hasunoha

Reasons for enrolling in the monk

I'm currently an entrance student in my third year of high school.
I'm thinking of going to a temple and becoming a Soto Buddhist monk in the future. Before that, I'm trying to learn Buddhism from outside as an academic subject at university.
When I say “why Buddhism,” I'm selfish, and I'm worried and disgusted with myself that I can't step forward even if I think about it. I feel sorry for my grandfather, who was so honorable as a human being that I could introduce him to others with all his heart, and to those who cared about him. In order to solve these two problems, I want to break away from the suffering of life and cultivate the spirit associated with it.
In addition to these two, I chose Buddhism because my high school teacher taught me about Shohoganzuifunki, often became a remedy for my problems.
I received a nice response from my family and close people about this.
However, the house was a temple, and in order to inherit it. It's not a wonderful reason like that, is it OK to study Buddhism at university and then go to a temple for the reasons described above? Please let us know what you think.

4 Zen Responses

I think that's great.

Left horse head
I think it's a great thing.
This is my feeling... I feel that people who come from ordinary families and become monks often become highly conscious and enthusiastic monks ‼ ︎ If it's the Soto sect, blood relationships have nothing to do with becoming monks.

Please learn a lot and become a wonderful monk ‼ ︎

Nice to meet you. I am a monk of the Soto sect.
Originally, it is said that any motive for becoming a monk is good. Even if they are direct disciples of the Buddha, there are many people who don't have a good motive, such as “my mentor became an apprentice to the Buddha, so I followed him even though I didn't really understand it.”
Is that OK with that kind of text? That's good. This is because if you enter a Buddhist sect and “face Buddhism seriously,” you will always be struck by its appeal and get supreme motivation... This is because Buddhism has that confidence and content.

Rather, the question is “what kind of mentors will I meet.” In the Soto sect, the connection between master and pupil lasts a lifetime. If you become a priest just because you want to become a monk for the time being, you might regret it. If you want to study Buddhism at a Soto university, you can go to Komazawa University or Aichi Gakuin, but since they take the form of a normal comprehensive university, there is no need for a monk registration. If you haven't met a good teacher or monk yet, you'd better not be impatient and plan to search for them during your fourth year at university.

While saying that, it's a common misunderstanding that ascetic practice is spiritual practice, so I'm a little worried. There are many professors and associate professors registered as monks at Komadai and Aigaku, so why not discuss them at the open campus?

Please become a monk

We in the Buddhist community are longing for someone like Zubatou.

You'll often run into walls, but please stick to your intentions

 I think your ambition is admirable. I don't think it's necessary to despise it by saying “it's not a great reason.” You don't have to worry too much about it. Please cherish your desire to seek answers from Buddhism.
In the old days, there were many people who became temple boys in order to calm themselves down. My biological father was like that too. I think there were a lot of monks who “became a temple boy because they beat the rain” and “became a temple boy because they wanted to eat manju.” There are also many people who became children in this way, but there are also many people who practiced Buddhism (kunju) through repeated daily remittance of Buddha recitation and scripture, and became high moral monks.
The majority of university teachers are researchers and educators. In order to learn Buddhism, please work hard to take courses and learn from such people. Not every university teacher can become a Buddhist teacher. Try knocking on the gates of various temples. Well, there may be many temples that pay in front of the gate, but that kind of monk is probably that kind of person. But if you have ambitions and try to walk Buddhism, I think you'll be able to meet someone suitable as a mentor.
Now that I've officially become a monk, I think I'll run into a lot of obstacles. I'm not in a position to say bossy things, but there are a lot of monks. There are many monks who could disappoint you, including me. But I think there are monks who have become your best friends. I'm sure there are also monks who can guide you. Please do your best.