Actually - the Buddhist goddesses and gods - the ones like Tara and Chenrezig - they are actually aspects of ourselves. So Tara, especially green Tara, is to do with the energetic compassion of a mother for her child when it's in danger.
I heard one teacher describe it, that Chenrezig would be standing around talking about things, while Tara rushes to the rescue.
And - Tibetans will say - that when you do something especially compassionate, then in that moment you actually are Tara or Chenrezig.
So, it's a little different from how we usually think about gods and goddesses. That's just a hint to get started, eventually surely you'll get lots of teachings about it.
I wanted to be a monk at one point when I was younger. But it never happened, my teacher at the time discouraged it.
You might think that being a nun is the best way to dedicate yourself to the Buddhist path. But it's not the only way.
You can also dedicate yourself to the path as a lay practitioner. You can go for refuge as a Buddhist, so that would be something you can do before then. But I'd say no hurry to do that either.
With the path of the monk or nun - it's mainly something you do to simplify your life, so you don't get caught up in all the things that pull you one way and another, which may distract you so much you find it hard to keep your way. .
But if you can keep your way, or the "dharma" - the path you are following, then even going through turbulent times in your personal life, that's something you can learn from too. So the lay life - that can be as much a path as the monk or the nun.
For instance, you get lots of opportunities to practice patience, in really testing situations as a lay practioner. You may feel that as a person you are much more imperfect as a lay practioner. But that helps in a way. You can't help but see your imperfections clearly, so you can be more humble, in a natural way, not putting on humility, but you can see, very clearly, that you have a lot to learn. While as a monk or nun, you might find it isn't that difficult to keep to the main vows, if you are already used to being able to live a moral life anyway. And if so - then - do you really need them?
So, that's the sort of thing you might gradually find out as you learn more about Buddhism and as you meet various teachers. And - we have a wonderful opportunity in the West to meet many great teachers from different traditions. So I'd take the opportunity to find out, which tradition appeals to you.
And BTW I found out recently, that in Japan, in Zen Buddhism, then monks and nuns can marry. So they have a different idea about it all, a kind of ordination that is based on the Boddhisattva vow, rather than the vinaya - the vows of celibacy and so on which most of the monastic vows in Buddhism in all the other traditions are based on.
There are many paths. So, I'd find out which teachings speak to you most first. And then once you've done that, you would talk to your teachers in the tradition, whatever tradition it is, if you want to become a nun still.
And - a Buddhist nun - in most traditions it doesn't have to be a permanent thing. In some traditions - in Sri Lanka it is common to take the novice vows for just a few weeks. To make a connection with it. And in all the traditions that follow the traditional vinaya - then you can hand back the nuns vows at any time.
It's a multi-stage process. First you'd go for refuge I think. Which you can do as a lay practitioner. Most Buddhists do that eventually. And that just is a personal commitment to follow the path of the Buddha. You may also take the five lay vows of not killing, not stealing, not lying, not engaging in sexual misconduct, and not taking alcohol (or take it only in moderation) or other substances that cloud the mind.
So that is something you can do at a fairly early stage. But - even that - I'd say no hurry at all to do that. Just be gentle with yourself. Which I think you are being as you said 10 years. But anyway it might be like that, depending on the tradition you end up with.
In a way going for refuge, I think,is more of a commitment than the monks or the nuns vows. Though it is often made light of as if it wasn't a big deal in some traditions. But it's your decision to follow the path of the Buddha. What could be more of a commitment than that - to say publicly to your preceptor that from now on you will follow the path of the Buddha to the best of your ability?
So it is finding teachers first, and it is great to listen to many in different traditions I think at beginning stages. Then at some point you would talk to them about it, and see what they say, if you still want to become a nun.
Then, after that maybe you decide to become a nun, well in most traditions, you start as a novice nun. (For children, there is another stage before that, where obviously you don't take any vows of celibacy, it doesn't make sense to until you truly understand what they are about, so when you see these pictures of young boys and girls in monks and nuns robes, they haven't taken the vows of an adult monastic).
So anyway later on theoretically you'd become a fully ordained nun. That's what you do as a monk.
There's an issue with nun ordination in Buddhism, though, that most Buddhist nuns you meet have only received novice ordination and never go any futher.
That's because in most of the lineages, the full nun ordination has died out. It's only present still in a few traditions in China. So depending on the tradition you join, you may find you simply can never become a fully ordained nun, like the monks.
And some monks in some traditions are resistant to the idea of reintroducing full ordination for nuns from China, which they could do. While others are forward thinking and are strongly in favour of doing so (like the Dalai Lama) but meeting some resistance, and others are actually going ahead and doing it. That's all because of some things in the sutras about the Buddha's reluctance to ordain nuns originally. But the Dalai Lama and others say that is due to the traditional position of women in society back then and that the reasons he was reluctant to grant ordination then simply don't apply any more in modern society.
And there are some strange rules, at least strange to us in modern times, that make a Buddhist nun, even fully ordained, however many years they are ordained for, count as "lower in rank" than a Buddhist monk, even if he has been ordained for just a single day.
The reason for all this may be because back in the Buddha's time, then a nun would be seen as a "loose woman" if she doesn't have the protection of a man, especially if also wondering as a homeless person, as many of the nuns did. By making them subservient in the monastic rules, it then made it clear to everyone that the nuns were under the protection of the monks, so respectable women. That probably helped to keep nuns much safer.
While as a lay women practitioner you don't have that at all.
You might like this book: Cave in the Snow: Tenzin Palmo's Quest for Enlightenment: Vicki Mackenzie: about one of the first Westerners to become a fully ordained Buddhist nun, she had to travel to China to do so. And she spent years in caves. And ran into many issues as a nun amongst traditional Tibetan monks. And was involved in the movement to get full ordination reintroduced into the traditions that lost them. It talks quite a bit about these issues. And BTW she is a remarkable women, might be inspiring to read about her. Lots of videos by her too.
Whatever the reason for those rules, they may have been necessary once, but they seem archaic in modern society. But we can't change the vows. Except by being truly radical like the Japanese.
The Japanese monks and nuns don't use the Vinaya at all, but have this approach based on the Bodhisattva vows so don't have this issue. They can even marry indeed often do in Japan.
A similar thing is true for Ticht Nhat Hanh who is also in a Zen tradition. He has bypassed the whole thing by making up new vows that are not based on the traditional Vinaya at all.
His nuns take the fourteen vows of interbeing, and these are the same vows for men and for women. And apart from celibacy are also identical for lay practitioners and the nuns and monks.
The Fourteen Precepts of Engaged Buddhism
Interview with one of his nuns about this Walking in the Direction of Beauty--An Interview with Sister Chan Khong
Seems like a wonderful path to follow to me, if you are that way inspired :).
I heard one teacher describe it, that Chenrezig would be standing around talking about things, while Tara rushes to the rescue.
And - Tibetans will say - that when you do something especially compassionate, then in that moment you actually are Tara or Chenrezig.
So, it's a little different from how we usually think about gods and goddesses. That's just a hint to get started, eventually surely you'll get lots of teachings about it.
I wanted to be a monk at one point when I was younger. But it never happened, my teacher at the time discouraged it.
You might think that being a nun is the best way to dedicate yourself to the Buddhist path. But it's not the only way.
You can also dedicate yourself to the path as a lay practitioner. You can go for refuge as a Buddhist, so that would be something you can do before then. But I'd say no hurry to do that either.
With the path of the monk or nun - it's mainly something you do to simplify your life, so you don't get caught up in all the things that pull you one way and another, which may distract you so much you find it hard to keep your way. .
But if you can keep your way, or the "dharma" - the path you are following, then even going through turbulent times in your personal life, that's something you can learn from too. So the lay life - that can be as much a path as the monk or the nun.
For instance, you get lots of opportunities to practice patience, in really testing situations as a lay practioner. You may feel that as a person you are much more imperfect as a lay practioner. But that helps in a way. You can't help but see your imperfections clearly, so you can be more humble, in a natural way, not putting on humility, but you can see, very clearly, that you have a lot to learn. While as a monk or nun, you might find it isn't that difficult to keep to the main vows, if you are already used to being able to live a moral life anyway. And if so - then - do you really need them?
So, that's the sort of thing you might gradually find out as you learn more about Buddhism and as you meet various teachers. And - we have a wonderful opportunity in the West to meet many great teachers from different traditions. So I'd take the opportunity to find out, which tradition appeals to you.
And BTW I found out recently, that in Japan, in Zen Buddhism, then monks and nuns can marry. So they have a different idea about it all, a kind of ordination that is based on the Boddhisattva vow, rather than the vinaya - the vows of celibacy and so on which most of the monastic vows in Buddhism in all the other traditions are based on.
There are many paths. So, I'd find out which teachings speak to you most first. And then once you've done that, you would talk to your teachers in the tradition, whatever tradition it is, if you want to become a nun still.
And - a Buddhist nun - in most traditions it doesn't have to be a permanent thing. In some traditions - in Sri Lanka it is common to take the novice vows for just a few weeks. To make a connection with it. And in all the traditions that follow the traditional vinaya - then you can hand back the nuns vows at any time.
It's a multi-stage process. First you'd go for refuge I think. Which you can do as a lay practitioner. Most Buddhists do that eventually. And that just is a personal commitment to follow the path of the Buddha. You may also take the five lay vows of not killing, not stealing, not lying, not engaging in sexual misconduct, and not taking alcohol (or take it only in moderation) or other substances that cloud the mind.
So that is something you can do at a fairly early stage. But - even that - I'd say no hurry at all to do that. Just be gentle with yourself. Which I think you are being as you said 10 years. But anyway it might be like that, depending on the tradition you end up with.
In a way going for refuge, I think,is more of a commitment than the monks or the nuns vows. Though it is often made light of as if it wasn't a big deal in some traditions. But it's your decision to follow the path of the Buddha. What could be more of a commitment than that - to say publicly to your preceptor that from now on you will follow the path of the Buddha to the best of your ability?
So it is finding teachers first, and it is great to listen to many in different traditions I think at beginning stages. Then at some point you would talk to them about it, and see what they say, if you still want to become a nun.
Then, after that maybe you decide to become a nun, well in most traditions, you start as a novice nun. (For children, there is another stage before that, where obviously you don't take any vows of celibacy, it doesn't make sense to until you truly understand what they are about, so when you see these pictures of young boys and girls in monks and nuns robes, they haven't taken the vows of an adult monastic).
So anyway later on theoretically you'd become a fully ordained nun. That's what you do as a monk.
There's an issue with nun ordination in Buddhism, though, that most Buddhist nuns you meet have only received novice ordination and never go any futher.
That's because in most of the lineages, the full nun ordination has died out. It's only present still in a few traditions in China. So depending on the tradition you join, you may find you simply can never become a fully ordained nun, like the monks.
And some monks in some traditions are resistant to the idea of reintroducing full ordination for nuns from China, which they could do. While others are forward thinking and are strongly in favour of doing so (like the Dalai Lama) but meeting some resistance, and others are actually going ahead and doing it. That's all because of some things in the sutras about the Buddha's reluctance to ordain nuns originally. But the Dalai Lama and others say that is due to the traditional position of women in society back then and that the reasons he was reluctant to grant ordination then simply don't apply any more in modern society.
And there are some strange rules, at least strange to us in modern times, that make a Buddhist nun, even fully ordained, however many years they are ordained for, count as "lower in rank" than a Buddhist monk, even if he has been ordained for just a single day.
The reason for all this may be because back in the Buddha's time, then a nun would be seen as a "loose woman" if she doesn't have the protection of a man, especially if also wondering as a homeless person, as many of the nuns did. By making them subservient in the monastic rules, it then made it clear to everyone that the nuns were under the protection of the monks, so respectable women. That probably helped to keep nuns much safer.
While as a lay women practitioner you don't have that at all.
You might like this book: Cave in the Snow: Tenzin Palmo's Quest for Enlightenment: Vicki Mackenzie: about one of the first Westerners to become a fully ordained Buddhist nun, she had to travel to China to do so. And she spent years in caves. And ran into many issues as a nun amongst traditional Tibetan monks. And was involved in the movement to get full ordination reintroduced into the traditions that lost them. It talks quite a bit about these issues. And BTW she is a remarkable women, might be inspiring to read about her. Lots of videos by her too.
Whatever the reason for those rules, they may have been necessary once, but they seem archaic in modern society. But we can't change the vows. Except by being truly radical like the Japanese.
The Japanese monks and nuns don't use the Vinaya at all, but have this approach based on the Bodhisattva vows so don't have this issue. They can even marry indeed often do in Japan.
A similar thing is true for Ticht Nhat Hanh who is also in a Zen tradition. He has bypassed the whole thing by making up new vows that are not based on the traditional Vinaya at all.
His nuns take the fourteen vows of interbeing, and these are the same vows for men and for women. And apart from celibacy are also identical for lay practitioners and the nuns and monks.
The Fourteen Precepts of Engaged Buddhism
Interview with one of his nuns about this Walking in the Direction of Beauty--An Interview with Sister Chan Khong
Seems like a wonderful path to follow to me, if you are that way inspired :).
About the Author
Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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