I turned into a monk when my mother went to learn Buddhism in Burma. While she learnt at the monastery, I used to roam around with a begging bowl and ask for food.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I grew up in a mostly Buddhist environment.
That was my childhood. I grew up with the monks, studying Sanskrit and meditating for hours in the morning and hours in the evening, and going once a day to beg for food.
I am a simple Buddhist monk - no more, no less.
I describe myself as a simple Buddhist monk. No more, no less.
I'm a Buddhist.
Just studying Buddhism, then meditating and going to Buddhist monasteries, talking to Buddhist monks, combined with the Thai people themselves, changed the way I look at the world.
In Buddhist culture, offering food to the monk symbolizes the action of goodness, and if you have no opportunity to support the practice of spirituality, then you are somehow left in the realm of darkness.
I used to be monastic, almost. Now I'm like a Tibetan that has discovered hamburgers and television. I'm catching up on Americana.
I grew with it, and I used to go to see the monks, who had no possessions, even more extreme than my mother.
I certainly haven't lived the life of a Buddhist monk.