Honestly, I feel kind of sad that it’s hard to practice a life of renunciation nowadays. Now if anyone wants to be a monk, they would have to do paperwork and fill out forms to apply to monasteries. In the past, anyone could just go forth and ask for ordination. Now it’s more complicated because there has to be space in the monastery to accept new meditators. In the past, you could just live under a tree or in the open air or in a small leaf hut and wander for alms in any village without needing lay followers. Hermits like mentioned in the Jatakas could just live off of fruits and vegetables in the forest. Nowadays, if monks have to travel, they have to do so alongside householders like on a plane. I guess now it’s hard to truly ‘leave’ the world. It’s also hard to find seclusion if there are lot of lay visitors coming to the monastery. I wish I was born in the time of the Buddha 2500 years ago. Everything was simple back then. I hope things will go smoothly when I ordain in the future but I do worry quite a bit.
Something I’d like to add to this, is a full austere lifestyle might be difficult to have nowadays but we can still get close to it. For example, if a full austere lifestyle is a 10, then we can probably live a lifestyle that’s like 7 or 8 if we live in a forest with wise monks with little to no distractions. So it’s still possible to live a lifestyle identical to 2500 years ago.
You need a visa to ordain if you plan to go to another country (recommended). These days they want to screen you for medical and psychological problems before allowing you to come and ordain. I think that Pa-Auk POL is not full like it used to be due to the government change and previous COVID.
While you would need to be assigned a kuṭi to stay there, you are always welcome to have a mosquito net under a tree. You can do that right now wherever you are, but you don’t, do you?
During the vassa, the Buddha requires that you have an enclosed kuṭi with a door.
During the Rains-residence, one is not allowed to live in the hollow of a tree, in the fork of a tree, in the open air, in a non-lodging (according to the Commentary, this means a place covered with any of the five kinds of allowable facing/roofing but lacking a door that can be opened and closed), in a charnel house, under a canopy, or in a large storage vessel. However, there is no rule against living temporarily in any of these places during the rest of the year. (BMC2 Pages 65,66)
Not yet, Venerable Sir, but I do plan to try meditating under a tree sometime in the future.
Which country is best for ordination? Is Myanmar still a great country for ordination? I would like to go to Pa-Auk POL sometimes soon (in 2-3 years). If I’m lucky, I might be able to convince my parents to let me ordain this year. Could you be my preceptor, Venerable?
If you ordain in pa-auk POL, you should have Venerable Sayawdaw Kumararabhivamsa as your preceptor.