Dhamma Wheel Buddhist Forum

Dear All,

My name is Jorge, and I'm 27. I'm thinking to becoming a buddhist monk after paying my student loan. I've schizophrenia which is well controled by proper medical treatment. Do you think that I can become a monk someday?

Sorry for my poor english.

With metta,
Jorge.

I see this is your first post Welcome to Dhamma wheel!

You would need to speak to the preceptor wherever it is you wish to ordain.

Sarakani wrote:Dear All,

My name is Jorge, and I'm 27. I'm thinking to becoming a buddhist monk after paying my student loan. I've schizophrenia which is well controled by proper medical treatment. Do you think that I can become a monk someday?

Sorry for my poor english.

With metta,
Jorge.

Dear Jorge,

I think schizophrenia is a broad field. But from my own experience with mental disorder I would say the following: If the illness doesn't hinder you to know and control your behaviour, i.e. to keep the precepts (sila), then that illness doesn't really matter, despite all the unpleasant feelings and perceptions that are connected with it. It might be different if medical treatment is needed to prevent one from becoming a "monster", but I think such cases are quite rare.

Good luck!

One thing you have to think about is that you can't go without medication and you'll be living out of dana. It can be counterproductive.

what if you have health insurance?

Thank you everyone for their answers. I think the best way to becoming a monk is waiting a Wat in my country (Chile) and get ordained there. I have family which can support me with meds if needed. I think the same must apply to everyone with chronic illness (diabetes, hypertension, OCD, heart disease and so on) which use meds.

Regards,
Jorge.

i'm in the same boat

My thoughts would be that on the path to preparing to become a monk, you would contact a Wat or temple, and begin to prepare as a lay person, and/or anagarika, and prepare for some period time in this capacity. Then, you might be in a position to request to be ordained as a samanera, or novice, and practice as a novice for, perhaps, one or two years. Thereafter, if all goes well, your abbot can advise whether your training, your preparation, and your health will allow you to ordain. It's a path you can take one day at a time, and see if over time it's the right path for you.