My Ordination Experiences (part 1)

Ordination is a word that means to become a monk, priest, clerical or religious figure. In Buddhist culture, all boys and men are encouraged to ordain as a novice or monk at least once in their lives. The analogy is that by ordaining as a monk, the merit or goodness you accumulate during your time as a monk will close the gates of hell and open the gates of heaven for your parents. It is considered the absolute greatest way to show your appreciation and respect to your parents who have sacrificed much to help raise you to become the person you are today. Being from a Buddhist family

My first time ordaining as a novice monk was when I was ten years old. My family hadn't heard of Dhammkaya temple yet. At the time we went to another temple near our home. I ordained alone during the school year. It was planned for only three days (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) but I ended up extending it to the following weekend (from 3 days to 10 days). I never knew what monks did or what the life of a monk was like, but I knew one thing, I liked it. Something about the life of a monk just felt right to me. I realized at that young age that I wanted to become a monk someday.

Me at 10 years old

During that time as a novice, the schedule wasn't easy as many people think. Most people think monks just sit around and don't do anything. Not true at all. The schedule was roughly like this: wake up 4am, morning chanting meditation, have breakfast, clean the temple, have lunch, clean other parts of the temple, fix and maintenance of the temple (I was a small boy, I did whatever I could help with) and then evening chanting and meditation, then go to sleep. They spent a lot of time meditating. Some days I was asked to help teach the monks English. But you can only learn so much from a 10 year old.

Overall the monks were very kind and took care of me like a older brothers. They would point out what I should do and what I shouldn't and always taught in a kind way and helped me understand by using stories. My first experience ordaining was from a different temple and the year after that, my family found Dhammakaya Temple.

                                                           (To be continued...)