountain spirit and brother of John Frum. According to ancient tales the son travelled over the seas to a distant land, married a powerful lady and would in time return. The villagers had observed the respect accorded to Queen Elizabeth II by colonial officials and came to the conclusion that her husband, Prince Philip, must be the son from their legends. When the cult formed is unclear, but it is likely that it was sometime in the 1950s or 1960s. Their beliefs were strengthened by the royal couple’s official visit to Vanuatu in 1974 when a few villagers had the opportunity to observe the prince from afar. Prince Philip was made aware of the religion and has exchanged gifts with its leaders and even visited them.

This religion is bogus! Be aware lol.

Originally posted by Numpty1
But whichever path you choose, just remember this.

The Prince Philip Movement is a cargo cult of the Yaohnanen tribe on the southern island of Tanna in Vanuatu. The Yaohnanen believe that Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the consort to Queen Elizabeth II, is a divine being, the pale-skinned son of a mountain spirit and brother of John Frum. According to ancient tales the son travelled over the seas to a distant land, married a powerful lady and would in time return. The villagers had observed the respect accorded to Queen Elizabeth II by colonial officials and came to the conclusion that her husband, Prince Philip, must be the son from their legends. When the cult formed is unclear, but it is likely that it was sometime in the 1950s or 1960s. Their beliefs were strengthened by the royal couple’s official visit to Vanuatu in 1974 when a few villagers had the opportunity to observe the prince from afar. Prince Philip was made aware of the religion and has exchanged gifts with its leaders and even visited them.

This religion is bogus! Be aware lol.

Most religion is bogus. Quite frankly all religions are bogus. But fact is, the message within is quite good. Be the stories lies or not. Sure dont believe God is real, dont give into lies of heaven and hell, but when a book tells you to love your neighbour, and a be a good man, I suggest you listen, be it religious or not.

Originally posted by needlenight

Most religion is bogus. Quite frankly all religions are bogus. But fact is, the message within is quite good. Be the stories lies or not. Sure dont believe God is real, dont give into lies of heaven and hell, but when a book tells you to love your neighbour, and a be a good man, I suggest you listen, be it religious or not.

Ha, and that from you, who wanted to become a monk? I smell fish.

Ride the World, pal

Originally posted by chocise

Originally posted by needlenight

Most religion is bogus. Quite frankly all religions are bogus. But fact is, the message within is quite good. Be the stories lies or not. Sure dont believe God is real, dont give into lies of heaven and hell, but when a book tells you to love your neighbour, and a be a good man, I suggest you listen, be it religious or not.

Ha, and that from you, who wanted to become a monk? I smell fish.

Ride the World, pal

I want a lifestyle similiar to that of a monk yes. If that means spreading the word of lets say christianity, then by all means. I am not christian, I do not believe in a christian god, but I believe that when the bible says: Love thy neighbour, it cant be that bad a book. And if I can help spread that word, and help good people become better people, then I would say thats a pretty good use of my life.

reply to post by needlenight


There are places you can go to live that are basically communes that might be interesting to you:
www.ic.org...

Originally posted by Chamberf=6
reply to post by needlenight

 

There are places you can go to live that are basically communes that might be interesting to you:
www.ic.org...

Interresting, thank you. Looking it through now.