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HELP! Temporary Novice Monk Ordination

Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 4:08 pm
by jin
Dear Dhamma Brothers,

Any ideas which forest tradition temple in Thailand can accept foreigners plus can ordain for a week? Not forgetting that the temple must have English speaking monks and dhamma text.

I have been searching for a forest tradition temple in Thailand to ordain as a novice for one week but to no avail. All of the temples that I have contacted require me to stay for at least a month.

Many thanks in advance for the help.

Re: HELP! Temporary Novice Monk Ordination

Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 4:57 pm
by Anagarika
jin wrote:Dear Dhamma Brothers,

Any ideas which forest tradition temple in Thailand can accept foreigners plus can ordain for a week? Not forgetting that the temple must have English speaking monks and dhamma text.

I have been searching for a forest tradition temple in Thailand to ordain as a novice for one week but to no avail. All of the temples that I have contacted require me to stay for at least a month.

Many thanks in advance for the help.
Highly recommended, and would potentially suit your requirements: http://www.templeretreatthailand.com/

Re: HELP! Temporary Novice Monk Ordination

Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 5:51 pm
by jin
Thanks bro for the lead.

I just read their website and it says for those who wish to ordain as Samanera,they must commit at least 21 days. Nevertheless I will contact them and see how it goes.

Once again, thanks!

With Metta,
Jin

Re: HELP! Temporary Novice Monk Ordination

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 1:37 am
by nekete
I'm a little curious about this. Why do you want to become a monk just for one week??

Re: HELP! Temporary Novice Monk Ordination

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 5:10 am
by James the Giant
A week as a monk will accomplish nothing, except to waste both your time and the time of the monastery.
You could do it even quicker, ordain and disrobe immediately after the ceremony. That would save you six days.

Re: HELP! Temporary Novice Monk Ordination

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 3:02 pm
by jin
I can only commit one week because I'm working and that is the amount of leave I can get.

Re: HELP! Temporary Novice Monk Ordination

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 4:55 pm
by Anagarika
People can disagree about the utility of ordaining for a week, but it's done fairly commonly in Thailand. Some families wish that their son ordain, even for a short period, and many young men will ordain for a few days or weeks in order to demonstrate gratitude to their parents and to appear more suitable as a prospective husband. Some Theravada countries do not have temporary ordinations, and as I mentioned, reasonable people can have different feelings about this. My own view has to do with ethics and intention. If someone is permitted by their abbot to ordain temporarily, and they do it with strong preparation (study, meditation), good intention, and for only ethical reasons, then a week as a a samanera is better than a week not. The experience of 430 am chanting, alms round, meditation, study in the Wat, and experiencing the Vinaya life, even for a week, is worthwhile, IMO. If one leaves the Wat a better person, more respectful of the Dhamma and the life of Bhikkhus/Bhikkhunis, and mindful of renunciate life, then it can be a positive.

Re: HELP! Temporary Novice Monk Ordination

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 5:26 pm
by Sokehi
BuddhaSoup wrote:The experience of 430 am chanting, alms round, meditation, study in the Wat, and experiencing the Vinaya life, even for a week, is worthwhile, IMO. If one leaves the Wat a better person, more respectful of the Dhamma and the life of Bhikkhus/Bhikkhunis, and mindful of renunciate life, then it can be a positive.
:goodpost:

Re: HELP! Temporary Novice Monk Ordination

Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 6:30 pm
by mikenz66
I've talked to a number of people (Thai, Lao, and western) who have ordained for a week or a few weeks at our local Wat. They have all found it a very helpful experience. As Buddhasoup says, if it is done with integrity it is, at least, a step up from simply doing retreat time as a lay person.

Two Thai brothers who both recently graduated from university took two weeks of ordination during our Kathina season a few weeks ago. It was inspiring to see them working together (and work with them) in the cleanup after our Kathina/Loy Krathong day, and it was heartening for their mother.

:anjali:
Mike

Re: HELP! Temporary Novice Monk Ordination

Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 9:45 am
by jin
thank you brothers for the wonderful sharing. I'm still waiting for a reply from Wat Sriboonruang, hopefully they can accept me.

Re: HELP! Temporary Novice Monk Ordination

Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 12:16 pm
by Ripley
hi,
it's not easy to find a wat in thailand that will accept foreigners.
wat sri boonruang seems suitable. but 1 week won't work to accomplish what novice monkhood was thought for.
usually, it's not up to the future novice to set time and duration but only to the abbots decision, after an intensive talk about where you stand and evaluating your motives.
becoming a monk is not like visting disneyland, so, if you take this serious, make room for it in your life.
for the ceremony you should be able to accomplish the chantings in pali, this needs preparation. also to arrange the robes and other 'equipment' that you will need.
in addition, travelling to fang takes 2 days from europe.
the main purpose is however to study buddhism there and learning meditation, as well as adding at least some value to the temple's daily routines.
i don't see this happening in 1 week. you might consider however travelling to thailand to visit a meditation camp or taking part in an 8 precepts ceremony only.
all the best!

Re: HELP! Temporary Novice Monk Ordination

Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 7:25 pm
by Goofaholix
BuddhaSoup wrote:The experience of 430 am chanting, alms round, meditation, study in the Wat, and experiencing the Vinaya life, even for a week, is worthwhile, IMO. If one leaves the Wat a better person, more respectful of the Dhamma and the life of Bhikkhus/Bhikkhunis, and mindful of renunciate life, then it can be a positive.
One can do all that as a layperson, there is no need to ordain, there are many centres that cater for laypeople on retreat.

As a monk the time taken to learn ordination chanting, head shaving, wearing robes properly, handling bowls properly, etiquette, rules etc will take up most if not all of the week and still won't be learnt properly.

I agree a 1 week ordination is a waste of time, it turns the ideal of the going forth into a summer camp, better to do a 1 week retreat at a meditation centre.