SarathW wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 8:12 am
Considering the fact that we do not have Buddha today, they all depend on the chief monk and the other control freaks around you.
If you get into a temple that is building a temple all you do is a labor job.
If you have to train a lot of other monks or lay people what you will be doing all day will be teaching.
I think there is a Sutta about choosing the right temple.
The best is to live with your teacher as a lay person for while.
Yes this is correct. I ordained once at a place where they were building up a temple and most of what we did all day was labor. Preparing roads and cleaning the forest area, cleaning the then abandoned buildings etc. The batch that came after us the next year didn't have to do much of anything in terms of labor. In a different year I ordained we stayed at a place that was already built up and it was just basic maintenance and mostly meditation and vinaya training.
The difficulty just depends on ur preferences and where you ordain. I have met ppl who are very physical ppl and preferred the labor. In some ways monk life was easier for me because less responsibilities. Just following orders. In other ways it was harder because it's regimented.
I generally don't recommend going from E-Buddhism directly into monastic life, you'll be the most knowledgeable sutta nerd in the batch but will lack the personal qualities of Buddhist training relative to your cohort as it consists mostly of real life Buddhists not e-buddhists. You should definitely go to temples in real life, see how they operate and consider which one you like first. If you like Thai traditions - I
always always always recommend trying out a short term ordination program. At best, it can be a life changing experience, at worst, you know monastic life isn't for you or it'll make it so you want to try monastic life at a different monastery.
My recommendation. Go to temples in real life first don't just read suttas and argue with strangers online and be like imma practicing Buddhist. As long as you're okay with Thai traditions, as opposed to Sri Lankan or something like that, try a short term ordination program, if you don't like it, try a different one later. If you do, you have something to go off of.
Lastly. Do not make "easy" or "hard" your sole criteria. It can be a factor but not the only factor. Too many Western Buddhists take it way too easy. They pick and choose what doctrines they want to believe. They pick and choose Buddhist practices they think are easy/fun and ignore the rest. An E-Buddhist who reads suttas and meditates because that's what they like, and then ignores the duties of a layperson like supporting the sangha because it's "too hard" to get off their chair and be generous to the keepers of the Dhamma but won't ordain because they want to have sex and don't want to clean monasteries will get very little benefit from buddhism compared to the numerous poor illiterate villagers I've seen in Asia who have never read a sutta but get up early to give modest alms that make up probably 10% of their income to support the sangha as a lay Buddhist should. What's easy for you is hard for someone else. Also. Monasticism and Buddhist practice in general is about training yourself. Training yourself on what is easy/fun has little value. It's training yourself on what is hard that is the most valuable.