乾县铁佛寺移动版

QUESTION: What kind of person becomes a monk or a nun?

ANSWER:  Most  people  have a variety of interests  in their  lives - family, career, hobbies, politics, religion, etc. Of these interests one will be primary, usually family or career, while the others will be less important to them. When the study and practice of the Buddha's teachings becomes the most important thing in a person's life, when that  takes  precedence  over  all  other  things,  then  that  person  will  probably  be interested in becoming a monk or a nun.

QUESTION: Do you have to be a monk or a nun to be enlightened?

ANSWER: Of course not. Some of the Buddha’s most accomplished disciples were lay men and women. Some were spiritually developed enough to instruct the monks. In Buddhism, the level of one’s understanding is the most important thing and that has nothing to do with whether one wears a yellow robe or blue jeans, or whether one lives in a monastery or a home. Some might find the monastery, with all its advantages  and  disadvantages,  to   be  the   best  environment   in  which  to  grow spiritually.  Others  may  find  the  home,  with  all  its  joys  and  sorrows,  to  be  best. Everyone is different.

QUESTION: Why do Buddhist monks and nuns wear a yellow robe?

ANSWER: When the ancient Indians looked into the jungle they could always tell which leaves were about to drop from the tree, because they were either yellow, orange or brown. Consequently, in India, yellow became the color of renunciation. Monks’ and nuns’ robes are yellow so they can act as a constant reminder of the importance of not clinging, of letting go, of giving up.

QUESTION: What is the purpose of monks and nuns shaving their heads?

ANSWER: Normally we are very concerned about our appearance, especially our hair.  Women  consider  a  good  hairdo  to  be  very  important  and  men  are  quite concerned about going bald. Keeping our hair looking good takes up a good deal of time. In shaving their heads, monks and nuns give themselves more time for the things that really matter. Also, a shaved head symbolized the idea of paying more attention to inward change than outward appearance.

QUESTION: Becoming a monk is all very well but what would happen if everyone became a monk?

ANSWER: One could ask the same thing about any vocation.  ‘Becoming a dentist is all very well but what would happen if everyone became a dentist? There’d be no teachers, no cooks, no taxi drivers.’ ‘Becoming a teacher is all very well but what would happen if everyone became a teacher? There’d be no dentists, etc. etc.’ The Buddha did not suggest that everyone should become a monk or a nun and indeed that  is  never  going  to  happen.  However,  there  will  always  be  people  who  are attracted to life of simplicity and renunciation and who take delight in the Buddha’s teaching above all else. And like dentists and teachers they have special skills and knowledge that can be helpful to the community in which they live.

QUESTION: That might be so with those who teach, write books or do social work. But what about the monks and nuns who do nothing but meditate.   What good are they to the community?

ANSWER:  You  might  compare  the   meditating  monk  to  the   research  scientist. Society  supports  the  research  scientist  as  he  sits  in  his  laboratory  conducting experiments because it hopes that he will eventually discover or invent something that will be for the general good. Likewise, the Buddhist community supports the meditating  monk  (and  his  needs  are very  meager)  because  it  hopes that  he will attain wisdom and insights that will be for the general good. But even before this happens, or even if it doesn’t, the meditating monk can still benefit others. In some modern societies it is ‘The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous’ with its extravagance, its conspicuous consumption and its self-indulgence which is held up as the ideal to follow, or at least to envy. The example that the meditating monk sets reminds us that one doesn’t have to be rich to be content. It shows us that a gentle and simple lifestyle has its advantages too. (责任编辑：admin)