Interview with a Buddhist monk. How people come to Buddhism and live in it
Diana Moiseenko, RIA Novosti.
Buddhist monk Felix Shvedovsky does not look like Muscovites: a shaved head, white and orange monastic clothes and a thoughtful look. A graduate of the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University, he deliberately abandoned his career for the sake of religion - for ten years he did not work, since, according to tradition, monks live exclusively on alms and wander.
However, for three years now, Felix has been a research fellow at the Center for Japanese Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in order to continue studying the culture of the country that led him to Buddhism.
The monk’s day passes in different ways, but it begins and ends with prayers, which he reads not only at home, but also on the street. Passers-by mistake Felix for an eccentric when he plays the drum and walks along city boulevards and avenues; some avert their eyes, while others, on the contrary, ask him with interest about his way of life.
Nevertheless, Felix does not regret his choice, despite the difficulties that an unusual person has to face in the largest metropolis in Russia. The heavy atmosphere of the capital “presses” on the monk, but he does not want to move to another city, because “the heart of the country is the most the best place to pray for her people."
Finding yourself
In Felix's house, every object speaks of the owner's personality: incense sticks, a small prayer bell, images of Buddha, a mandala (a sacred symbol for prayer and meditation), candles, photographs from India, China and Japan, where he was with his teacher - famous for his peacekeeping activities of the Japanese Junsei Terasawa. “We met in 1993, when I needed someone to help me on my path to improvement. Before this I did not belong to any religion. I had questions about how to help my country, my loved ones, just as Buddha had questions about how to find a way out of suffering when he saw that there was old age and death in the world,” Felix admits.
He had to go a long way before earning Terasawa's trust and becoming a monk - constantly praying and staying in the temple. “Now I am responsible for the whole world, and this is daily and hard work,” says Felix.
According to him, Buddhism is not widespread in Moscow, but there are about a dozen different branches of this religion in the city. “The Buddha’s teaching is so great and diverse that everyone accepts some of its parts, but for us there is no concept of apostasy - everyone is equal,” explains the monk.
As Felix says, Buddhists do not try to introduce Muscovites to their culture, “after all, the goal of the Buddha’s teaching is not to make Buddhists out of people, but to pray for peace and pay respect to a person as he is.”
“My wife and son are Christians, and we have never had conflicts on religious grounds. It doesn’t matter to us what religion a person professes. Buddhism teaches us to understand people and constantly improve ourselves,” explains the monk.
He does not condemn those for whom Buddhism has become just a fashionable trend, but encourages people to study more deeply the features of the religion if they decide to connect their lives with it.
“Now even self-improvement has become a business. Yoga, psychological courses - all this is not real, since it is done for money. You have to try to see the essence in everything, and not just fashion,” says Felix.
Fighting for a common cause
According to the monk, Buddhists of the Nipponzan Mehoji order, to which he belongs, gather together on the main holidays - Buddha's Birthday on April 8, Enlightenment Day on December 8 and Nirvana Day on February 15 - to hold processions with prayers and drumming. . “Only our monastic order conducts street processions with prayers, sometimes other Buddhists join us,” he explains.
In addition, once a year, Buddhists fast for seven days to clear their minds and indulge in prayers. Sometimes fasting is timed to coincide with holidays, but it can also take place on ordinary days. “We don’t eat or drink anything for seven days, we pray from six in the morning until six in the evening. We sit in front of the altar, beat the drum and say a prayer in our temple. This is impossible in Moscow, so we go either to the dacha or to the monastery. If people hear a twelve-hour drum, how will they stand it?” says the monk.
Buddhists take to the streets not only on holidays, but also carry out peacekeeping actions, for which they were often detained by law enforcement officers in the 90s. “Now they recognize us, they understand that we are not up to anything bad,” says Felix.
According to him, Buddhists organized peace marches in Moscow and the Caucasus calling for unification, marches against the “unjust war.” Ordinary passers-by rarely join such actions; they look at Buddhists as exotic or avert their eyes. “It’s like this in Moscow, but in other countries people react more vividly,” notes Felix.
Representatives of other religious faiths rarely cooperate with Buddhists in carrying out such actions, but during the Chechen war such cases were not uncommon.
“There are no Buddhists in Chechnya, but there are people there who treat them with respect. During the war, Orthodox priests, mules, and the Old Believer Church joined our peacekeeping actions, peace marches, and rallies on the streets of Moscow. There were few representatives of the official Orthodox Church, but they were there,” says Felix.
According to him, Buddhists are always open to dialogue and ready to help everyone who needs them.
Is Moscow not a city for everyone?
Despite numerous statements by the authorities about their intention to create the necessary conditions in the capital for representatives of all nationalities and religious confessions, there is still no Buddhist temple in the city, despite the fact that one was built in St. Petersburg back in 1913.
“Buddhists rent apartments and semi-basements for meetings. In the Otradnoye metro area, a temple and the foundation of a stupa were laid in which the ashes of Buddha were placed - after his cremation, the ashes were divided into many parts and are now placed in stupas around the world. But, apparently, due to lack of funding, construction has not moved forward for several years. At that time, there was already an Orthodox church, a mosque and a synagogue in the area,” says the monk.
According to Felix, the temple will not appear in Moscow until society is ready for it. “Buddha teaches to change a person completely. Even Tibetan medicine treats the entire body if it wants to cure some disease. The whole society needs to be treated, but we have corruption and murders on ethnic grounds all around us,” explains the monk.
Today in the capital, Buddhists have only two places of worship - the foundation of the stupa in Otradnoye and the stupa in the courtyard of the Roerich Center opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the existence of which few people know. “We need to ensure that there is harmony in society, and only then look for land to build a temple,” says Felix.
The situation is complicated by the fact that Muscovites often have a negative attitude towards Russian Buddhists, as they consider them traitors Orthodox faith. He is often kicked out of Orthodox churches when he comes to pay his respects to Jesus. “I don’t consider it anything shameful to come to Orthodox Church, I respect all religions. We wouldn’t drive anyone away from our temple,” says the monk.
Food served from the heart is something else entirely.
People often don't understand Felix because, from his point of view, modern man, deliberately chose the path of a loser, but the Buddhist never doubted the correctness of his choice. And at the same time, every tradition-observing monk directly depends on the townspeople, because only with the help of their alms can he feed himself and his family. “People sometimes give food and money. Sometimes we go to pray at the market, where it is easier for them to serve. We don’t have to choose food, but food bought with money is one thing, but served from the heart is another,” he says.
Be that as it may, in a metropolis where “everyone thinks about money and does not engage in spiritual improvement,” it is difficult for Buddhist Felix to stay for long. Only in two places - the Roerich Center and the Botanical Garden - is he able to find peace of mind.
“I try to leave the city at least once every two months to our monasteries or just to nature, because it’s really very difficult here. You need to give yourself deep internal installation, to have spiritual harmony and at the same time stay here,” he says.
According to the monk, he sometimes breaks tradition and wears ordinary clothes because he “lives for people and among people,” but perceives such behavior as weakness. However, he believes that it is necessary to be in harmony with the world around him. “At the core, we are ordinary people, but the main thing is what we have in our thoughts and hearts,” says Felix.
Currently, Buddhists are left alone with their problems. It would seem that this should bring them closer together, but they are very disconnected from each other. Felix calls it a “disease of big cities” and hopes that one day it can be cured, like other diseases of our society.
Hello, dear readers – seekers of knowledge and truth!
The topic of our conversation today is hierarchy in Buddhism. In the article below we will tell you what orders and titles exist in the Buddhist system, and how they manifest themselves in different directions. You will also learn who lamas are and what the hierarchy of Buddhist monasticism is in Russian realities.
It will be interesting, and most importantly – educational!
Hierarchical division in different directions
In any system, in any society there is a special hierarchy - and monasticism is no exception. The hierarchy of Buddhist monks can be divided into two components: spiritual - according to the amount of accumulated knowledge, vows taken, level of meditative practice, and also official - according to rank, title, for example, the position of abbot of a temple.
In other words, there is always a difference in age, “teacher-student”, “abbot-novice” connections, and the relationships between these roles are strictly defined and subject to certain rules. The same applies to the relationship between a monk and a layman.
In Theravada there is no complex subordination of monks, but the superiority of monasticism over the ordinary population is clearly visible. The Theravada movement is known to be the most orthodox and believes that only monks can achieve Enlightenment. The laity must maintain them and treat them with great respect.
Advancement up the spiritual ladder in Theravada is possible by studying large quantity sacred texts. That is why Theravadins try to learn the Pali language, memorize as many canons as possible and observe a huge number of vows. The highest degree of initiation is considered to be a bhikkhu, who must observe more than two hundred vows of the Vinaya Pitaka.
It is important to remember that there are some differences in Theravada as well. For example, Sri Lankan monks strive to study as many suttas as possible, Burmese - lines from the Abhidharma, and Thai - from the Vinaya Pitaka.
In the Mahayana direction, the relationship between monasticism and the laity is much simpler, because it is believed that any believer, regardless of whether he has a monastic title, can stop suffering in this incarnation. In practice, however, the laity treats members of the sangha with great respect.
When starting Zen practice, each student must take the 4 bodhisattva vows and then repeat them constantly. There is no strict structure in Zen, but important has a teacher who is called a "Zen Master". In the Japanese Tendai school, which Saite once created, there is also no subordination of monks, but students also take bodhisattva vows.
The institution of monasticism is most clearly expressed in Tibetan Buddhism. That is why all the information given below will relate primarily to this area.
Who are llamas
Lama in Tibet literally means "supreme", " spiritual teacher" In Tibetan Buddhism, it plays a key role, since practice is impossible without one’s own mentor. He guides you on the path of truth, shows by his example where to move in order to achieve spirituality, and teaches practice; he is treated with deep respect, like a father.
Lama can be called:
- a monk who has reached a special level in the clergy;
- a layman who is not kept in a monastery, but has reached a high level in spiritually and is willing to teach other lay people (especially practiced in Western countries);
- as a respectful address to a monk;
- as part of the highest titles of reincarnation in the Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu schools, tantric teachings, for example, the Dalai Lama.
Dalai Lama XIV
Among the lamas, in turn, there is a certain subordinate order: disembodied, learned lamas and tulkus. The title depends either on one’s own merits, or is given at birth.
Disembodied
The non-embodied are the lowest level of lamas, and here too there is a structure of its own. When a young man decides to abandon his ordinary existence and find a monastic refuge, he becomes a bandi, or rabjeng. For now he must keep only 5 vows.
After five to seven years of hard training, the bandi already takes 36 vows and becomes a getszul. The highest level of the non-incarnate level is gelong, who undertakes to take 253 vows.
Scientist Lamas
To reach this stage, Buddhists need to study Buddhist teachings several years - from ten to twenty. During the training, philosophical, medical, astrological aspects are learned. In the Gelug sect this training is called the Tsanid system.
Sera Monastery in Lhasa
There are five degrees of scholarship in total:
- Rabchzhamba
- Doramba
- Gabzhu
- Tsogramba
The Geshe degree is the highest and corresponds to the title of Doctor of Buddhist Philosophy. Those scientists who had the right to draw up horoscopes with calculations about new incarnations of reincarnations, favorable and unfavorable dates of important events, had the title of geshe. It can usually be obtained from the main educational institutions Tibet - Sera, Galdan, Braibun.
Tulku
Tulkus are reincarnated lamas who help all living things get out of the shackles of samsara and for this purpose are constantly reborn in a new incarnation. One can become a tulku only at birth, having inherited spiritual qualities from a predecessor.
There are special ways to find a tulku: horoscopes calculated by competent geshe lamas, prophetic dreams, omens, direct instructions from the predecessor. When the intended candidate in the form little boy found, he is asked to choose things that belonged to the lama in a previous incarnation.
Reincarnates also have their own hierarchical order:
- The Dalai Lama is the most important lama, who is the personification of Avalokiteshvara - the Buddha of mercy. The line of succession begins at the end of the 14th century. He has spiritual and political power.
Everyone knows the current Dalai Lama, the Fourteenth Tenjing Gyatso, who fights for peace on the planet and was even awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He is considered the spiritual leader of Tibetan, Mongolian, Buryat, Kalmyk, and Tuvan Buddhists.
- Panchen Lama - follows the Dalai Lama and is the personification of Amitabha. Only spiritual power is concentrated in his hands.
- Karmapa is a revered lama in the Karma Kagyu sect, the third in importance, the most important yogi of Tibet. Does not have political power.
- Rinpoche is a title that translates as “jewel” and can be added to the rank of higher lamas. In the understanding of the Tibetans and Bhutanese, it is associated with Padmasambhava, who is called Guru Rinpoche as a sign of great love.
Patrul Rinpoche - Tibetan lama, teacher of the Nyingma school
In Russian realities
Russia also has its own hierarchical system, since the Russian republics of Buryatia, Kalmykia, and Tuva are considered the northern direction of Tibetan Buddhism.
The most important person in the structure of the Russian traditional sangha is Pandito Khambo Lama.
Among all the monastery abbots, the Hambo Lama and his assistants, the Did Hambo Lama, are collegially elected. The abbot of each monastery is Sorzho Lama and his two deputies - Unzad and Chovomba. Unzad should be responsible for the schedule of services and rituals, and Chovomba should be responsible for the administrative, material, and disciplinary parts.
XXIV Pandito Khambo Lama - head of the Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia.
It is customary to address the Dalai Lama and Hambo Lama as “Your Holiness”, and the other monks as “Venerable One”.
Conclusion
As we understand, the structure of monasticism in Buddhism is quite complex. If in such directions as Theravada or Zen it hardly manifests itself, then in Tibetan Buddhism it has several degrees, each of which can be divided into smaller hierarchical types.
Advancement in a spiritual career lasts not just years, but decades. At the same time, some titles, for example, Panchen Lama or Karmapa, remain inaccessible to most, since one cannot become one, but only be born.
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How to dry a sheet on yourself on a frosty night and read 800 pages a day. A day in the life of an ordinary monk.
A long time ago, more than 2000 years ago, there was a kingdom on the border of what is now Nepal and India. And the kingdom had its own rajah, and the rajah, of course, had a wife. Once the rajah’s wife had a dream that a snow-white elephant entered her side.
The woman told her husband about amazing dream, and the husband decided to immediately consult the sage. The sage replied: your son will soon be born, and he will become either a great ruler or a great saint.
And the sage turned out to be right: a prince was born to the rajah - Siddhartha Gautama. And they know this prince to this day - as Buddha, which means “enlightened one”.
Of course, the Raja wanted young Siddhartha to follow in his footsteps and become a ruler. Although the saints were respected, most often they were simply vagabonds and did not have a penny to their name. Therefore, from the very birth of the heir, the father surrounded the young man with luxury and care, without letting him leave the kingdom. But when the prince turned 18, he had to go on his first trip to big world. Having left the confines of his golden cage-palace, where luxury and prosperity reigned, the young man saw for the first time illness, poverty and death. What he saw struck him so much that he decided to leave his royal chambers and family. Instead of governing the state, he wanted to find an answer to the question - what was the cause of the suffering he saw.
More than 2,500 years have passed since then, and many people still make the same choice, deciding to renounce everything worldly and take the path of searching for truth.
Is Buddhism a religion or not?
Buddhism can hardly be called a religion in our understanding of the word. Buddhists revere Buddha and many other deities and bodhisattvas, but not as omnipotent rulers of the world, but as teachers. The cause of suffering in the world, from the Buddhist point of view, is ignorance. It is because of the distorted view of the world that man plunges into the wheel of rebirth again and again, and the purpose of existence of every living being is to emerge from the wheel of birth and death by realizing the true nature of this world. Final goal this journey is enlightenment.
Of course, not every soul is ready for such changes. This is quite normal - it is impossible to achieve a goal without going all the way. Well, the one who is ready becomes a monk
How to become a Buddhist monk?
Each monastery has its own tradition. The general canons of the Buddha's teaching are the same everywhere, but details such as daily routine, discipline, admission to the monastery may change.
The path to truth is not easy and long.
Dressed in traveler's travel clothes - a bamboo hat, a knapsack slung over his shoulder, and wooden sandals, the young man, having traveled many kilometers, approaches the gates of the monastery. One of the monks - the official representatives of the monastery - comes out to meet the newcomer. The latter introduces himself and shows his letter of recommendation from the master who ordained him. The official representative politely but firmly refuses to admit the newcomer to the monastic brotherhood. The reason could be any: the monastery is overcrowded, there are no funds to support new monks, and so on. If a new adept takes this explanation on faith and, picking up his knapsack, goes to another monastery, he will never see monasticism. No one will accept him and they will refuse him everywhere. The future monk must sit on the ground in front of the gate, lay his head on his belongings and wait patiently, for even then the Zen lesson begins - there are many obstacles on the path to the truth, and only the one who is firm in his intention despite what others say, will reach the end.
Tibetan Buddhism
Previously, every Tibetan family had at least one child become a monk - this was the only opportunity to receive an education. At that time, children were sent to a monastery at the age of 8–10 years. There the children studied various disciplines: they learned to read quickly, studied Tibetan, English, natural science, mathematics - general education disciplines along with religious ones. When the novices turned 20 years old, it was time to decide how they would spend their future lives. Some remained in the monastery and became a monk, others returned to their families and continued their secular education.
An ordinary monastery day
The day at the monastery begins at 5 am. After getting up, everyone washes and brushes their teeth, and at 5:30, even before breakfast, classes begin. Monks of different ages study things with different levels of complexity. Traditionally, children learn to read in the morning, little ones start with the alphabet, and adults learn speed reading. The latter is very important in Buddhist monasteries. First, you need to read a lot to master the entire volume of teachings left by the Buddha; secondly, some sutras are read so quickly during ceremonies that if you do not practice every day, you will not be able to pronounce them correctly. The fastest-paced monks can read 800 pages of text in a day.
The monks spend no more than half an hour for food. Their food is very simple - rice, dal (lentil soup), vegetables, milk, butter, eggs several times a week. Different monasteries have different dietary rules. Originally all Buddhists were vegetarians. However, when Buddhism came to Tibet, the teaching reached regions where vegetables were simply not available. In remote mountain villages with a cold climate, the main food is barley flour and yak meat. Therefore, the monks who settled in those places are also forced to become meat eaters.
The monks also look after the territory of the monastery themselves. During daily pujas, that is, ritual prayers that take place at 8 am and 4 pm, the little monks, who due to their lack of awareness of ritual practices cannot perform puja, clean the territory of the monastery.
Children aged 8–10 years old enter the monastery to study, as in former times. Even though these teenagers run around in robes and with shaved heads, they are not considered monks. The decision to take tonsure can only be made by an adult and mature person - that’s why novices make their choice at the age of 20. They can either return to the world or remain in the monastery and begin the next stage of obedience. By the way, girls can also become monks and novices. The rules for boys and girls differ little - unless girls can keep a hedgehog of a couple of centimeters.
Novices live in rooms of two. One is a very young monk who has just joined the monastery, and one is an experienced, adult monk who can look after the novice and teach him all the rules.
After reaching the age of 20, the novice decides whether to become a monk or not. If he finally decides to leave the world, he is sent to special place, “retreat,” for three whole years. Young monastic candidates should spend this time in maximum solitude and spend all their time in meditation. Leaving the retreat area during this period is prohibited. The importance of meditation overcomes even the need to sleep: novices can even sleep while sitting in the halls where they meditate.
A monk can devote his life to one of two main directions. There is a theory - the study of Buddhist philosophy, and there is practice - conducting rituals and monitoring the correctness of rituals.
Some monks who choose the path of practice go to the mountains to meditate alone. They don't think about food or the cold. These monks, who follow such a difficult path to enlightenment, are given great respect, and people from surrounding villages bring them offerings of food. The monks fight the cold using a special breathing technique- “tumo”, warming clothes with the warmth of one’s own body.
Often, while developing the abilities of the soul and mind, during meditation monks also develop the abilities of the human body, which are presented to others as a miracle. There are many legends about monks who could fly, disappear in one place and appear in another, but, as the 14th Dalai Lama said, the real miracle is not to be angry with your enemy, not to hate those who hate you , sincerely strive for enlightenment, not for one’s own personal gain, not because of religious vanity or for the sake of overcoming oneself, but for the benefit of all sentient beings.
According to mythology, Buddhist monks, in order to achieve enlightenment, must show humanity the path to salvation. Tibet first became acquainted with this religion in the 700s, when the Great Master - Guru Rinpoche - came from India to defeat demons. After this, they forever became an integral part of Tibetan Buddhism.
Buddhism today
Buddhism is the oldest of the three. Christianity appeared about five centuries later, and Islam - 12 centuries later. They mainly live in Asian countries, China, Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan, Laos and Thailand. On the territory of our country, this religion is practiced by residents of Tuva, Buryatia and Kalmykia. But in Lately Buddhist monks are also found in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other large Russian cities. It is difficult to determine how many followers of this religion there are in the world. But roughly we can say that in total there are about one million monks and nuns and about 400 million lay people.
Followers of Buddha use rosary beads to concentrate their thoughts while reciting mantras. Traditionally, they contain exactly 108 beads, but, in principle, variations are possible, since their number indicates certain provisions of the teaching. For example, the 108 beads of a traditional rosary imply 108 types of human desires that darken his spirit. They are associated with the six senses: smell, vision, touch, hearing, taste and mind. Desires about the relationship to internal and external objects, to the past, present and future. There are three ways to control them: in words, thoughts and actions. There are other options for deciphering the number 108, but this is the most famous.
Buddha's Teachings. Diamond Way
Diamond Way Buddhism is often described as the crown jewel of the Great Buddha's teachings. Its main goal is to realize the authenticity of each event, since this expresses the unlimited potential of the mind. To ensure quick results in achieving enlightenment, Buddhist monks rely on inspired insight, transforming all sensations into natural purity.
At the time when the disciples saw the Buddha as not divine personality, but simply trusted him as a mirror of their mind, he could introduce them to the Diamond Way. By his strength and penetrating vision he awakened in people the virtues that contributed to their full development.
Three approaches top level Buddhism
The highest level of the Buddha's teachings includes three approaches: the Path of Methods, the Path of Profound Vision and meditation on the Lama. Buddhist monks, using these methods, are able to fully develop through their energy or awareness of power. The broadest approach to enlightenment involves meditation on a Lama, but only if the teacher is reliable. A person can remain in the space of his mind until his own personal qualities reach the desired level of development. Diamond Way Buddhism promotes the effective removal of negative and harmful influences. Thanks to this teaching, a person will get rid of what can later cause difficult situations. We need to work with our own mind, and then we will not become a victim of our own actions.
Hello, dear listeners! Our conversation today is dedicated to monasticism and education in Buddhism. Monasticism is traditionally understood as withdrawal from the world, but it is important to understand for what purposes this withdrawal is carried out. This is not an escape. This is a solution to certain tasks and goals set by a person, and therefore it is very important to understand both this goal and the motivation that moves a person to such a decision.
In connection with Buddhism, it is worth saying a very important thing. Buddhism is originally a religion of renunciation of the world, a monastic religion. Of course, later, with the development of the Buddhist tradition, more attention was paid to the laity, and the laity also became part of the sangha, but initially Buddhism was understood as a community of bhikkhus or bhikkhus (“Pali”). This word is translated from Sanskrit as “beggar”, “a person who has nothing”. And the monastic community itself initially has a name - this is the name “sangha”, a community of monks.
Initiation into this status in itself was not initially difficult during the life of the Buddha. The first person who asked for the rite of renunciation of the world to be performed on him was one of the Buddha’s closest disciples, Kaundinya. This ritual was not very complicated. It consisted of taking refuges. There are three refuges in Buddhism: the one taking refuge in the Buddha, taking refuge in the Dharma, and taking refuge in the Sangha, that is, the Buddha as a teacher who has achieved the highest goal. human life, in teaching (or dharma) as a path.
Here the very concept of the path is also decisive, since we can be in one place and not move anywhere, but, nevertheless, we are moving. Time inevitably moves forward, and therefore the path of human transformation is called a path, and life can be represented as movement along a path, through space. And thus, the right path is the path of conformity with the Buddhist law, with the Buddhist truth, with the Buddhist understanding of things.
And finally, the sangha is a monastic community, or in an expanded sense - everyone who has accepted the teachings of the Buddha as a guide to their lives, to the actions of all who find in it the basis for the discipline of the mind, for actions, in order to behave correctly – independently or in connection with society.
These three refuges basically mean simple things, there is no complexity in them. The only thing is that a monk, monastic status is the status of a person who makes promises. Buddhism is very simple, it can be reduced to quite simple things. That is, what is called “shilo” in Sanskrit, or “vow” in Russian, we can translate or also retell as “fidelity to your word”, nothing more than a promise to do what you say with the help of words that you claim what you promise. This, in fact, is the basis of the monastic vow - it is quite simple.
Monastic vows and rules
And the rules of morality, in fact, are common to everyone. But in the monastic status, more and more are added to them, and their number is determined - the number of rules and principles that the monk must follow. For a monk, this is 227 vows, if the monk is a man. If the nun is a woman (bhikkhuni or bhikkhuni), the 311 vows are full monastic ordination according to the Buddhist monastic code Pratimoksha or Patimokkha if we speak in Pali.
The system of accepting these promises and vows involves a certain complication, but there are five minimum vows. We have already spoken about them in connection with lay ethics. This is the vow of ahimsa - the vow of abstaining from causing harm to another life (for a layman - human, for a monk - generally not causing harm to any other life). This is asteya - this is a vow of non-appropriation of what is not given to you, does not belong. This is satya - vow pure word, which does not have double standards, or is not based on any passions, anger, prejudice towards a person, that is honestly, sincere word. The following is a vow for the laity: brahmacharya is adultery; for a monk it is abstinence from any type of sexual activity; any sexual activity is excluded in Buddhist monasticism. And finally, a vow to abstain from drinks or substances that lead to an abnormal state of consciousness. Thus, this includes alcohol and drugs. For laymen this is enough.
Monks also observe five additional vows, again and again. Additional five vows. This:
Vow to abstain from food after noon at inappropriate times;
Vow to abstain from sleep also in the afternoon;
A vow that prevents a monk from attending or participating in public entertainment;
A vow of renunciation of the use of any valuable property - especially gold and silver. That is, in the fully explained version, this means that the monk does not have the right to use money;
A vow that limits the monk's sleep comfort. He should not sleep on high and comfortable beds.
And the last vow is the vow not to wear more than three clothes, or, accordingly, not to cover oneself with more than three clothes.
These vows, of course, have a correlation due to the culture of different countries. For example, in the cold regions of Tibet there may be some relaxations associated with the main vows.
In fact, the Buddha did not insist that monks must follow all 227 rules completely. There are major and minor rules and vows that the monastic community must follow. As the Buddha said, the community itself can decide which rules to follow and which not. For disciplinary purposes, it was decided at one of the Buddhist cathedrals that these rules should not be divided in any way, and, in general, nothing complicated will happen if they are mandatory for everyone, for the entire monastic community.
In Buddhism, different Buddhist territories practice different acceptance monastic vows, you can take them for a while. Also, in its original form, when Buddhism was just emerging, in shamanic times, there were temporary monasteries and shelters during the rainy season. It is difficult or almost impossible to do housework, so during the rainy season people usually went to caves to practice piety and somehow spent time away from their daily activities. As a matter of fact, this is how the first communal monasteries in Buddhism were formed as temporary shelters for those waiting out the rainy season.
In India, monsoon rains last no more than three months, so this is quite a relevant time that can be devoted to other matters - in particular, reflection, philosophy, practice, work with consciousness, debates and other tasks that are also part of the tasks of human life.
We literally need to say a few words about the differences between male and female monasticism. Male monasticism in Buddhism is considered basic. Women's monasticism was introduced by the Buddha, but with great reluctance. Buddha was asked to create a female monastic community by his ex-wife and aunt, who raised him as a mother. They both became the first nuns - bhikkhus. And, in general, female Buddhist monasticism was much less common. This is attested in history. This is still true today. And nuns are required to follow more rules and regulations than a monk.
The role of Buddhist monasteries in society
Naturally, the monk did not produce any economic product and was a beggar, having nothing. It was in his vow, in his promise, so he had to beg; to eat at the expense of the laity, who gave food to the poor people and monks.
But, nevertheless, despite such freedom from work, from everyday worries, the monks had to do something. Naturally, in response to the favor from the laity, they should help them bring some kind of spiritual benefit and instruct them in teaching. Thus, in Buddhism, this kind of exchange between monks and laity has historically been established, and this connection can be seen quite strongly in Buddhist countries - in the countries of Southeast Asia, where the monastery is often an educational center, a hospital, and even a hospital for sick animals.
The development of medicine in Buddhism is connected with this. Since the monks had to heal themselves and help each other on the path of life, any person could experience illness and illness that needed to be treated. And Buddha himself, as it were, blessed and founded this medical monastic direction in Buddhism, which exists to this day, and is, as it were, institutionalized in various types of directions in medicine. We often hear about such a direction as Tibetan medicine. This is due to the fact that in Buddhist monasteries special attention was paid to teaching the practice of medicine and healing.
Victory over your own mind
A monk, naturally, when he went into a state of rejection, detachment from the world, from society, from social life, did it for some purpose. It was necessary to solve the most important task that Buddhism poses to man, the main intrigue, the most difficult task, namely, victory over oneself. Victory over oneself, which was expressed in victory over one’s own mind.
Oddly enough, it seems to us that our mind is subordinate to us, but this is far from the case. Simple experiments are enough to make sure that some mechanically remembered reactions often dominate in us, and those stimuli, the source of which can be either an external event or an internal state, can throw us out of balance...