The life of a Buddhist monk

What actually is the purpose of life? Most of us wonder about this at some point. Is it love? To live in a good way? Or is it to just have fun while you can?

Buddha believed that the purpose of life was to live in such a way that you reach Nirvana: by meditating and avoiding strong feelings and desires. When Buddha died, the responsibility to spread his teachings passed to his disciples, the monks. And they still do so today. The Buddhist monastic community is called Sangha. This is how a day in the life of a monk might look: He gets up very early.

At 4 o'clock in the morning! It's time to meditate. He does this in front of a Buddha statue. After meditation, he makes his bed, cleans up, and studies the Buddhist teachings - The Noble Eightfold Path, that is. While he does this, let's look at his possessions.

He is allowed to own only eight things: Three garments, a belt, a razor - to shave his head, a needle - to mend his clothes with, A begging bowl - to get food in, and a strainer. What's the strainer for? The monk needs to filter his water so that he doesn't swallow any insects - since he's not allowed to kill. During the morning the monk takes his begging round. He visits the closest village and is given food by the people there.

Aren't they kind to feed him? But that is not how buddhists see it. They believe that it's the monk who is kind. He makes sure that they live a better life, learning to do good, by sharing. That is why those who give him something thank him to be able to do this.

They also thank him for words of wisdom that he gives them. Now the monk is back in the monastery. It's only 12 o'clock but he has already had a long day. Is it time for a snack? No.

After midday he is not allowed to eat anything: only drink water or tea. A monk is not allowed to have money, to see entertainment, to use perfume or jewellery. Neither is he allowed to lie on a soft, comfy bed nor have sex. So the monk spends the rest of the day in quiet meditation and prayer. A common prayer is this one, called the three refuges or the three jewels: "I take refuge in the Buddha.

I take refuge in the Dharma. I take refuge in the Sangha." By dharma he means the teachings - the Noble Eightfold Path. So that is what a day in this boy's life might look like. Why boys? Why do we only talk about them?

Where are the girls? The nuns? There are much fewer nuns than monks. In the beginning Buddha didn't want women to join the sangha. He thought that they would tempt the men sexually and distract them from meditating.

But eventually he changed his mind - women were allowed to join. But he gave the nuns more rules to follow than the monks. This idea - that the women would tempt the men - is still alive in some countries, where it is forbidden for women to be ordained as nuns. In other countries it's perfectly okay to become a nun: more equal that is. So why do you become a monk or a nun?

Some of course do this out of religious conviction. But there are also a lot of young people who join the monasteries to escape starvation in their home villages. And a lot of old people join the Sangha when they have been left alone. In several countries it's also customary to send all children to the monasteries, like to school. Some stay a couple of months or years in the monasteries.

Others remain all their lives. Maybe they feel that they have found the purpose of life.