Gui-Zhen Philo-Cultural Society :: View topic

Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 2:34 am

I have been seriously considering finding a Buddhist temple to go to cultivate full-time. What I mean is leaving main-stream society. A no-nonsense Buddhist temple in the mountains -- deep in the mountains -- would be my first choice, but a Taoist (Wu Dang Taoist or Quanzhen Taoist) temple would be an acceptable (but very tentatively so) alternative, as long as it is also deep in the mountains.

1. Do you have any recommendations for temples to go to, anywhere in the world? I am a realist in that I recognize that celibacy for the monks sometimes means that they have homosexual relations with one another. I would like to avoid this.

2. How does one "enroll"/"matriculate" (not quite the right words) at such a temple?

Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:11 pm

There are monks of certain traditions that have sexual relations with the men and women. Many come from the Tibetan Traditions, so be careful.

In Texas you can look for Jing Kong Fashi"s Pure Land University...or Jing Zong Xue Yuan. I am sure its called that. You can google search Jing Kong in Texas, and probably find it. If not, I will get some info for you.

In California, there is the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas.

both places have no homosexual relations with each other.

Daoist temples, I am not too sure of, and I am sure of one thing...that if there were, it would be semi commercial for most westerners. I know upstate NY has a few quite Daoist temples there. I have yet to see them, but will find more info as the days go by.

All you need is a sincere heart, and patience. You can go to any temple that takes people in.

NY has a Chan temple called Dharma Drum Mountain, and people go there to meditate and sit int he woods, etc. Nice place.

There are many out here in the U.S. Research have to you will.

Peace,
Lin

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 3:15 am

Obi Wan wrote:

I am a realist in that I recognize that celibacy for the monks sometimes means that they have homosexual relations with one another. I would like to avoid this.

Ummm okayyyyy.... Wow, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of celibacy? That seems worse than them even having relationss with women!

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 3:19 am

Thank you, Lin. There are certain pieces of the puzzle you have graciously provided in your various replies, and I can see a more complete picture now, albeit still a roughly sketched one. Being determined to put this puzzle together, however, I know I will have more inquiries to make as time passes. (Maybe that sounds strange, but, generally speaking, I have a hard time understanding things that I can't put into context; hence the "need" to fit things meaningfully together into a whole and greater picture.)

Perhaps I missed this, but is there a donation button/link anywhere on this forum?

Old Ben

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 3:28 am

Oolong Rabbit wrote:

Obi Wan wrote:

I am a realist in that I recognize that celibacy for the monks sometimes means that they have homosexual relations with one another. I would like to avoid this.

Ummm okayyyyy.... Wow, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of celibacy? That seems worse than them even having relationss with women!

Yeah, makes going to such a temple kinda mean'less. Confused

I'm sure the monks didn't start that way, but, over the years, hush-hush relations behind closed doors somehow became a semi-acceptable sub-culture at some temples. Part of it is no doubt that places of celibacy can attract homosexuals more than heterosexuals, for obvious reasons. (The Catholic priesthood is one such example of this.)

Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:05 pm

Obi Wan!

Long time no email..

Have you had any luck with the temple searching?

Peace,
Lin