Monastic Community Extra Credit

       The Buddha was the founder of the first Buddhist monastic community. It was a place for his followers to work to obtain nirvana as well as to spread the Buddha’s teachings. In monastic communities, monks and nuns work to expand themselves spirituality an as an addition they help newer members to the community to do the same. Monastic communities have rules that include celibacy as well as not taking the life of others. If these rules were to be broken, a member of that community would be ask to leave. In the community, monks and nuns participate in both individual and group in order to study and learn their faith. In that community, each person is assigned a specific duty to perform and to ensure that the community runs smoothly and problem free. For the lay people of their faith Buddhist monk and nuns serve as spiritual counselors.

       It may be slightly easier to practice Buddhism if a person is a monk or a nun because Buddhist monks and nuns live in special faith-centered communities. In these communities, they are surrounded by others who share the same faith and beliefs. Their companions are also in search of spiritual enrichment and enlightenment, and because they are living together as a group, the monks and nuns are able to support their peers who share a common goal.

       Theravada monks and nuns mostly focus on themselves and being able to better themselves to reach nirvana. Theravada monks and nuns spend basically all of their free time meditating. Tibetan monks focus primarily on the beauty of life as a way to reach nirvana. They work for countless hours to produce beautiful sand mandalas only to destroy them completely when they are done to show no attachments. It also teaches them about the impermanence of beauty and life.

       None of the rules that govern the lives of monks and nuns could be changed or taken away because these rules lead the simplistic lifestyle that the Buddhists live and expierence. If these rules were changed, the monks and nuns would be following the same rules as the lay people and they would not have anything that could set them apart and show uniqueness. Lastly, if these rules were changed or removed, the understanding of monastic life would not be the same.