Despite the common misconception, members religious orders do not take a vow of silence. However, most monasteries have specific times and places (church, refectory, dormitory etc.) wherein speaking is more strictly prohibited.
Monks are prohibited from possessing money and from storing food. They are completely dependent on the laity for many simple things, such as the preparation and offering of food, pruning foliage, and digging the earth.
Monks take three vows: obedience, stability and conversatio morum. These are solemn promises, made in the presence, not only of the Abbot and community, but - as St Benedict reminds us - of God and his Saints.
The various ascetics, priests and monks were very good at exchanging insults and `wounding each other with the weapon of the tongue' too (M.I,320). Swearing and verbal abuse are a type of harsh speech (pharusàvàcà) and are contrary to Right Speech, one of the steps on the Noble Eightfold Path (D.I,4).
all rituals and beliefs are "integrated into a Buddhist cosmology" (Gombrich, 1971, p. 5). Cursing, widely practised by Buddhists, is part of those Buddhist rituals and beliefs and therefore can not be dismissed as "folk religion."
The Dhammasangāni [5] regard five acts – matricide, parricide, slaying an Arhat, slaying a Buddha, and causing division among priesthood to be five unpardonable sins. However, the Buddhists admit cases where committing an act which is generally considered to be sinful has not been looked upon as sins.
The monk vows to never become complacent or slothful in his efforts to grow in holiness, or careless or lazy in performing his religious duties in community life. This vow contains the evangelical counsels of poverty and chastity.
A monk blessing is a tradition that dates back hundreds of years in Cambodia, and is performed for special occasions and auspicious dates, as well as any average day and for any person who would like to be blessed.
The hands are held palm-to-palm in front of the heart and are sometimes raised to the lowered forehead. It is a gesture of respect that can be used as a greeting, a goodbye, a thank-you or when speaking with one of the monastics. The traditional way of paying respect to a shrine or to a senior monk is to bow.
Almost all Buddhist sects permitted monk's marriage as officially and it became usual one. On the other hand, until then, Jōdo Shinshū sect, which developed one of the largest Buddhism sects in cotemporary Japan was only one sect that was permitted monk's marriage by the government.
Because they are viewed as temporary, getting tattoos doesn't violate any Buddhist doctrines or beliefs. Some Buddhists say that tattoos are an unhealthy attachment to the body. However, even monks can have tattoos and some sects actually encourage them as a way to remember Buddhist teachings.
Most stay for only a few years and then leave, but a number continue on in the ascetic life for the rest of their lives. In Mongolia during the 1920s, there were about 110,000 monks, including children, who made up about one-third of the male population, many of whom were killed in the purges of Choibalsan.
If a monastic breaks his or her root vows it causes a very negative karma which is extremely difficult to purify in this life. Thus, a person considering ordination should be aware that it is a serious commitment which lasts one's whole life.
The tradition of the ordained monastic community (sangha) began with the Buddha, who established an order of bhikkhus (monks). According to the scriptures, later, after an initial reluctance, he also established an order of Bhikkhunis (nuns or women monks).
Leaning forward and adjusting his cinnamon-colored robe in the crowded Rock Café at Harvard Divinity School (HDS), the shaven-headed Kusala confided, “In this culture, people like to give a hug in friendship, but monks don't do that.
Sexual activity is permitted for laypeople, but a monk or nun who has sexual intercourse violates a fundamental vow, and the Vinaya states that anyone who breaks this vow is no longer a monastic, even if the offense is not discovered.
Buddhist monks condemn alcohol and its consumption. The Quran, the holy text of Islam, prohibits it. Hinduism does not use alcohol in religious contexts but social drinking varies from person to person.
The law of chastity applies to both men and women. It includes strict abstinence from sexual relations before marriage and complete fidelity and loyalty to one's spouse after marriage. The law of chastity requires that sexual relations be reserved for marriage between a man and a woman.
A layperson is by definition a person who is not a monastic -- not a monk or a nun. Monks and nuns don't marry so they can forego the complications of a spouse and children and earning a living to support them and so on and just focus on practicing and studying the dharma.
The monastic not only believes in the Lord Jesus Christ but abandons all monetary gain, accumulated possessions, and inheritance to follow the Lord. Forsaking the need for materialism allows the monk to cooperate more fully with God to do His Will with salvation being the foremost goal of his monastic life.
And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come (Matthew 12:31–32).
Jesus Christ called the Holy Spirit "Spirit of Truth" (John 14:17; 15:26; John 16:13) and warned us, "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven unto men" (Matthew 12:31).
