Temp Monk

I am no monk...But for the past while I have been feeling like I want to become one even though that is not possible. I wanted to tell all of you in more detail about the monks and what I do at the Buddhist University with them for four hours a day four times a week. In the process I hope to answer your questions about the lives of the monks...or at least try. If you have any more let me know.

Buddhist monks can become monks at the age of 20. They can be a novice from the age of twelve until they become monks. They can choose not to be a monk ever and just live by the less amount of precepts that a novice follows. Most of the monks at the University are monks. There are a few novices but they are past monk age and just want their experience to be more relaxed than a monk.

The University and all monk education is free. Many of the monks come from very poor families in Cambodia, Burma, Vietnam, and Laos. Most cannot afford education and most are the first to get any sort of education in their village. I have heard so many stories like this.

The monks follow 272 precepts which is another term for a rule. The five main one that everyone follows are no killing, adultry, stealing, lying, and drinking. The other ones are very minor about their behavior in terms of what they wear, what they can and cannot do, but most of them are vague and considered to be of the past sort of.

The monks are allowed to have whatever they want; computers, mp3 players, phones, etc. They are not supposed to show lay people but that is being more relaxed these days. Mostly this is because it makes the mind cloudy and unfocused on the truth. I can understand this but most use it to call home and to just be normal 20 year olds.

You can become a monk and leave monkhood whenever you want. There is no time minnimum but most boys become monks for at least 3 months at some point in thier lives. It is very favorable to a family to have their son in law be a monk at one point in his life.

The monks cannot play games, in terms of sports but they can lift weights. Some monks play soccer but not very many because the temple frowns upon it.

At the University we help the monks get more comfordable with speaking enlgish. It is really fun! We sit in on three different classes during the week either grading presentations, helping pronounciation or just talking about important places in Thailand in enlgish. It is so amazing to hear about all the temples, waterfalls, caves, cities and all the places we really SHOULD go to while we are here. Too bad I have no time to do any of that with this schedule haha. If we are not in class we sit at this long table and welcome monks to talk to us. We interview them about their lives, ask them about buddhism, or just chat about what we did that day or about anything they ask. They love talking to us and getting to know more about America. They speak english well but they love speaking in Thai or in Lao to challenge us to understand. Lao is similar to Thai but since Thai is hard...Lao is harder haha.

Women cannot be monks in Thailand. In other counties they have allowed it but not Thailand. There are a few female monks but they are not accepted or recognized by the country. There is a long history behind this but it is hard to explain. I can understand why though.

Tomorrow is our last day at the University and I am very sad. I am sad that we will be leaving all of this fun monk friends behind and we may never see them again. We have written in friendship books for them and they have each written us notes too. They are so wonderful and they have made a large imprint on my life and in my heart.

Any questions more just ask. Sorry I haven't written for a while but I was failing on thinking about things to write about.

Aubs