{"id":1802,"date":"2013-09-23T11:39:24","date_gmt":"2013-09-23T11:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/thai\/?p=1802"},"modified":"2013-09-23T11:39:24","modified_gmt":"2013-09-23T11:39:24","slug":"how-to-become-a-thai-monk-introduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/thai\/how-to-become-a-thai-monk-introduction\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Become a Thai Monk: Introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever wanted to know what being a Thai monk is like? To find out first hand, I had myself ordained as a Thai Buddhist monk. In the next few articles I\u2019m going to write about what it\u2019s like to be a monk, the early impressions, the difficult ordination ceremony, the 227 rules, the day to day monk life, monk vocabulary, and my insights on \u2018pure Buddhism\u2019 versus \u2018Thai Buddhism\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"DSC04484\"<\/span><\/p>\n

image: I am the monk on the far right (if it wasn’t obvious!).<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Monkhood is by far the deepest part of Thai culture a foreigner can experience. It always seemed like a very interesting lifetime experience for me, where I could completely live a different non-materialistic very monastic life. A life of mostly learning, chanting, and teaching. I had wanted to do it for nearly four years. But until now I never felt ready for it – given the huge language and cultural barriers. Taking a significant amount of time off from work isn\u2019t so simple, either. Actually, I never felt quite ready even up to ordination day, but through careful planning and luck the circumstances in my life managed to temporarily align just right to make this happen.<\/p>\n

So why did I become a Thai monk? I grew up in a non-strict Protestant family that dragged me to church early every Sunday morning, until finally at age 18 they lost control of me. Throughout my life I have never been religious or spiritual in any way. Ever. I\u2019m a very scientifically minded type of person . . . Regardless, I\u2019m open minded and I\u2019ve made it a point to learn about other cultures and religions since highschool.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve fasted the entire Muslim month of Ramadan, twice, even going down to the local mosque to observe the prayers. My Muslim friends were curious why a non-Muslim would participate in Ramadan, but invited me to break the fast with them regardless. It was definitely a good experience, even from a non-religious point of view.<\/p>\n

In more recent years I\u2019ve been going to the local Thai Buddhist temple. I\u2019m not Buddhist either, but it\u2019s a great place to practice speaking Thai and hang out with Thai friends. As an unintentional side-effect I\u2019ve been daily exposed to Buddhist ideology, and some of it has given me new interesting perspectives towards life . . . from a scientific non-religious point of view, of course.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s what makes Buddhism a bit interesting to me. Although many Buddhist followers worship religiously, pray to statues and light incense, are superstitious, have faith and what-not, the religion can also be very pro-science. Buddhism openly promotes thinking, rationale, and logic to explain the world. It also actively promotes and is fundamentally based on non-extremism. When you think of religious extremists and fanatics, Buddhism is likely the last religion that comes to mind, no?<\/p>\n

In the following series of articles I\u2019ll explain the formal process of becoming a Thai Buddhist monk, the many rules, and my general experiences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Have you ever wanted to know what being a Thai monk is like? To find out first hand, I had myself ordained as a Thai Buddhist monk. In the next few articles I\u2019m going to write about what it\u2019s like to be a monk, the early impressions, the difficult ordination ceremony, the 227 rules, the…<\/p>\n

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