Preparation for Ordination in Nyingma

Post Reply
User avatar
Dharmasherab
Posts: 127
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 8:20 pm

Preparation for Ordination in Nyingma

Post by Dharmasherab »

I am making this thread more on behalf of an online group and its potential members who would be Nyingma Buddhists rather than myself.

The questions is how to best prepare as a lay Buddhist in one’s practice prior to ordaining in the Nyingma school of Buddhism? I am aware that in Nyingma just like most forms of Tibetan Buddhism there is lay ordination (like Ngakpas and Naljormas) as well as monastic ordination and answers oriented towards either one or both these types of ordination will be mostly welcome.

It is about collecting all types of ideas on how to best prepare as a lay Buddhist before making the decision of ordaining as a monastic as well as a lay ordained member in Nyingma with a view to making that a lifetime commitment (and not a trial). It is also about how to optimise one’s practice as a Buddhist before making the decision to layordination and monastic ordination in Nyingma.

I hope to share these ideas with the online group because we are a group looking for all types of advice and suggestions for ordination and the way to prepare for Nyingma ordination will be of great benefit. But even otherwise people who are are thinking of ordaining in Nyingma in this forum might find the comments helpful.

I am aware there could be Nyingma monastics/priests/lay-ordained members who are highly aware of the difference between the lay life and monastic life and I will be very thankful for their advice. I can also appreciate there could be lay Nyingma Buddhists who are already optimizing themselves before ordination and I will be thankful for their tips and suggestions too.

Names of books, documents, websites, links to web articles and videos will be highly appreciated (as long as their within the boundaries of ToS).

Thank you.
“When one does not understand death, life can be very confusing.” - Ajahn Chah
KristenM
Posts: 1335
Joined: Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:13 am
Location: California

Re: Preparation for Ordination in Nyingma

Post by KristenM »

I saw no one responded to this post so I thought I'd give it a shot. Becoming a monastic is a very serious undertaking. I'd hope that your online group considering such matters is taking guidance from actual teachers in the particular faiths that you're about to make a lifelong commitment to.

It seems ill advised to ask around for that sort of advice and randomly gather info. What you guys are doing sounds strange to me.
User avatar
Spelare
Posts: 157
Joined: Wed Aug 02, 2017 3:38 am

Re: Preparation for Ordination in Nyingma

Post by Spelare »

I think this is a perfectly reasonable inquiry, and not necessarily a bad place to make it. Obviously, one would want to connect to whatever lamas may be present in one's local area, but it is a good idea to search widely and take stock of a variety of perspectives, especially before making such a big decision. You wouldn't want your overall picture to be shaped by the idiosyncracies of whichever teachers you happen to run into. If you find a teacher with whom you find you have a karmic connection, it may be worth traveling far to study with them.

Here is a resource page from one Nyingma lineage (Palyul) about monastic vows:

http://www.palyul.org/eng_about_monasticvows.htm

You could also look into the application process for various three-year retreat programs in the Nyingma tradition. Here's an example, in the lineage of Dudjom Rinpoche:

http://www.vajrayana.org/drubdra/

Obviously, you might want to go on shorter retreats and talk to people you meet who've spent time in monasteries of the tradition that interests you. It is not uncommon for people to do three-month retreats or attend shedras, even if they do not have the intention of taking vows. Ultimately, you'll have to try it yourself, though; no matter how good the explanation of sugar may be, it's nothing like tasting it. So taste it and see if it's for you.

Also note that this topic has come up in this forum before:

viewtopic.php?t=13860
User avatar
Josef
Posts: 2611
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 6:44 pm

Re: Preparation for Ordination in Nyingma

Post by Josef »

It's important to be honest about our motivations and capacities before embarking on any commitments.
It seems worth remembering that even the great Patrul was only ordained as a novice monk. He did this intentionally because he was honest about his capacity and his motivation was altruism.
A thorough self-examination is key to being a sincere dharma practitioner, no matter what color robes we wear.
"All phenomena of samsara depend on the mind, so when the essence of mind is purified, samsara is purified. Since the phenomena of nirvana depend on the pristine consciousness of vidyā, because one remains in the immediacy of vidyā, buddhahood arises on its own. All critical points are summarized with those two." - Longchenpa
Malcolm
Posts: 42974
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 2:19 am

Re: Preparation for Ordination in Nyingma

Post by Malcolm »

Dharmasherab wrote: Fri Dec 08, 2017 9:49 pm I am making this thread more on behalf of an online group and its potential members who would be Nyingma Buddhists rather than myself.

The questions is how to best prepare as a lay Buddhist in one’s practice prior to ordaining in the Nyingma school of Buddhism? I am aware that in Nyingma just like most forms of Tibetan Buddhism there is lay ordination (like Ngakpas and Naljormas)
There is no Ngakpas and Naljormas ordination.

Procedures for monastic ordination are identical in all four or five schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
Post Reply

Return to “Nyingma”