Joining Buddhist Monastery..

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Hi,

I'd like to offer some advice, if I may. I've been meditating for almost a decade and I used to be all about progress and power. But it hurt my meditation and my life, so I stopped thinking about it so much. And I started becoming mindful of who I am and how I'm doing, which is the most important part of meditation. Just being aware, and allowing yourself to exist without pushing yourself too hard. Meditation is more about rest and recovery in between the "struggles" so that you can progress and grow. A muscle needs rest in between work-outs. Otherwise it gets overloaded with stress and injured. So does your mind.

I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here Let me give you this link to my Website where I talk about meditation and the human problem of attachment.

http://www.meditation-techniques-for-happiness.com/learning-meditation.html

Try to create that inner monestary of peace, and make sure that you do some research before you make your decision. Perhaps you would also enjoy this peaceful compassion meditation:

http://www.meditation-techniques-for-happiness.com/compassion-meditation.html

Best wishes,
Oz

 

perhaps you should make a prelonged visit to a monastery before making a final decision

it might not be how you preconcieve it

good luck though!

 

Very few monastaries would accept you out of the blue, you would usually be expected to practice there as a layman for a while, become accustomed to the practices, and get to know the monks, and go on some retreats, spending short periods there.

After talking to some of the senior monks, they will often let you practice with the monks as a layman for a while, to see if it is really for you or not, and then that would eventually lead to your taking the precepts formally and being admitted.

It can and will vary slightly from temple to temple. There are a great many temples in the US, and they are from many different traditions.

http://www.shastaabbey.org/

The monks in this order are experienced and are a western order, which you may find easier to come to terms with.
I've visted their Abbey in the UK, and found it a very positive experience

 

What teachings have you been reading? Teachings on Buddhism? Teachings on various meditation practices and/or techniques?

It would help if you were able to elaborate on this a bit more.

There are plenty of Theravada temples in the U.S. Some are not as you would expect in that they do not offer their monastics any free time to just sit around to study and meditate all day. They stick to a rather rigid schedule of chanting, working, noon-meal, working, chanting, on-you-own-study, day-to-day, no weekends off. There are a very few who are formed from south-east asian forest monks who do offer that type of routine (study and meditating all day), however.

HTML:

 

I'm right there with you. I've also been reading a lot about Buddhism and practicing meditation and I've decided that I too want to join a monastery. So if there's not many forest monasteries in the US, would it be possible to go to the east and join one or would there be too much of a language barrier or anything like that?

 

Guys i'm in the same exact boat and trust me, don't get anxious or excited about this because there is no rush to join. Really take your time and spend time devoting yourself to a temple, I would recommend at least several years if you are comfortable with the temple you begin practice at. Monastic life is a noble path by any means and one of pure devotion that is and should be respected. But the key here is don't convince yourself through reading about it, convince yourself through experience. Don't think you want to do it, know your will.

my last peice of advice and probably most important if you want any information from hip forums posters is this. Please listen to DarrellKitchen!
He knows what he's talking about and is a serious asset to the Buddhism forum.

 

Exactly. I think ... ? {*scritch* *scritch* *scritch*}

Anxiety and excitement is as much a hinderance to mindfulness as any other activity that becomes a hinderance to mindfulness ...

It took me three years of asking to be ordained before I finally was able to (four years later). However, I never attended a monastery during that time. When I first studied buddhism and meditation it was Tibetan Mahayana, at the home of a Tibetan Monk who spoke NO english, and all our teachings were done via a translator. I recall once commenting to the teacher (through his translator) that the translators were going to get enlightened before us because his intrepretations were NOT what was being spoken by the teacher. Which it wasn't. The translator(s) were not repeating what the teacher spoke, but what they thought he should be saying, which was frustrating enough because I knew what he was teaching and it wasn't what the translators were relaying.

My advice is: DO NOT GO INTO IT CARRYING AROUND A GARBAGE BAG FULL OF EXPECTATIONS.

True monastic life is a noble path, but if you have ideas on how it should be lived before experiencing it, you WILL be extremely dissapointed with what you do experience ... and witness ...

Buddhism has its "born-into" generations exactly like any and every other religion. Those "born-into" geners don't have the same perspective on their "religion" as those looking in from the outside. And if you've already pre-determined how life should be lived as a Buddhist (or monastic), you're in for a bit of a let-down, and a very bumpy ride.

Buddhism is not about how you perceive others, but how you perceive ... period! And how your perceptions can become the cause for others suffering as well as your own. I didn't say you DO anything TO anyone, or anyone DOES anything TO you, but rather you do things others don't like and others do things you don't like and this is where "cause for others suffering" comes in.

I'm gonna have to say what my abbot says to every American student that asks about Buddhism ... Don't believe ANYTHING I say. Experience it for yourself ...

If you BELIEVE whatever I say, or whatever anyone else says, or even what the Buddha says, you might as well go practice some other religion that REQUIRES blind faith. Buddhism teaches, you listen, practice, apply and experience the truth on your own, not because you were TOLD this is this or that it that ...

HTML:

 

I totally agree, that's why I said "listen". Another reason I said "listen" to you/DarrellKitchen is because you respond/responded in this way of making a clear understanding of what your message is.

Correct me if i'm wrong, and I know it may be a loose translation, but didn't the Buddha say something along these lines; (speaking to the monks) Don't even believe in what I tell you, I can only teach you to enlighten yourselves.