Preparing for Ordination

[Dharmasherab]

I am making this thread not only on behalf of myself but also on behalf of my friends who are interested as well as any lay Buddhist in DhammaWheel who might be considering ordination in the future who are looking for advice.

It is about collecting all types of ideas on how to best prepare as a lay Buddhist before making the decision of ordaining as a monastic with a view to making that a lifetime commitment (and not a trial). I am aware there are monastics who are highly aware of the difference between the lay life and monastic life and I will be very thankful for their advice. I can also appreciate there could be lay Buddhists who are already optimising themselves before ordination and I will be thankful for their tips and suggestions too.

Names of books, documents, websites, links to web articles and videos will be highly appreciated (as long as their within the boundaries of ToS).

Thank you.

[pilgrim]

The website which is a collection of links is probably a useful resources. However, it has not been updated for some time and a number of links no longer take you to the correct pages.
Going Forth - A collection of links on personal reflections on life as a Theravada Buddhist monk.
http://www.parami.org/going-forth/

Edit: I just went thru the site and actually, most of the links no longer work, but the few which do may still be useful to some, so I'll leave this post here.

[Dharmasherab]

Thank you Pilgrim, thats is quite a number of links to go through. As for the links which may have gone dead perhaps the content could found elsewhere as the titles ae still visible.

The disrobing among those who were already ordained is not something to ignored. There can be a number reasons behind disrobing and one of them could be that some individual were not reasonably prepared or grounded in their practice prior to ordination. This is one of the reasons whhy I started this thread.

[DooDoot]

...making that a lifetime commitment (and not a trial).

This makes it sounds like becoming a Catholic priest; where, in former times, parents wanted one of their sons to become a priest. The essential purpose of ordination is liberation. If liberation is not attained, the life of a monk can be difficult, which is why many monks & nuns disrobe. A monk's life is for happiness. Dispassion or disinterest in sex is probably the best preparation.

197. Happy indeed we live, friendly amidst the hostile. Amidst hostile men we dwell free from hatred.

198. Happy indeed we live, friendly amidst the afflicted (by craving). Amidst afflicted men we dwell free from affliction.

199. Happy indeed we live, free from avarice amidst the avaricious. Amidst the avaricious men we dwell free from avarice.

200. Happy indeed we live, we who possess nothing. Feeders on joy we shall be, like the Radiant Gods

Dhammapada.

[Dharmasherab]

It is about collecting all types of ideas on how to best prepare as a lay Buddhist before making the decision of ordaining as a monastic with a view to making that a lifetime commitment (and not a trial)

Its just that in countries like Thailand they give trial ordinations to men and boys to ordain for a short period of time before they are released back into their original lay life. This is not the sort of ordination I am referring to at the start of the thread.

I am speaking from the viewpoint of lay Buddhists who are willing to optimise their practice in Theravada prior to ordaining where they make that decision from their own will but at the same time to develop their practice well enough during their life so they can confidently make the decision of taking up robes and minimise the probability of any thoughts of looking back and disrobing. I am speaking from the viewpoint where the individual has full autonomy in the decision where they themselves willingly prefer to ordain with a view of making that a life-long commitment.

[Dharmasherab]

The website which is a collection of links is probably a useful resources. However, it has not been updated for some time and a number of links no longer take you to the correct pages.
Going Forth - A collection of links on personal reflections on life as a Theravada Buddhist monk.
http://www.parami.org/going-forth/

Edit: I just went thru the site and actually, most of the links no longer work, but the few which do may still be useful to some, so I'll leave this post here.

Thank you Pigrim for this link. Even the hyperlinks within that page there maybe a way of finding them out like a simple Google search.