mettavalokanaya_buddhist_magazine_january_2021.

Novice Life
is Gold
The Meaningful
Novice Life….
Thailand
Most Venerable
Palawadhammo (Dr.
Pornchai Pinyapong)
quality of life and better performance
in school.
Once our youth understand the
principles and benefits of maintaining
the Five Precepts (moral discipline), they
will have greater respect for themselves
and others. They will possess increased
awareness of what are appropriate
and inappropriate behaviors and will
naturally be disinclined to promiscuity,
aggressive and violent behaviors, and
drugs and activities leading to ruin.
The ordination ceremony takes
two days. On the first day of the
ceremony, the family gathers at home
to feast together. On this occasion,
the future novices have their hair and
eyebrows shaved, as a symbol of letting
go of the material world. Hair razing
also implies the wish to eliminate vanity
and serves practical hygienic purposes.
The second day is celebrated in the
temple, and that’s when the official
ceremony takes place, led by the abbot
monk. Novices were dressed in white
robes, a symbol for the rebirth that
was about to happen. A series of rituals
succeeded, with the attending guests
presenting their offerings to the temple
and the monks, How thoughtful!
Finally, the time came for the most
important part of the ceremony, when
the novices renounce the worldly goods
and desires, repeating the monkhood
vows. These vows were taken in the
Pali language (the liturgic language of
the Theravada Buddhism), which they
obviously didn’t understand and had
difficulties in replicating. Subsequently,
the family handed them the few
belongings that would accompany
their monk lives from that moment on,
namely three robes, the alms bowl and
a few other essentials for the monastic
live. After taking their vows, they both
went outside to change into their new
saffron robes – an easy task for a monk,
but which wasn’t self-evident for them,
as beginners. A fellow monk from the
temple was ready to help them change
into their new outfits.
At the end of the ceremony,
the novices still had to repeat the ten
precepts that will regulate their lives as
novice monks, which include: not killing
living things, not stealing, remaining
chaste, not lying, not taking any food
after noon, not singing, dancing, playing
music or attending entertainment
programmes. Most men spend at least
a period of their lives in a temple, living
under the precepts of Buddha. We think
there is no coincidence in these two
facts. And we wished that we too in the
Western world encouraged our people,
be it men or women, youth or elderly,
to switch off, every now and then, from
the hustle and bustle that is imposed on
us daily.
Monks in Southeast Asia,
with their saffron robes
and shaven heads, are
iconic. They can be seen on
the roadside with alms bowls, accepting
handfuls of rice from villagers in early
morning processions, or gathered in the
evenings chanting Pali scriptures in the
Buddhist Temples. Some of Buddhist
countries, men can be ordained as
novice monks to live the monastic life
for a certain period. It is also popular
for children and teenagers to live as
monks for a couple of months, during
the summer holidays, as a means not
only to learn about Buddhism but also
to practice self-control and learn how to
meditate.
The Novice with the goal to
enhance the quality of basic education
by instilling virtues, morals, national
pride, public-spirit, and thriftiness in
our youth. It also aims to fortify our
young boys and men with the ability to
adapt to the growing cultural diversity.
In today’s high-tech world, people are
connected to each other and the world
through various social networking sites,
and it is leaving a huge impact on youth
who spend a great deal of time on these
sites. With the excessive amount of time
connecting with friends through social
media, youth are isolating themselves
and neglecting their parents, families,
relatives, and teachers.
Pre-adolescence and adolescence
are a time for exploration, social
interactions, and self-confidence
development. They ought to be filled
with fun and play spent with family
and friends who share similar interests.
Therefore, teaching our youth to have
greater discretion and the ability
to make responsible decisions are
useful skills to have. There are many
components that can positively shape a
youth’s outlook and develop him or her
into an individual with sound judgment.
This process can begin by learning from
good mentors whom they are close to
and practicing good habits.
The flux and changes in preadolescence
and adolescence
are normal conditions during this
transitional stage from childhood to
adulthood. The novice ordination
program believes that giving our youth
the appropriate training and guidance
will help them stay on the right path as
they develop into wholesome adults.
The Novice program strives to cultivate
in our youth the virtues of cleanliness,
discipline, politeness, punctuality,
respectfulness, and a love for
meditation. These five basic virtues will
become the foundation for improved
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