Monastic Life

　　Why did the Buddha grow weary of the world

　　 Because he asked himself, "When we”re born in the world, what does the world have to offer that”s really satisfying

　　 Parents

　　 Relatives

　　 Servants

　　 Friends

　　 Wealth

　　 There”s nothing really satisfying about any of these things at all. When this is the case, why should we put up with staying in the world

　　" This is why he went out into the homeless life, so that he could find the way to keep us from having to come back and be reborn in the world.

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　　When we ordain, we have to practice in line with the training rules the Buddha laid down if we want to live up to our name as Sons of the Sakyan. The Buddha”s true children are the four groups of Noble Disciples: stream-winners, once-returners, nonreturners, and arahants, those who have released their hearts step by step from defilements and mental fermentations in line with their strength of mind. These are the religion”s true relatives, the Buddha”s children who deserve to receive his inheritance without a doubt. This kind of ordination anyone can undergo — women, men, novices, anyone. It”s internal ordination. As for the monks who shave their heads and wear the ochre robe, that”s external ordination. Whoever can undergo both internal and external ordination, so much the better.

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　　Whenever you find pleasure, you should transform it so that it won”t spoil on you. This is like the women who sell fruit in the market. When they see that their mangoes are getting overripe and they won”t be able to eat them, keep them overnight, or sell them before they spoil, they take them, peel them, cut them up, and make them into jam. This way they can keep them for a long time. The jam tastes good and it can fetch a good price. This is called having the intelligence to keep ripe things from spoiling. In the same way, when we gain pleasure we shouldn”t get complacent. We should take that pleasure and pulverize it into pain so that we can uncover the kind of inner pleasure and well-being that doesn”t change, that”s solid, long-lasting, and valuable.

　　For example, there are monks and novices who find themselves well-provided with the necessities of life that other people have given them, without having to work hard the way lay people do — carrying loads and responsibilities, taming the wilderness, exposed to the sun and rain. All they have to do is "harvest cooked rice" and they can eat their fill. This is the kind of pleasure that comes with the renunciate life. But if monks like this get stuck on their material possessions — robes, almsfood, lodgings, and medicine — without behaving themselves properly in line with the sacrifices that other people have made for their sake, then they”re not really contemplatives. They”re simply taking advantage of their donors.

　　So when you find that your needs are being taken care of, you should take that sense of ease and pleasure and pulverize it into pain, by putting effort into the practice, sacrificing the pleasure you”re receiving by taking on the dhutanga practices in line with the Buddha”s example. This way you”ll come to comprehend the pain and stress that are an inherent part of having a body.

　　You should contemplate the pleasure you receive from others to realize that there”s nothing of any lasting essence to it. The pleasure with a lasting essence has to be the type that you give rise to yourself. What this means is that you have to practice patience and endurance, contending with the stress and pain that come from the body. When you can do this, the mind will become steady and solid, so strong that it rises step by step to higher levels. Eventually you”ll come to realize the true pleasure and well-being that the Buddha called the highest form of happiness.

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　　Wherever you live, you should take…

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