Looking for Nirvana. Part 2

Day 2.

So we got to the monastery the next day early morning and found Mutia washing dishes. That is one of the chores that monks and nuns have to do. According to Mutia, sweeping the floor and washing the dishes helps to calm and clean the mind, similarly to meditation.

And so we saw monks getting ready for the ceremony:

Though don’t ask me what the monk in the middle is doing… Special striding ceremony?..

Since being a monk is supposed to somehow help enlighten his family, it’s a big event and honor for family members, thus they come, support and take pictures. Then the ceremony begins with monks and family members (or volunteers) going round the temple:

Then, in the temple they pray and bow:

In case you were wondering, it is totally okay for non Buddhist to bow alongside everybody. It is just respectful.

Then they literally crawl with their knees to the center of the room:

It looks..totally and utterly humble..

Then they listen to the master monk preach:

The preaching lasts for about an hour (sermons in the church doesn’t seem so long now, huh?). The nun sitting next to me was kind enough to write down in English what the master monk was talking about. He was holding the preaching in ancient Pali language in which Buda spoke thousands years ago.

The monk talked about duties of monk novices and their everyday lives. Monks usually get up at 3 o’clock in the morning, shower, eat, do their morning chores, study, meditate, perform ceremonies, do charity, paperwork, etc. They usually have to meditate for half an hour or an hour and then walk for the same period of time. If you would try sitting with your legs crossed for hours on a hard marble floor, you wouldn’t ask why they have to walk… When I asked the nun when do they go to sleep, she just laughed resignedly…. 21,22, 23 ..she wrote. A lot of paperwork and things to do. Life of monk or a nun doesn’t sound so much fun even with the superpowers, does it?

Don’t worry it gets worse. Similarly to Ten Commandments in Christianity, monks have 10 precepts. Although these are applicable only to monks, not to regular people. The harshest of those sound like: do not sing, do not dance, do not listen to music, do not sit on comfortable sofa or sleep in a luxurious bed, do not touch women, do not hug women, do not use perfume or jewelry,  do not eat after 12 in the afternoon… No comments there.

Then the chief monk spoke about human body. Classified it into outside body (hair, skin, etc.) and inside (lungs, liver etc.). He told that body is dirty and smelly (I’m citing the nun who did the translation). Therefore, monks and nuns have to take a shower everyday and learn to be free of their body, not to give in to its cravings and try to reach nirvana. I don’t know how they find the balance between just being humble and actually  despising your own body...

In case you’re wondering, there is a way out. Monks novices are monks until they graduate from Buddhist university (4 years). Then they can choose to disrobe and become a regular Buddhist or to further continue on the path of the monk.

In the end of the ceremony, they receive a brown robe, indicating their new status as novices:

The boys are young, from 18 to 22 years old.

And then receive they packages with toothbrushes, towels, some food etc.:

Now they have no money or other personal belongings. They live from donations, similarly to Christian priests.

Here is the donation ceremony:

Although this donation is special one for the ordination ceremony, as I understood that normal donations are much less bombastic than this one.

After the ceremony, monks went to eat. I wouldn’t blame them if they want to eat a lot before 12! Then they have to fast until 6am next morning. And all the onlookers had to pour water from one glass to the other thinking about good things and then water any plant growing in the garden with this water while making wishes. I have to admit, it felt like a huge blast of positive energy with all the people doing the same act.

After the ceremony, we walked around in the territory of the monastery and then visited a neighboring town of Batu. Since there are no more stories to be told, photos of that coming up next on Facebook!

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