Leaving the Home Life

短期出家

16 December 2011, was an historic day when my head was shaved bald for the first time in my life to prepare me for my ordination as a novice monk at Wat Dhamma Piti Meditation Monastery, Ipoh. I was among a total of twenty lay devotees, young and old, between the ages of 13 to 68, waiting earnestly for our turns to be shaved. One could not have imagined the mixed feeling that I had due to either anxiety,worry,excitement or...... as I could not anticipate whether the razor blade, Gillette Mach 3, would do its job well and not to hurt my ‘naked’ head, or would I look like Yul Brynner after the shaving was over. All these worries were rather excessive or immaterial as no one in our group was injured in the process. Neither could any one of us see his own face as there was not a single mirror hanging in the whole monastery.

The ordination ceremony for novice monks under the Short-Term Ordination Programme 2011 was conducted at the monastery. It was carried out on Sunday,17 December,2011. It was a solemn affair, carried out with precision to the very detail according to the scripts laid down by the Vinaya rules in the Theravadin tradition. The whole ritual was conducted in the Pali language. For a potential candidate to be qualified for Acceptance as a monk(bhikkhu) in the Sangha community, he must acquire the necessary robes,bowl and preceptor. Apart from this, he must also fulfill other requisites such as, he is not physically ill and deformed, or mentally retarded or disordered,or economically insolvent.

To make the ordination ceremony a success, thorough preparation was essential. All the participants had to report to the monastery two days earlier as it was intended for them to get acquainted to the life in the monastery,and to allow them ample time to learn to put on the robes and to learn to recite the verses in the Pali language.

Learning to wear the traditional robes was, for me, not an easy job with my advancing age. I was more like a small kid not knowing how to wear his own trousers. I needed others to help and guide me along. It was not surprising that I was always the last person in the group to put on the robes in a presentable manner.In the end,it took me two solid days of practice to acquire the skill.

Basically,the robes consist of two pieces of rectangular shaped yellow cloth. One smaller robe is put around the body with the two vertical edges folded or rolled together. Then it is tucked in and secured with a belt for it to function as the skirt-robe(a lot similar to the sarong a Malay traditional costume). For the larger outer robe, the edge is ‘thrown’ or flicked over the left shoulder and pinched under the left arm so that it will not slip off.

Learning to recite verses correctly in the Pali language was my other herculean task. We were told that in the Thai tradition any layman who is unable to memorise the verses in Pali would never be allowed to be ordained as a monk. Luckily, this ruling did not apply to us or else people like me with poor memory would not have a chance to monastic life.

After the ordination ceremony was over, I became a novice monk. However,I had to observe very carefully the Ten Precepts and the seventy-five Training Rules(sekhiya) and some other rules of the bhikkhu in my daily life. If I happened to break a precept or a rule,I had to confess immediately and repent to my preceptor monk. All these precepts and rules were there to protect and remind me about undesirable behaviour.

In fact, Vinaya rules and Dhamma are much like the two limbs of a human being; they compliment each other in sustaining and propagating Buddhism for many centuries to come.

‘When the Buddha was about to finally pass away and leave his followers, rather than appoint an individual to take his place he said this to his disciples:
“Whatever Dhamma and Vinaya I have pointed out and formulated for you, will be your Teacher when I am gone.”
For more than twenty-five centuries,the Dhamma and Vinaya have been quietly guiding the communities of Buddhist monks.’

Going on an alms round (Pindapata) has definitely formed an integral part of a bhikkhu’s morning activity as food intake is limited to the hours between dawn and noon. One has to take one’s food before noon as no food is to be consumed after that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d6b9lqgSNs

People might have the misconception that going on an alms round is considered begging. Actually, it is not so; as the bhikkhu does not solicit anything but is ready mindfully to receive any alms that lay people may wish to share.

This daily dependence on alms food, in a way,reminds both the bhikkhus and the lay devotees of their interdependence and prevents the bhikku from becoming too isolated from the lay community.

As practising novice monks, we did go out for alms round for five consecutive mornings. We left the monastery bare-footed at 7.00 am in the morning.

We were divided into four groups. Each group went out separately to different destination, either to a food court or to a market place in Ipoh for alms round.
We came back before 8.30 am and had our daily meal after 9.00 am.

Beside alms round, our other daily routine were morning and evening meditation plus chanting, Dhamma talks and discussions, maintaining the cleanliness of the compound in the monastery.

On 23 December,2011, all of us disrobed and returned to our lives as lay people.
After we have gone through this Short-Term Ordination Programme,we have a better understanding and appreciation of the bhikkhu life in a monastery. Although all of us were not prepared to be bhikkus for a longer period, nevertheless we were encouraged by Venerable Master Shikaizhao(开照法师) to observe diligently the Five Precepts as laymen, and be mindful of our deeds, and to check if they contravene in any way the precepts we are holding. Any misdeed should be repented and corrected so that in the long run every one of us can become a better person.

Reference:The Bhikkhu’s Rules
-A Guide for Laypeople
Compiled and Explained By: Ian Anderson