I hope everyone is enjoying the new year! Today I want to talk about something I mentioned in my Since We Last Spoke post a couple months ago. My brother has become a Novice Buddhist Monk. I want to break this post into a couple parts. I want to explain what a Buddhist Monk is and my brother's journey so far on his path to becoming a full Buddhist Monk.

Please note that I am not an expert on this subject. I am explaining what I have come to understand about Buddhism and Buddhist Monks through my own personal studies and what my brother has told me. This post does not fully explain Buddhism in any way. If you would like to learn more about Buddhism, I suggest reading books about the religion.

What exactly is a Buddhist Monk?

Buddhist Monks have existed for thousands of years. They follow Buddhism, which is essentially a religion that focuses on realizing we are suffering and doing what we can to eliminate our sufferings and reach Enlightenment. Buddhist Monks focus on reaching Enlightenment through meditation. They focus on the present moment. That is it. There is no reason to worry about anything else. Focusing on how hungry we are is suffering. Watching TV is a materialistic want that does not benefit us in any way. It only furthers our suffering because we are focused on indulging ourselves in our wants and desires. When we do not fulfill our wants and desires we become sad or angry, and we are unable to meet our expectations for happiness. Buddhist Monks believe that focusing on materialistic wants and desires leaves us ignorant of the reincarnation cycle and prevents us from realizing the truth: we are all suffering and will continue to suffer until we can break the cycle.

My Brother

For those who do not know, I have a younger brother named Connor. Connor has always known that something was off about the way he was living life. He was never truly happy living in our Western world. He spent his time focusing on the things that made him happy, only to find out a short time later that they were boring and we're not benefiting him at all. Connor decided to learn about Buddhism during a rough period of his life in an attempt to learn how to find happiness in his life. A year later, he decided to become a Buddhist Monk. He had some things to attend to in this life before going to a Buddhist Temple but only a short couple of months later came to the conclusion that he could not live a lie anymore. He was very unhappy in this Western mindset and had to get out. Our Buddhist Thai neighbor helped him get to a temple a few days later and that was that. I didn't see my brother for almost two months while we waited for the Buddhist Monks to decide if this was the place he was meant to be. When the Monks decided that this was the path for my brother, we attended his ceremony where he became a Novice Buddhist Monk. Seeing my brother up on that stage showed me how free he is. I had never seen someone look so free in my entire life. I could see the chains that were holding him down shattering. Knowing that Connor has finally found his path in life and is at peace has made me happy. I visited him late last month, and I plan on visiting him as often as I can. He will be at this temple for about a year studying with the Buddhist Monks until he is ready to become one himself. After that, who knows where life will take him. The beauty of what the Buddhist Monks believe in is that they can be anywhere to meditate and live their way of life.

I hope this post was informative. I did my best to explain my understanding of the basics. If you have any questions on Buddhist Monks or Connor, please leave them down in the comments section below or contact me on one of my social media sites.

Shannon

Check out my previous post here.