News Flash – Cal Poly Student Ordained as Buddhist Monk

Michael, one of our engineering students, accepted a special invitation to spend a week as an ordained novice monk with one of the local temples. Our whole family got to participate in the preliminary Brahman ceremony offered by local villagers and the official Buddhist ordination ceremony presided over by current monks. For the week, Michael had to follow all the rules and activities of the monks – including fasting every day from noon until the next morning, waking up at about 5am to go beg for breakfast with a copper bowl and cloth bag, avoiding lying, stealing, women (that is, ALL women, not just lying, stealing women), skin products, entertainment, and several other things the students had gotten used to. He was not allowed to kill or hurt any animals, including mosquitoes and the beetle that bored its way into his skin one morning. He had regular meditation activities daily. During the week, Michael was a changed man. He was noticeably, visibly more humble and thoughtful. He seemed very vulnerable and exposed in his orange robe and shaved head. It did not seem to be a pleasant physical experience, and he missed several of the fun activities that the other students were undertaking. By the time he emerged in his own clothes at the end of the week, he had undergone quite an ordeal, but after a good night’s sleep in an air-conditioned room and a hot shower, he had a big smile on his face the whole next day. In the end, not everyone envied his experience, but all had respect for what he did and congratulated him on the lengths he went to in the search for enlightenment. Way to go, Mike!