Taking the plunge

Discussion of ordination, the Vinaya and monastic life. How and where to ordain? Bhikkhuni ordination etc.
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BlackBird
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Taking the plunge

Post by BlackBird »

Today I took the plunge, and booked my plane flight to Sri Lanka. I'm leaving NZ on May 26th to begin in earnest a life of homelessness.

To describe the feeling just before hitting that button, it was like standing at the door of a plane ready to jump out. You know you've got the parachute and your emergency-chute, it's all packed, secured, you checked it thrice, but all the same there's that last minute wish to stay with what you know - something to stand on. For me that something to stand on was the life I have led over the past 19 and a bit years, in a southern New Zealand town called Dunedin, where you run into people you know on the street, the Winters are cold and romantic, the Summers lazy and warm, and nothing really changes.

Of course that middle class comfort, replete with the sensual pleasures is a mere illusion, disguising the inevitable disease, decay and death that must befall us all, and yet there was a hesitation, a willingness to continue this life of grand procrastination. There was a willingness to go down with the ship, a long with all those that I love.

But in the end that's all it is, a great deception. No comfort. No safety.

It's time to do what should be done. It's time to put forth effort and steer this raft to the farther shore.

metta
Jack :heart:
Last edited by BlackBird on Wed Jan 06, 2010 8:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
"For a disciple who has conviction in the Teacher's message & lives to penetrate it, what accords with the Dhamma is this:
'The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I." - MN. 70 Kitagiri Sutta

Path Press - Ñāṇavīra Thera Dhamma Page - Ajahn Nyanamoli's Dhamma talks
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mikenz66
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Re: Taking the plunge

Post by mikenz66 »

Congratulations Jack! :anjali:

Your parachute comment reminds me of a simile for awakening, but I don't remember the source...

You jump out of the plane...

Then you are thankful that you have parachute...

Then you realise that the parachute doesn't work...

Then you realise that there is no ground...

Metta
Mike
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cooran
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Re: Taking the plunge

Post by cooran »

Hello Jack,

Anumodana in your kusula cetana!
So attha-laddho sukhito
Viru.lho buddha-saasane
Arogo sukhito hohi
Saha sabbehi ñaatibhi.
May he gain his aims, be happy,
and flourish in the Buddha's teachings.
May you, together with all your relatives,
be happy and free from disease.

Which monastery are you planning to go to? Have you had contact with any particular one?
How long can you legally enter Sri Lanka for? Have you been learning a little Sinhalese?

metta
Chris
Last edited by cooran on Wed Jan 06, 2010 9:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
Sanghamitta
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Re: Taking the plunge

Post by Sanghamitta »

Sadhu!
The going for refuge is the door of entrance to the teachings of the Buddha.

Bhikku Bodhi.
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tiltbillings
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Re: Taking the plunge

Post by tiltbillings »

Be careful.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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BlackBird
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Re: Taking the plunge

Post by BlackBird »

Hello Mike, Chris, Sanghamitta, Tilt, and everyone else, thank you for your kind words :anjali:
Chris wrote: Which monastery are you planning to go to? Have you had contact with any particular one?
How long can you legally enter Sri Lanka for? Have you been learning a ittle Sinhalese?

metta
Chris
Hi Chris

A couple of friends from Sri Lanka have been teaching me a bit of Sinhala, although I must admit I haven't been putting in enough effort into this department.

When I arrive in Sri Lanka there are three monasteries I would like to stay at to begin with:
- Na Uyana.
- Mitirigala Nissarana Vanaya (for the Rains retreat, have talked it over with Ven. Dhammajiva Thero).
- Potgulgala (Where Ven. K. Nyanananda thero resides).

As a kiwi, one gets a month visa-free on the house, however the Sri Lankan consulate in Wellington tell me it's easy to apply for a meditation visa once in the country.

metta
Jack
"For a disciple who has conviction in the Teacher's message & lives to penetrate it, what accords with the Dhamma is this:
'The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I." - MN. 70 Kitagiri Sutta

Path Press - Ñāṇavīra Thera Dhamma Page - Ajahn Nyanamoli's Dhamma talks
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Cittasanto
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Re: Taking the plunge

Post by Cittasanto »

:anjali: Image
keep in touch when you go! which plan did you opt for? out of curiosity!
Sri Lanka did crop into my mind a couple of times, but unfortunately there is something I must do before making any move :(
have you contacted anywhere... probably loads more questions to ask and answer!
BlackBird wrote:Today I took the plunge, and booked my plane flight to Sri Lanka. I'm leaving NZ on May 26th to begin in earnest a life of homelessness.

To describe the feeling just before hitting that button, it was like standing at the door of a plane ready to jump out. You know you've got the parachute and your emergency-chute, it's all packed, secured, you checked it thrice, but all the same there's that last minute wish to stay with what you know - something to stand on. For me that something to stand on was the life I have led over the past 19 and a bit years, in a southern New Zealand town called Dunedin, where you run into people you know on the street, the Winters are cold and romantic, the Summers lazy and warm, and nothing really changes.

Of course that middle class comfort, replete with the sensual pleasures is a mere illusion, disguising the inevitable disease, decay and death that must befall us all, and yet there was a hesitation, a willingness to continue this life of grand procrastination. There was a willingness to go down with the ship, a long with all those that I love.

But in the end that's all it is, a great deception. No comfort. No safety.

It's time to do what should be done. It's time to put forth effort and steer this raft to the farther shore.

metta
Jack :heart:
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
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Guy
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Re: Taking the plunge

Post by Guy »

Hi Jack,

I hope everything goes well for you in Sri Lanka. I really understand where you are coming from, being a dissatisfied young middle class man, thinking a lot about living the monastic life. Procrastination is a hindrance I am all too familiar with, therefore your decisive action is very inspiring to me!

May your path to Liberation be a fast and happy one.

With Metta,

Guy
Four types of letting go:

1) Giving; expecting nothing back in return
2) Throwing things away
3) Contentment; wanting to be here, not wanting to be anywhere else
4) "Teflon Mind"; having a mind which doesn't accumulate things

- Ajahn Brahm
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retrofuturist
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Re: Taking the plunge

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings Jack,

I am incredibly happy for you!

Do your research and planning and I'm sure it will go great.

:thumbsup:

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Dan74
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Re: Taking the plunge

Post by Dan74 »

Best of luck, Jack, and most importantly lots of perseverance when you hit those bumps!

_/|\_
_/|\_
Paññāsikhara
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Re: Taking the plunge

Post by Paññāsikhara »

:anjali:
My recently moved Blog, containing some of my writings on the Buddha Dhamma, as well as a number of translations from classical Buddhist texts and modern authors, liturgy, etc.: Huifeng's Prajnacara Blog.
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Khalil Bodhi
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Re: Taking the plunge

Post by Khalil Bodhi »

Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu! All the best!
To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one's mind — this is the teaching of the Buddhas.
-Dhp. 183

The Stoic Buddhist: https://www.quora.com/q/dwxmcndlgmobmeu ... pOR2p0uAdH
My Practice Blog:
http://khalilbodhi.wordpress.com
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bodom
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Re: Taking the plunge

Post by bodom »

Best of luck to you!

:anjali:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
alan
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Re: Taking the plunge

Post by alan »

Hi Jack. Admire your aspirations.
Don't mean to throw a bucket of cold water on your head, but, well, Ok please allow me to throw a bucket or two. I've been traveling on and off since I was your age, and if I may offer one bit of advice it would be: make sure you know what you are getting into!
I left the US three days after high school and spent over a year bicycling/hitchhiking/working odd jobs around Europe/Mid-east and (after some college) another year living an working in Greece and Norway before even attempting Asia. Even after all that, at times Asia kicked my ass! Spent 6 months in India--it was fascinating but never easy. It's been almost 20 years and I've spent most of the last 7 in Asia and even now I'm aware of the fact that a new country can be a challenge. So as Tilt said be careful.

Is there a place to study in lovely NZ? Maybe best to start there.

If you are determined to go:
Forget about learning Sinhala. There is no possible way you'll master it in the time you have, and anyway there should be plenty of English speakers available to you. (This is based on my time in India; I haven't been to SL).
Get an extended stay Visa before you leave.
Bring lots of mosquito repellant.
Good Luck and don't go. Stay where you are. You're doing fine.
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poto
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Re: Taking the plunge

Post by poto »

Good luck, and I hope it's a fruitful path for you.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." -- C. S. Lewis
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