Ask A Monk: How To Ordain As A Monk

"Namaste! I've given it much consideration and tried my best to understand the realities of a monastic lifestyle. My query is: where and how should I go about going forth? As a non-ethnic lay Buddhist in America, I find it difficult to begin."

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[mrkno12]

How did you obtain a visa to stay in thailand and become a monk for more than 30 days , my mom passed away recently and am looking to become a monk for a few months but couldn't get a visa for more than 30 days . thank you

[1ntellectualbadass]

hello yuttadhammo.

I would like to hear of some of these monasteries for westerners. I know of only one right now (the international forest monastery). I wonder how much money i should save up to support myself while becoming a monk.? Also i wonder how someone as yourself could go about raising the money to have your own monastery, aren't monks not suppose to take up a second job?

[kou12]

Thanks so much for this video Tan Yuttadhammo for people like me who are looking to ordain in the future. Very much appreciated!

[nocturnalserpent]

also you say to steer clear of cultured based temples, you also said in this video that most of this cultured based temples focus more on celebrations and ceremonies which i think pretty much describes the thai temple i have been going to. they focus alot on meditation and when posed with actual dhamma questions they freeze up or are not able to answer them in a detailed and well understanding manner

[nocturnalserpent]

im not thai by the way i am hispanic

[nocturnalserpent]

i found out months later that in thailand there is no such thing of a charge of $150 dollars AT ALL and that you bring what you can to the temple out of your sincere heart as a donation. not to mention other thai buddhist temples in other states that i have visited do not charge this fee as well. so now im really confused up to this day. so i ask you 2 questions phra yuttadhammo what should i do to be ordained as a thai buddhist monk? and am i out of line for speaking against this temple?

[nocturnalserpent]

now since finding out about the $150 dollars they charge here in nyc thai buddhsit temple to be oradained i have yet to be regain my initial respect that i had for that temple.and i found out some months later that in thailand they do not charge any sort of fee let alone $150 to be ordained AT ALL. so you can imagine this had my head shaking here and i was a bit confused for a long time and i refused to visit this temple for a while, because i simply saw it as a use for a money making machine

[nocturnalserpent]

but i just want to know what does it take for me to become a monk in the thai theravada tradition? do i have to actually go to thailand? because i have the neither the time or the money for that, and even if i can save up for the trip who knows i could probably be dead by then, so i think i would need to reach enlightenment relatively soon if not asap. i mean we are swimming in samsara here, and i dont think i have time to waste for some thai monks to stop my path for liberation.

[nocturnalserpent]

also ever since coming to this thai monastery here in NYC the thai people and also some of the monks tell me that they think i should go to thailand to be ordained, but i just cant understand why i cannot be ordained here, this is my country united states, and i think it would be a good start here and then head to thailand later. also the very last time i saw some announcements for ordination the monastery was charging thai people $150 for each person to ordain which i thought was way out line

[nocturnalserpent]

question(continued) another reason they give is that i have to be "tested" to see if i qualify, but everytime i say ok to this response they never seem to get around to it and always give the same excuse everytime i ask. I am just wondering what does it take for me to become a thai tradition theravada monk....do i actually have to go to thailand where they don discriminate like this? because i feel as tho they are. many thais from this temple have told me to go to thailand if i want to be a monk