Why tarry? Just go forth!

SANGHA speaks:

Why tarry? Just go forth!

Venerable Mangala was in the midst of his personal meditation retreat in Penang when he received a request from Venerable Aggacitta to share with the second Introduction to Monkhood Programme Participants (IMPPs), his experiences of monkhood as well as the practice of Abhidhamma as taught in the Pa Auk tradition.

Venerable Mangala was a law graduate from the University of Malaya, Malaysia.

Firstly, I guess many good potential candidates
for monkhood are held back by petty fears of
‘what ifs’. They fear they may fall, having seen
some very senior monks fall. They fear some
beloved ones may not be able to live well enough if they
renounced. Deep inside they feel they are indispensable
to the world they live in. So on and so forth.

Please tell them to have a better understanding and
faith in the Law of Cause and Effect. Please tell them
to contemplate on Dependent Origination and nonself.
Then all the fears can be easily dispelled. The
fears that triumph on illusion and delusion will find
no foothold to stand on. Then all decision-making will
be very simple. Fear no loss. Fear no outcome.
Why fear scorn or shame? The shame, if we want to
call it so, is in useless fear and indecision. When our
ego is big, we fear. Understanding non-self, why
indulge in fears? Just walk ahead. We have our kamma.
Others have their kamma.

If things do not work well, the worst is to disrobe.
Failure is never permanent. If we truly try—honestly—
there will be no real failure. Every day of brahmacariya
is meritorious, and is never cultivated in vain even if
we disrobe later. Just be honest to oneself in the
present moment. Be true to one’s present wisdom.
Attach not to anybody nor to anything.

Why hesitate? If we say detachment is one of the
greatest gifts we can give to the world, the only true
way to teach it, is by living it. Detachment can only be
taught in a detached manner. We cannot free others
without freeing ourselves. Another form of attachment
is craving for things, tangible or intangible, in life.
Sincere contemplation on death and impermanence is
enough to help us make a decisive turn from indulgence
in craving for material things and for other
aspects of Dhamma (i.e. mere intellectual theories or
views and preoccupations with worldly af fairs. Ed.)

When I was deliberating on becoming a monk, one
of the things I considered was, “Thirty or forty years
later will I regret the way I spend my youth now?”
This thought made everything else superficial and
tasteless. Conditional greatness is never great in the
stream of impermanence. So I decided, “If there is
anything that may be called great that I should do, it is
to help myself and others to realise the Deathless.”

Now, seven and a half years into monkhood, I am
still appreciative of this spiritual opportunity granted
by the Buddha.

May your vision materialise.
May SBS grow steadily.
May you be well and happy.