NationStates Jolt Archive

...I'm becoming a Monk. That means no grass pulling, peak living, porn watching or snacking. As well as other things. But it takes a while for me, mainly because I have a girlfriend and I do not want to break off my relationship, so I'm right now an apprentice, and will become a fully fledged monk when my relationship had shattered (whenever that will be). So, in my teachings, I was taught a something:

Buddha is not our god.

Many buddhists claim that Buddha is our god, but in fact ol' Buddy (as I call him) is in fact the teacher of Buddhism, a religion based on spiritual unity and compassion, repentance and healthy psychological growth. He is to be viewed as a greater being, but not unto 'god' status. Only super-teacher status (like a principal at a particularly large university).

This is one of the reasons why another religion is allowed. However, since most religions do not allow the teaching of another god (or some before them), it is hard for myself to become more than a buddhist monk.

Anybody here to argue with a soon-to-be monk, please do so now, so I can reply (just kidding).

I'm just saying this to have a heads up.

Also anyone having any questions on being a monk, or anyone here IS a monk, then please let me know/ask me. I can answer the questions to the best of my ability.

What does a monk do all day?

Why is Buddhism anti-porn and anti-relationships?

I fail to see how denying basic yet harmless instincts is serving the cause of enlightenment.

Oh, and just in case I get bored of the endless cycle of rebirths, can you give a dumbed down explaination of what exactly you *do* to reach enlightenment?

What does a monk do all day?

Forum Jockeying. :)

What does a monk do all day?

cursing the decision of renunciation :p

j/k.

Btw Jenrak,

Where are you from? Are you into Mahayana or Theravada ?

Technically, a monk just sits around and reads books all day. Other than that, we do some gardening and community service.

I was told that it was a spiritual obstacle, as enlightenment seen as a cleansing of the soul, allowing the person to reach a greater height of peace and tranquility. So, it's like washing a dish. Before you can wash it, you must scrape off all the grease and chunks of cheese that are stuck to it.

cursing the decision of renunciation :p

j/k.

Btw Jenrak,

Where are you from? Are you into Mahayana or Theravada ?

Nope. I'm living in Canada right now. I'm from Thailand, Laos and China, however, and my ordination will finish in Laos.

Technically, a monk just sits around and reads books all day. Other than that, we do some gardening and community service.

I was told that it was a spiritual obstacle, as enlightenment seen as a cleansing of the soul, allowing the person to reach a greater height of peace and tranquility. So, it's like washing a dish. Before you can wash it, you must scrape off all the grease and chunks of cheese that are stuck to it.
Gotcha. Scrape cheese off of soul.

Err.. Did you tell your lover your long term goal is to get rid of her?!

What if it's on my body?

I never knew a Buddhist who claimed the Big Man was a God. That he was a kind man and a wise teacher yes; but never a deity.

Why is Buddhism anti-porn and anti-relationships?

I fail to see how denying basic yet harmless instincts is serving the cause of enlightenment.

Oh, and just in case I get bored of the endless cycle of rebirths, can you give a dumbed down explaination of what exactly you *do* to reach enlightenment?

You're gonna have to get stuck with the rebirths, if you don't reach enlightenment. To reach enlightenment, correctly do all the proper things until you've realised a certain sense of ease. Not that you're done, but until you've found the reward within the things you've done.

I'm not sure if you'll understand it, but it mae more sense when I heard it in speech.

The harmless instincts may seem harmless, but they're mostly tied to that they can lead to greater things, and enlightenment is a bitch (yes I can swear) to reach if yo udon't do it step-by-step. So it's like breaking a small rule, but that small rule is tied to larger rule which soon becomes harder to break.

Err.. Did you tell your lover your long term goal is to get rid of her?!

Nope.

so you are a theravada buddhist and will not be a monk living in a monastery for the rest of your life?

have you shaved your head?

so you are a theravada buddhist and will not be a monk living in a monastery for the rest of your life?

have you shaved your head?

Nope. I'm living in a temple across the street from a tire shop. Pretty spiffy.

I'm having it shaved at the end, along with my eyebrows, leg hair, arm hair. All the hair on my body is going off. But that's at the end.

You're gonna have to get stuck with the rebirths, if you don't reach enlightenment. To reach enlightenment, correctly do all the proper things until you've realised a certain sense of ease. Not that you're done, but until you've found the reward within the things you've done.

I'm not sure if you'll understand it, but it mae more sense when I heard it in speech.

The harmless instincts may seem harmless, but they're mostly tied to that they can lead to greater things, and enlightenment is a bitch (yes I can swear) to reach if yo udon't do it step-by-step. So it's like breaking a small rule, but that small rule is tied to larger rule which soon becomes harder to break.Hrm... It always seemed more than a little unfortunate to me that the Enlightened ones are the ones who are removed from both traditional society and physical space-time. Wouldn't it make more sense to allow them to live lives that would be of benefit to those around them both during and after this life?

Also, why try to remove the essence of self from your being? Just because it's harmful doesn't mean it's hopeless... If you could tame it and give it over to others rather than out-and-out destroy it, it could become a potentially very useful tool.

Hrm... It always seemed more than a little unfortunate to me that the Enlightened ones are the ones who are removed from both traditional society and physical space-time. Wouldn't it make more sense to allow them to live lives that would be of benefit to those around them both during and after this life?

Also, why try to remove the essence of self from your being? Just because it's harmful doesn't mean it's hopeless... If you could tame it and give it over to others rather than out-and-out destroy it, it could become a potentially very useful tool.

From my teaching is that self-enlightenment is what buddhism preaches mainly, teaching discipline and how to greaten one's self, and we already help society quite a bit what with all our community services and teaching stupid kids (I can't insult once I become a monk though, sadly enough :( ).

Also enlightenment to us is on a different level, not directly human-related. It's more of spiritual relation. We're allowed to use things, we're allowed to play Ps2 (You better believe it - half of the monks have tomagotchi's), but only relatively in a controlled pattern. So we're limited in some things, but otherwise we're normal people.

We live off donations, which is cool though.

Nope. I'm living in a temple across the street from a tire shop. Pretty spiffy.

I'm having it shaved at the end, along with my eyebrows, leg hair, arm hair. All the hair on my body is going off. But that's at the end.

Do you plan to visit Bodhgaya anytime?

Do you plan to visit Bodhgaya anytime?

Nah. I'm going to Nakhom Phannom.

...I'm becoming a Monk. That means no grass pulling, peak living, porn watching or snacking. As well as other things. But it takes a while for me, mainly because I have a girlfriend and I do not want to break off my relationship, so I'm right now an apprentice, and will become a fully fledged monk when my relationship had shattered (whenever that will be). So, in my teachings, I was taught a something:

Buddha is not our god.

Many buddhists claim that Buddha is our god, but in fact ol' Buddy (as I call him) is in fact the teacher of Buddhism, a religion based on spiritual unity and compassion, repentance and healthy psychological growth. He is to be viewed as a greater being, but not unto 'god' status. Only super-teacher status (like a principal at a particularly large university).

This is one of the reasons why another religion is allowed. However, since most religions do not allow the teaching of another god (or some before them), it is hard for myself to become more than a buddhist monk.

Anybody here to argue with a soon-to-be monk, please do so now, so I can reply (just kidding).

I'm just saying this to have a heads up.

Also anyone having any questions on being a monk, or anyone here IS a monk, then please let me know/ask me. I can answer the questions to the best of my ability.

You're in Theraveda, right? Because from what I know of Mahayana in that Buddha and the other various Boddhisattvas are pretty godlike in behavior and powers.

You're in Theraveda, right? Because from what I know of Mahayana in that Buddha and the other various Boddhisattvas are pretty godlike in behavior and powers.

Yes, I am.

...I'm becoming a Monk. That means no grass pulling, peak living, porn watching or snacking. As well as other things. But it takes a while for me, mainly because I have a girlfriend and I do not want to break off my relationship, so I'm right now an apprentice, and will become a fully fledged monk when my relationship had shattered (whenever that will be).

So you're stringing your girlfriend along, knowing full well you have no future with her? That's pretty low, man...

So you're stringing your girlfriend along, knowing full well you have no future with her? That's pretty low, man...

Hey, I don't need your sass mouth on my relationships. I have enough of it from my friends, thank you very much.

Hey, I don't need your sass mouth on my relationships. I have enough of it from my friends, thank you very much.

You should listen to your friends. Also, if you don't want comment, don't post stuff in a public forum.

All sounds pretty neat except for the eyebrows thing. What's wrong with eyebrows?

All God-fearing Americans know that you commie-loving, Cheese scraping, heretics really have Satan as your god. That whole happy fat guy thing is just a front for Satan, who is different in that he is thin. Take that fat suit off and you get back down to the Lord of All Evil, that is, Al Capone and his two closest henchment by Neo and Abby Durrell.

I find Buddhism to be rather nihilistic. I'm more of an existentialist and think suffering is just part of being human. If you no longer suffer, you no longer know what it is to be human.

Buddhists are also concerned with cleansing themselves from sin, somewhat like Christianity, but those efforts are through themselves, not through God, forcing themselves not to have "seven emotions and six desires". I haven't heard success stories, nor have I heard failures...

I find Buddhism to be rather nihilistic. I'm more of an existentialist and think suffering is just part of being human. If you no longer suffer, you no longer know what it is to be human.
My Humanity vs. Never having the Flu again
My Soul vs. No worries of horrrifyingly painful death
My Existence vs. Never having to work customer service again
I'm sorry, but I'd have to say I'd trade all this "humanity" for freedom from sufferingg any day. The only problem, is that I might then lose my free will in the process and that trumps all.

I find Buddhism to be rather nihilistic.

Buddhism is voidistic, not nihilistic.
--------

You know what's funny. I, a follower of Vaishnava philosophy, consider Buddha as God (avatar actually), but Buddhists don't. :p

Buddhists......I haven't heard success stories, .

:rolleyes:

Buddhists :headbang:

I am the Imam of Seville.

Buddhism is only nihilistic on the surface. I am a Nichiren Buddhist and find my faith very supporting. Nichiren taught that all people could become a buddha. www.sgi-usa.org for more infomation

Yeah, monks are definately free to use modern technology. I saw tonnes of them in internet cafe's in Cambodia and Thailand. Its quite funny sitting down next to a monk, who is busily typing away in Khmer, whilst writing a message in English to your friends and family. :)
Good luck in your endeavours becoming a monk, I hope you get to wear some cool hats.

I think its a Commie Joke.