Can you describe the process of becoming a monk?
“At the monastery, there’s this whole inauguration process. And where they dress you up as like a prince to represent the Buddha, who first started off as a prince. And later, they do a whole ceremony festival, a whole parade for you. And eventually, you are sat down in front of the senior monk in which he will inaugurate you, and you will have to accept.”
What values or commitments do you have to accept to become a monk?
“You have to accept the life of being a Buddhist and the life of being a monk and just devote your time to it. and being a monk isn’t just like a lifetime devotion. You can quit whenever you want. And I feel like, as a Buddhist for myself, it’s a very necessary thing to do, and your life, as it helps you spiritually reconnect with yourself, but also kind of refresh yourself in where you are in your life.”
Where did you go for these traditions?
“My family’s family have been Buddhus for a long time, Buddhus. There’s a whole community where we just allow ourselves to practice Buddhist prayer, but also we celebrate a lot of the holidays, we would celebrate back in our home country.”
What does the typical day look like for a monk in Burma?
“Normally back in Burma, it would be in a village, and you would be riding on top of an elephant with multiple people around you, and you would walk towards the village and then you would give out candy or money out to, like, people in the village. And everyone in the village just praised and congratulated you.”
Do the ceremonies usually involve riding on an elephant?
“Yeah, when I was younger, I was a monk. However, over the summer, obviously, you don’t have that in America. Cause we got in and really set up a monastery here in Indiana. We kind of just did it in a big, big field, and so we kind of just paraded around the house and it was really fun. .”
What do you want other people to know about becoming a monk?
“Becoming a monk is a pretty interesting thing to go through in your life, and it’s definitely a very unique experience. You kind of just isolate yourself from what you usually are in your normal life and you kind of. It’s like full on isolation. You’re stuck with yourself, you’re focusing mostly on yourself.”
