I didn't know this, but lay people who take certain precepts can wear white robes in some traditions.
This is on special occasions, when they may take the eight precepts temporarily and wear the white robes on that occasion.
Bhikkhu Rules
The Eight Precepts:
How this works depends on the tradition. You have to take these precepts from a preceptor in a tradition that is thought to have stretched back in an unbroken lineage to the Buddha.
It would be a good thing to do, to take these temporary precepts for a day or a few days, if you connect to a tradition that does that.
As for how you wear the robes, I've no idea, but I dare say if you took part in something like this, someone would show you how it is done :).
First, the eight precepts in these traditions are taken for just a day or a few days or a few months in the countries where there is a tradition to take them temporarily. It's like becoming a novice monk for a short period of time, to make a connection with it. You are not bound by them for the rest of your life, obviously, as one of the vows is of celibacy and they are taken by lay people.
Monks and nuns also can hand back their vows if they decide not to be a monk or nun later on in life. This is sometimes done because they just can't hold to the lifestyle and it is better to surrender the vows than to break them.
But it is also sometimes done from mahayana type motivations by practitioners who have found that they need to engage more completely back into everyday life with all its complexities and intricacies. An example here would be Trungpa Rinpoche, and many other Tibetans who start as monks and later on hand back the robes and become lay practitioners.
In Japan they have a "mahayana ordination" of the monks and nuns based on the bodhisattva vows instead of the vinaya. So that is different, the Japanese monks and nuns can get married for instance.
You can also take five lay precepts. Many Buddhists do. There doesn't seem to be an option to hand those back, so I think they are commitments for life (correct me if anyone knows otherwise). At any rate that's how they are usually taken. You can lose the precepts by breaking them with one of the major violations, e.g. if you kill a human being you have lost the precept of not killing. But, I'm not sure if you can hand them back.
And they have implications beyond just not killing humans in that example - it's a commitment to developing an increasing respect for living things generally and to avoid killing even insects if you can in that case.
Same with all the precepts - have to do something quite major to completely break them but they have other implications beyond that which extend to everything you do.
If that is too much for you right now then take four precepts or three precepts. Or don't take them at all.
It is of vital importance that you commit to something that you can do. Then you can always take on another precept afterwards.
Anyway if you engage with a tradition that lets you take the precepts hopefully you would get lots of teachings and advice before you actually take them.
You can also commit in many other ways. Including taking the bodhisattva vow and going for refuge
If you want to connect to the path of the Buddha, this is usually done after you've been engaged with the teachings for some time, then you go for refuge. This is a special ceremony during which you commit to follow the path of the Buddha publicly in front of other people, which has a special significance. But you don't wear any special robes or do anything like that as a result.
You may take the five precepts as part of the refuge ceremony. But I don't think you have to, I think they are independent things.
The robes are unimportant. And of course there is nothing to stop you wearing robes just for fun :). Or as an actor, in a film or a play.
But I took this as a question about why in some traditions lay people often wear white robes, and that you'd like to do so yourself. And though it may seem a trivial thing to want to do to many - there is nothing wrong with it.
If you find that wearing white robes is inspiring - well it does have an inspiring connection here with a long tradition of Buddhism in these countries, and it might be your way of connecting with that.
We need to work with ourselves as a whole person. If you try to connect with Buddhism on a purely intellectual level then you may find that you are not fully engaged with it and that you have conflicts, your intellect says to do one thing, but you get pulled in other directions because you have only engaged with your intellect and not fully. Are ignoring other aspects of yourself that are pulled in other directions.
If you find that wearing white robes inspires you in the direction of the path of the Buddha - then great.
We are bombarded by so many images that inspire us in other directions, and there is nothing wrong at all, indeed very positive, to connect to visual things that inspire us in the direction of the path of the Buddha and remind us of the teachings. In the case of Buddhists who wear white robes on these special occasions when they take the eight precepts - the robes I'm sure would be a similar inspiration.
This is on special occasions, when they may take the eight precepts temporarily and wear the white robes on that occasion.
Bhikkhu Rules
The Eight Precepts:
How this works depends on the tradition. You have to take these precepts from a preceptor in a tradition that is thought to have stretched back in an unbroken lineage to the Buddha.
It would be a good thing to do, to take these temporary precepts for a day or a few days, if you connect to a tradition that does that.
As for how you wear the robes, I've no idea, but I dare say if you took part in something like this, someone would show you how it is done :).
ADDITIONAL NOTE
First, the eight precepts in these traditions are taken for just a day or a few days or a few months in the countries where there is a tradition to take them temporarily. It's like becoming a novice monk for a short period of time, to make a connection with it. You are not bound by them for the rest of your life, obviously, as one of the vows is of celibacy and they are taken by lay people.
Monks and nuns also can hand back their vows if they decide not to be a monk or nun later on in life. This is sometimes done because they just can't hold to the lifestyle and it is better to surrender the vows than to break them.
But it is also sometimes done from mahayana type motivations by practitioners who have found that they need to engage more completely back into everyday life with all its complexities and intricacies. An example here would be Trungpa Rinpoche, and many other Tibetans who start as monks and later on hand back the robes and become lay practitioners.
In Japan they have a "mahayana ordination" of the monks and nuns based on the bodhisattva vows instead of the vinaya. So that is different, the Japanese monks and nuns can get married for instance.
PRECEPTS FOR LIFE
You can also take five lay precepts. Many Buddhists do. There doesn't seem to be an option to hand those back, so I think they are commitments for life (correct me if anyone knows otherwise). At any rate that's how they are usually taken. You can lose the precepts by breaking them with one of the major violations, e.g. if you kill a human being you have lost the precept of not killing. But, I'm not sure if you can hand them back.
And they have implications beyond just not killing humans in that example - it's a commitment to developing an increasing respect for living things generally and to avoid killing even insects if you can in that case.
Same with all the precepts - have to do something quite major to completely break them but they have other implications beyond that which extend to everything you do.
If that is too much for you right now then take four precepts or three precepts. Or don't take them at all.
It is of vital importance that you commit to something that you can do. Then you can always take on another precept afterwards.
Anyway if you engage with a tradition that lets you take the precepts hopefully you would get lots of teachings and advice before you actually take them.
You can also commit in many other ways. Including taking the bodhisattva vow and going for refuge
GOING FOR REFUGE
If you want to connect to the path of the Buddha, this is usually done after you've been engaged with the teachings for some time, then you go for refuge. This is a special ceremony during which you commit to follow the path of the Buddha publicly in front of other people, which has a special significance. But you don't wear any special robes or do anything like that as a result.
You may take the five precepts as part of the refuge ceremony. But I don't think you have to, I think they are independent things.
MORE ON THE ROBES
The robes are unimportant. And of course there is nothing to stop you wearing robes just for fun :). Or as an actor, in a film or a play.
But I took this as a question about why in some traditions lay people often wear white robes, and that you'd like to do so yourself. And though it may seem a trivial thing to want to do to many - there is nothing wrong with it.
If you find that wearing white robes is inspiring - well it does have an inspiring connection here with a long tradition of Buddhism in these countries, and it might be your way of connecting with that.
We need to work with ourselves as a whole person. If you try to connect with Buddhism on a purely intellectual level then you may find that you are not fully engaged with it and that you have conflicts, your intellect says to do one thing, but you get pulled in other directions because you have only engaged with your intellect and not fully. Are ignoring other aspects of yourself that are pulled in other directions.
If you find that wearing white robes inspires you in the direction of the path of the Buddha - then great.
We are bombarded by so many images that inspire us in other directions, and there is nothing wrong at all, indeed very positive, to connect to visual things that inspire us in the direction of the path of the Buddha and remind us of the teachings. In the case of Buddhists who wear white robes on these special occasions when they take the eight precepts - the robes I'm sure would be a similar inspiration.
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Robert Walker
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