Monks dedicate their lives to God and live in monasteries or temples. Becoming a Catholic or Buddhist monk requires years of commitment and study, including a trial period and taking vows. Women can also become monks in some Christian denominations and in Buddhism.
A monk is a person who has decided to live his life in complete service to God. He gives up normal life to live in a monastery or temple, spending his time in prayer, meditation and service. There are monks in various religious traditions, including Catholicism and Buddhism; the path to becoming a monk takes years of commitment and study. Both begin, however, with the same call to dedicate themselves to their religion.
To become a Catholic monk, a man must have good mind and body. He must be a Roman Catholic and have received the sacrament of confirmation, a ceremony usually performed in adolescence that makes a person an official part of the Catholic Church. Before embarking on the road to becoming a monk, a man must be free of all debts and liabilities. He should have lived a good moral life for several years and preferably be active in his church community.
The first step to becoming a monk in the Catholic Church is to visit a monastery, preferably several times. These visits should help the man decide whether this is a life he would be able to lead happily. The next step is to contact the Novice Master, who is responsible for overseeing the training of new monks.
There is usually a trial period, called a postulate, which lasts up to six months. During this period, the Master Novice and the monk in training see becoming a monk as the right choice for a man. After that, the man will enter the novitiate stage, where he will spend a year being trained to be a monk. After a year, the community can vote for him to take temporary vows and wear his first robe. At any time during this trial phase, the man can opt out, or be asked to leave, without any official action being taken.
After being voted an official monk in training, a man will spend at least three years continuing his education to become a monk. At the end of this period, the community of monks will vote again to decide whether or not he should become a monk. If he is accepted, he can take his vows and become an official member of the community. There are three vows a man must take to become a monk: the vow of obedience, the vow of stability, and the vow of life conversion, agreeing to give up his former life to fully enter the monastery.
The path to becoming a Tibetan or Buddhist monk is similar to the path to becoming a Catholic monk. The first step is to study Buddhist teachings and find meaning in them. The next step is to find a spiritual guide, someone who can act as an adviser and support to the monk-in-training. The next step is to spend some time in a monastic community, experience life as a monk.
After deciding that the life of a Tibetan monk is the right choice, a man enters several years of training and education. During this period, he is expected to live his life in a way that honors Buddhist teachings. At the end of his initial training, the man will participate in a ceremony, under the leadership of an experienced monk, to become a novice monk. After further training, the novice may become an ordained Buddhist monk or bhikkhu.
Most often, the term monk specifically refers to a man who has chosen this calling, while women are called nuns, although the two positions are not identical. There are some cases where a woman can become a monk, however. Although the Catholic Church does not allow women to become monks, some other Christian denominations do. There are also Buddhist monks.
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