Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.
Should a Buddhist monk discard his robe for a suit?
Togas are a pain to wear, I wore one for years as a Roman reenactor, it takes the assistance of a slave to put one on and you can only use one arm fully, if you drop the left arm you need your slave again to gather your toga. It was a visible symbol that the toga wearer could afford to keep a person to dress them and didn't do manual work, neither practical nor desirable for modern day wear.
As for robes, I can see how they could become an object of attachment being given a veneer of exoticism in the western world. I know priests who dress like priests 24/7/365 because they like to be recognised as priests with all the status that entails. I don't think that this really fits in with the ethos of Buddhism. Maybe monks should wear clothing bought from charity shops as a safer modern equivalent of wearing corpse-wrappings. This would do good for charities and the environment while making it hard for people to become attached to their vestments.
This is an interesting topic.. My teacher, HE Tsem Rinpoche, wore lay clothes for awhile - he was given permission to do so by his monastery for personal reasons. At one stage, he was like 120Kg and he told his students, i'm going to be a model. Of course nobody believed him so over several months, he lost the weight and did become a catwalk model in KL (you can see a photo of him as a model here http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/me/then-now.html). To his students it was a lesson in impermanence and perseverance. If you set your mind to doing something, you can do anything! Of course he received a lot of criticism by lay people for doing that... people would ask him why he has hair! He would reply, because it grows! When i met him for the first time, he looked like a model and i was stunned! Then he gained back the weight and now he wears back his robes (he never gave up his monk vows when he was wearing lay clothes) and people say now why did he put on weight, he looked so good before. People are just out to criticise - you can never please everyone!
Rinpoche has told us also that the robes represent the vows the monk or nun holds. And if people see someone in robes, immediately (most) people will know how to treat the ordained person with respect. They will not offer the ordained person an alcoholic drink or a cigarette, for example, so it protects the ordained person and helps the ordained person to also keep their vows because temptation will not be placed in their way.
This is an interesting topic.. My teacher, HE Tsem Rinpoche, wore lay clothes for awhile - he was given permission to do so by his monastery for personal reasons. At one stage, he was like 120Kg and he told his students, i'm going to be a model. Of course nobody believed him so over several months, he lost the weight and did become a catwalk model in KL (you can see a photo of him as a model here http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/me/then-now.html). To his students it was a lesson in impermanence and perseverance. If you set your mind to doing something, you can do anything!
Tsem had already been a model and a Hollywood actor in his teens, after he ran away from an abusive home, so he had previous experience with that, when he decided to give it another go. He knew what he was doing, and already had a resume (and possibly a portfolio) for that field. He has a fascinating personal history and has overcome a lot of adversity. Unlike other tulkus, he wasn't born and raised in a privileged position--far from it. Tsem is cool. :cool:
Togas are a pain to wear, I wore one for years as a Roman reenactor, it takes the assistance of a slave to put one on and you can only use one arm fully, if you drop the left arm you need your slave again to gather your toga. It was a visible symbol that the toga wearer could afford to keep a person to dress them and didn't do manual work, neither practical nor desirable for modern day wear.
As for robes, I can see how they could become an object of attachment being given a veneer of exoticism in the western world. I know priests who dress like priests 24/7/365 because they like to be recognised as priests with all the status that entails. I don't think that this really fits in with the ethos of Buddhism. Maybe monks should wear clothing bought from charity shops as a safer modern equivalent of wearing corpse-wrappings. This would do good for charities and the environment while making it hard for people to become attached to their vestments.
The Chinese Buddhist robes are not easy to wear. The black gowns are okay even though they do not have normal buttons but buttons of threads with round heads at the end that could be latched to loops. But there is also this long piece of brown cloth that goes with the black gown which like the togas, is a pain to wear. You have a method of folding it, a method to swing it round the body, a method which needed practice, and once wrapped round the body, is flimsy and constantly needs your attention. It could get disorganized if you are not careful and it needs adeptness to especially walk up and down stairs. If you have wore one, you'd think it is for disciplining you and to keep your mind focus. If robes become an object of attachment, it is the mind that is at fault. Then, again, modern costumes with all its simplicity brings about empathy which should be a no-no for monks. Then again, of course, this is just a personal opinion.
Comments
As for robes, I can see how they could become an object of attachment being given a veneer of exoticism in the western world. I know priests who dress like priests 24/7/365 because they like to be recognised as priests with all the status that entails. I don't think that this really fits in with the ethos of Buddhism. Maybe monks should wear clothing bought from charity shops as a safer modern equivalent of wearing corpse-wrappings. This would do good for charities and the environment while making it hard for people to become attached to their vestments.
Rinpoche has told us also that the robes represent the vows the monk or nun holds. And if people see someone in robes, immediately (most) people will know how to treat the ordained person with respect. They will not offer the ordained person an alcoholic drink or a cigarette, for example, so it protects the ordained person and helps the ordained person to also keep their vows because temptation will not be placed in their way.
Nowadays we are cloaked by the internet and other shells.
The middle way is comfortable for the situation.