How to Go About Becoming a Buddhist Monk

Have you ever wondered how to go about becoming a Buddhist monk? Doing so is not an easy journey. To become a Buddhist monk, you will truly have to prepare yourself in every way possible.

Becoming a Buddhist monk absolutely involves hard work and appreciation for the religion. In simple terms, you will need to:

• Understand Buddhism
• Enter into a Sangha
• Enter the three fold refuge
• Become absorbed in Buddha's teachings
• Become ordained
• Live out your life following the Buddhist ideals

Understand Buddhism

Just as a Catholic priest or a Jewish rabbi needs to understand his religion, you will need to understand the components of Buddhism. You will need to have a very thorough comprehension. You cannot just have surface knowledge of the system and expect to become a monk. If you are not already Buddhist, you will obviously have to become Buddhist.

In understanding Buddhism, you will have to realize that you will need to give up whatever religion you presently are. Some Buddhists are atheists, some believe in God, and some believe in other forces of life. In any case though, if you are a Christian, Jew, Muslim, and so forth, chances are, your beliefs are not going to completely correspond to those of Buddhism.

Your Journey Toward Becoming a Buddhist Monk

Once you have decided that this lifestyle is absolutely the one for you, you must find a Buddhist Center and start to receive training from a Buddhist teacher. Inform your teacher of your intentions. You will need to live as a true Buddhist, and in order to become a monk, you will have to learn about the following components and obtain the following goals:

• Enter into a community of enlightened believers called Sangha
• Enter the three-fold refuge of the Buddha
• Absorb yourself in the Buddhist teachers

You will need to continue up living this type of Buddhist life with the Sangha. While you are there, you will generally not receive financial support for the first two to three years. Therefore, you will need to have saved up enough money to cover your needs while you are there. In general, you are forbidden from taking jobs outside of the community since it is against their code of life. After that time period has passed, you will usually be able to receive sponsorship.

Studying will be an important part of your journey toward ordination. You will need to both study and understand the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eight-Fold Path. When you are not studying, you should spend a lot of time in meditation.

Ordination and Life as a Buddhist Monk

Generally, after about five years, you will become ordained. At this point, you are fully a Buddhist monk in the legal sense of the term. However, you will have to continue to practice these ideals throughout your life. You must give up your worldy pursuits, thoughts, and so forth, and dedicate your life solely to studying and living out the Buddhist ideals.

Considerations

Becoming and living as a Buddhist monk requires a lot of hard work, patience, and time. We are all committed to different areas of life. However, in order to really be committed to a profession in the religious field, you need to make that religion your life. Being ordained into any religion is not just a "job." It is not just a "hobby" or an "occupation." Being ordained into a religion is completely and totally a lifestyle.