When I was exactly eighteen, even though I didn’t have the mind of renunciation, the enthusiasm arose in me to drop out of school and become a monk. I proceeded to discuss this with neighbours who had knowledge about the monastic life but they discouraged me, saying, “The monastic life is just a waste for children and their future. Only those who remain uneducated and are unable to afford their daily needs go to a monastery. Moreover, young people who have a bad reputation in school for such things as being involving in taking drugs, opposing their teachers, parents or their friends, or failing every year, and so forth, are sent to a monastery with the intention of getting them tamed by the monastic rules, teachers and disciplinarians.”
Furthermore, when the Buddhist monks were seen roaming throughout the markets and villages, innocent people like me always tended to criticize them. Likewise, I also underestimated them by thinking that the monks who resided in the monasteries just learned conventional Dharma such as engaging in ritual activities like making ritual cakes, blowing trumpets, playing cymbals, beating drums, performing ritual dances, memorizing some ritual texts, chanting a few prayers, reciting mantras, etc. After learning a few kinds of these rituals and instruments, they would just head down to the villages and markets to carry out ritualistic work and read Kangyur and Tengyur. Then the misconception arose in my mind that the conventional knowledge of the dharma could be considered equal to modern youths acquiring a vast knowledge of various subjects such as English, mathematics, science, etc.
However, my decision to choose the monastic life impressed my parents who approached me to have a further conversation about this matter. They said, “You have chosen a good thing for your life. You have experienced life with us, and now you know how much we are struggling for our livelihood. Being lay followers of the Buddha, without any real knowledge of acceptance and rejection according to the Buddhist view, we are undergoing a lot of misery in our life due to the accumulation of non-virtue in our past lives. We are bound to face this endless suffering in cyclic existence as we lack the knowledge of dealing with the eight worldly concerns and haven’t abandoned our afflictive emotions. So, you are on the right track in choosing a better life.”
Later, when I was on the cusp of my twenties, I got the opportunity to be a member of the sangha community at Namdroling Monastery in south India due to my karmic connection and the heartfelt encouragement and support of my family. Since the beginning of my admission, I was deeply inspired and moved to see innumerable monks wearing yellow robes and circumambulating the main temple in the form of a golden line. Gradually, a couple of years passed by and I came to realize that the monastic life is not what I thought before as a centre of learning only for conventional Dharma; rather, it is a genuine place of learning for all the varieties of knowledge. Furthermore, it is not an easy life to be chosen by those with inferior qualities. The monastic students who choose to enter the shedra mainly study the sutra and tantra teachings of the Buddha, as well as the commentaries written by great Indian and Tibetan scholars. They study Buddhist philosophy in general, poetry, composition, grammar and the history of Buddhism and Tibet. And they don’t just study these casually, but use their rational minds to enhance their understanding of these texts. They analyze the teachings through discourse, debate and composition like a goldsmith analyzes gold. Furthermore, they also engage in the “nine noble ways of conduct”: explanation, debate and composition; erudition, nobility and excellence; and teaching, practice and action—the higher ways of learning, contemplating and meditation.
During their vacation many of the monks are involved in one of the three one-month retreat practices—Ngondro, Tsalung and Dzogchen—which are the condensed form of the tantra teachings. These practices are also said to be the keys to open the door to omniscient Buddhahood. After the completion of their nine-year course, they either engage in the three-year retreat or go for higher studies equivalent to a PhD. If they choose the three-year retreat, they are given the title of Lama upon completion, and if they choose the second option, they are awarded the title of Khenpo. After getting these they are shouldered with more responsibility to serve the Buddhadharma. In addition, the students of superior faculty also seize the opportunity to learn English and other languages, as well as how to translate Dharma texts, etc.
Looking back now, I believe that my neighbours, as well as many other lay people, have a distorted way of thinking about the life of monk, saying that it is to be chosen only by people of inferior qualities. The Vinaya Sutra states that in order to become a monk, one should at best have a variety of qualities such as being endowed with all one’s sense faculties, intelligence, good intention, love and compassion, renunciation of worldly possessions, faith in three precious jewels, and so forth. Whether one has these qualities or not, it’s necessary that parents let their children choose according to their interest. Thus, the lay people’s criticism and discrimination towards monks today seems improper due to these reasons. On the other hand, I realize that there is no point in criticizing anyone; since this is a degenerated time, people hardly choose to be monks anymore. However, if someone renounces the worldly life and wears the monastic robes even just for one day, it is said he or she should be highly appreciated and respected rather than criticized.
Dorji Tshering
8th year, NNI
