what skills are invaluable

[Dhammarakkhito]

what should a layperson learn as a worldly skill before ordaining. it occurred to me sewing is probably important. cpr? various kinds of medicine

[binocular]

Construction skills:
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipO ... FQczFtWGpR

[perkele]

what should a layperson learn as a worldly skill before ordaining. it occurred to me sewing is probably important. cpr? various kinds of medicine

CPR, you mean this? I'm not sure. Why would monks have many occasions where they could use such skills? They are forbidden to practice medicine for gaining their livelihood, that's for sure.

I think sewing should be important. I have no sewing skills whatsoever, unfortunately.

I think construction should be much less important, but I guess, maybe it is, to an extent sometimes.

I think contentment is invaluable. I think humility is invaluable.

I think this is all invaluable most of all or nearly most of all.

It is difficult to be content. It is something not many people can do. So I think that is quite invaluable.

[Dhammarakkhito]

i'm not talking about practicing medicine for livelihood. being in the forest, in secluded places, it may be useful to know what can be used as medicine or what procedures and how
medicinal requisites are always allowable i think

[Lombardi4]

I don't have any hand-skills, but by the time I ordain I will have already made good web design/development skills. They might be needed by any monastery, I suppose - to promote their temple online.

[Dhammanando]

what should a layperson learn as a worldly skill before ordaining.

None at all, in my opinion. Whatever practical skills you acquire you'll be called upon to exercise, which will be a distraction for you. Better to be like Chuang Tzu's useless tree.

Shih the carpenter was on his way to the state of Chi. When he got to Chu Yuan, he saw an oak tree by the village shrine. The tree was large enough to shade several thousand oxen and was a hundred spans around. It towered above the hilltops with its lowest branches eighty feet from the ground. More than ten of its branches were big enough to be made into boats. There were crowds of people as in a marketplace. The master carpenter did not even turn his head but walked on without stopping.

His apprentice took a long look then ran after Shih the carpenter and said, “Since I took up my ax and followed you, master, I have never seen timber as beautiful as this. But you do not even bother to look at it and walk on without stopping. Why is this?”

Shih the carpenter replied, “Stop! Say no more! That tree is useless. A boat made from it would sink, a coffin would soon rot, a tool would split, a door would ooze sap, and a beam would have termites. It is worthless timber and is of no use. That is why it has reached such a ripe old age.”

After Shih the carpenter had returned home, the sacred oak appeared to him in a dream, saying, “What are you comparing me with? Are you comparing me with useful trees? There are cherry, apple, pear, orange, citron, pomelo, and other fruit trees. As soon as the fruit is ripe, the trees are stripped and abused. Their large branches are split, and the smaller ones torn off. Their life is bitter because of their usefulness. That is why they do not live out their natural lives but are cut off in their prime. They attract the attentions of the common world. This is so for all things. As for me, I have been trying for a long time to be useless. I was almost destroyed several times. Finally I am useless, and this is very useful to me.”

[Polar Bear]

Awesome