u/DharmaStudies

Live & Serve at LMB: Join Our Work-Study Program!

We have new positions starting May 27 and August 26! If you are inspired to serve and embody compassion and wisdom, come immerse yourself in a supportive, redwood community.

• What you get: Free room and board + access to spiritual programs, wellness classes, and our library.
• What you do: Support our community through volunteering.
• Commitment: 2 months minimum (maximum 3 months, extendable).

This role is crucial to the functioning of our Dharma Center.

Learn more at https://landofmedicinebuddha.org/about/join-us/

Apply or email volunteer.coordinator@medicinebuddha.org. We can't wait to hear from you!

【Dharma Realm Buddhist University Buddhist Translation Certificate Program】
(Founded by Venerable Master Hsuan Hua)
【Program Overview】
Dharma Realm Buddhist University (DRBU) offers a unique two-semester graduate-level certificate program. Conducted within the monastic community environment of City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, the program integrates Buddhist scripture translation, in-depth study of classical texts, cultivation practice, and volunteer service into a well-rounded learning experience.
【Program Highlights】
Integrates translation, spiritual practice, and service at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas

Comprehensive training in translation skills

Individual and collaborative translation learning

Rigorous use of reference materials and translation tools

Practice in translating Buddhist scriptures into English

【Scholarship Support】
DRBU provides full scholarships for all students, including international students

100% of graduates leave without student loan debt

【Application Requirements】
Strong English proficiency

A keen interest in Buddhist studies, languages, and translation

⛩ For more details about the Buddhist Translation Certificate Program at Dharma Realm Buddhist University:
Website: Dharma Realm Buddhist University – Certificate Program
Email: tcp@drbu.edu

Overnight Visits
The monastery has a small amount of accommodation available for men interested in learning about the monks’ life.
All those wishing to stay in the monastery are required to keep the eight precepts and follow the monastic training rules and daily schedule of classes. The minimum length of stay for all visitors is 3 nights. 
Those who wish to continue the training with the possibility of taking ordination as a monk arrange longer stays at the discretion of the Abbot and community.
Please enquire by email and please include details of your background and experience in Buddhist meditation, following precepts, your age, physical restrictions of any kind, where you are travelling from, previous stays in a monastery and information about any medication you take for physical or mental well-being. Please provide us with your contact phone number.
bodhipalamonastery@gmail.com
# Sangha- wishing to stay overnight must receive an invitation from the senior monk at least 7 days prior to their intended stay.
Please Note: Children under 18 years of age are not allowed to stay overnight in the monastery.

If you are serious about ordination, it’s good for aspiring monks to visit the monastery and meet the community. For those who have decided to ordain in the near future, we offer a special financial arrangement so that they can live here for a time as aspiring monks, and be part of the community. Because in our tradition becoming a monk is a choice made for the rest of our life, it is important to be well prepared for this undertaking. On these pages you’ll find advice on preparing for ordination, inspiring stories, and you can discover more about the motivation you should ideally have, and what the benefits of ordination are. You will also find further reading suggestions.
Becoming a Monk of Nalanda
To become a monk of Nalanda would have to first complete the aspirant questionnaire, and then if he is accepted by the community of Gelongs, a mentor would be appointed to guide the aspirant through a six month period of observation in order to check the aspirant’s suitability to become a monk at Nalanda.
During the 6 month period, the aspirant will be observed with regard to his stability within the community, his general behaviour towards others, his social skills and his integration and harmonious participation within the community.
The aspirant should be made aware that if these aspects are not found to be satisfactory by the community of Gelongs, his application for ordination will be declined.
If the aspirant’s behaviour is observed to be suitable by the community of Gelongs, his application for ordination will be supported, and as a result, he would be accepted as part of Nalanda’s monastic community.
In a situation where an aspirant takes his ordination before the period of observation is complete, he would continue under the guidance of his mentor, and complete an application for residendancy.
How to Join Nalanda’s Community
A monk wishing to join the community will have to complete a questionnaire, and if approved by the Gelongs, he will engage in a six month period of observation. If necessary, a mentor may be appointed at this time.
If the monk successfully completes his period of observation, he will be accepted into the community.
If a ‘known’ monk applies for residency at Nalanda or is a well known to the FPMT, a period of observation may not be necessary.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche emphasises the primary consideration in any request for ordination is the relationship of the student with the teacher. The student-teacher relationship is not only important in determining the suitability of the candidate for ordination at the time of the request but also as the student integrates into the monastic community after taking vows.

Those with a sincere aspiration to cultivate understanding and compassion as their only career, are welcome to join our monastic community.  You would live, learn, and practice in one of our monasteries in Europe, America or Asia. Our growing sangha presently numbers over 700 monastics spread out among these three continents.

When we train as a monastic we have the opportunity to find the root of our freedom, solidity, joy and happiness, and to help our society. When we ordain and wear the brown robe we learn to cut through our illusions and our afflictions. We enter a life of practice and service, tasting simplicity and helping people.

Becoming a Monastic: with a lifelong commitment or joining the “Five-Year Program”

If you have a deep, clear and strong aspiration to live the life of a monk or a nun for your whole life, you are welcomed to make a request to join our monastic community based on a lifelong commitment. In the Buddha’s teachings, we often hear that one life is not enough to realize our path of practice and service. The monastic path is indeed very wide and takes us to the depths of our being, and we never get to its end. The work of relieving the suffering of the world accomplished by the monastic sangha is also endless.

If you do not have the aspiration of a lifelong commitment to the monastic path but you do have a deep desire to experience this life and undergo monastic training for some years, you might like to consider the “Five-Years Monastic Training Program”. Our teacher Thay created this new Dharma door in 2010, especially for young people in the West.

What Is It?

Exploring Monastic Life (EML) is an intensive training program that is offered annually. It’s for people thinking about becoming a Buddhist monk or nun, and for newly ordained monastics. There’s no other program like it.

The program usually lasts three weeks and entails living and practicing in monastic community.

Venerable Thubten Chodron teaches from nearly 50 years of living as a Buddhist nun. You learn how and why the Buddha started the ordained sangha—the community of monks and nuns—and the ethical and behavioral guidelines for monastics.

Abbey monastics join in your daily discussions about family, career, romance, and “stuff,” to explore the issues that you need to think about.