how to become a buddhist monk

Adrian Feldmann began his career as a doctor but has since spent more than 40 years as a practising Buddhist monk helping people 'heal' their minds.

Now known as Thubten Gyatso, he believes ultimately everyone wants the same thing but struggles to achieve it.

He said that beneath the complexity of human lives lies the common desire for happiness and freedom from unhappiness often circumvented by an internal conflict between pre-existing beliefs and reality.

"We just perpetuate this deluded approach to life," he said.

Bendigo-based Gyatso believes the human mind needs to function much like a computer game.

He sees his role as helping people harness their minds as a far more beneficial role to play than that of a medical doctor.

Ex-doctor turned monk, Thubten Gyatso is the director of the Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery on the grounds of the Great Stupa.( ABC Central Victoria: Larissa Romensky )

Buddhism 'missing link' in medicine

Becoming a monk at the age of 32 was like enrolling in post-graduate studies in medicine, said Gyatso.

To him, Buddhism is the "missing link" in medicine.

"After five years of working as a doctor I knew that the basis of people's problems, both mental and physical, was in their own minds," Gyatso said.

While he enjoyed his time as a medical doctor, he has not been involved in any physical practice for a long time.

Solitary retreat key to helping others

Thubten Gyatso walking up a path in the bushland of the monastery. — The Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery is located at The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion near Bendigo on 210 acres of bushland.( ABC Central Victoria: Larissa Romensky )

Prior to becoming a monk Gyatso spent three months in a "shack in the bush" on a friend's property in Coffs Harbour as part of a solitary retreat.

With only the sounds of nature and a faraway Holden starting up, he picked up food left in a hollow log and cooked for himself in the place he helped build.

Gyato said a strict meditation regime ultimately helped him achieve clarity and purpose.

"It was like putting a jigsaw together when you see the picture," Gyatso said.

"It would enhance their career immeasurably," Gyatso said.

The paradox of solitary isolation was that it ultimately led to helping others, Gyatso said.

"To be better capable of having genuine empathy, compassion and patience to help others," he said.

Opening the mind

Thubten Feldmann said his Buddhist practice is ultimately about helping others. — Monks can devote themselves to study and meditation at the monastery.( ABC Central Victoria: Larissa Romensky )

While his search for meaning can be traced back to his curiosity as a child, Gyatso said it was three pivotal moments in his life that opened his mind and shaped his destiny.

While at university during the counter-culture period of the 1960s his initial experience with taking LSD opened his mind and "changed things forever".

"It put me on the road to discovery and eventually meeting Buddhism," Gyatso said.

An adventurous trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India in the 1970s after university, that included sailing down the Indus River in a makeshift boat, also introduced him to new experiences.

But Gyatso said it was the death of his mother that changed things for him.

Seeing the that pain his father endured after the loss of his wife was the deciding factor in him becoming a monk.

He said that "watching the mind" was key to constructive and worthwhile relationships.

"Trouble is most people don't — they isolate themselves, see their partner as an extension of their ego," Gyatso said.

He said he was always searching for role models and when he met the Tibetan Lamas he was 'blown away,' not only by what they said but by their their peace and happiness.

"I thought had never met anyone who had such balanced and happy minds," Gyatso said.

What makes a good monk?

Thubten Gyatso feeding the chickens at the chicken pen. — Gardening, building stone walls and tending to the rescue chickens is all part of life in the monastery, Gyatso has called home for the last eight years.( ABC Central Victoria: Larissa Romensky )

As one of the first group of Westerners to become a monk in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Gyatso said it takes a lot of courage and determination to become a monk or nun based upon an understanding of the task ahead.

He also said it helped if people have significant life experiences to eliminate any doubt.

The advice he has given to many young people wanting to don the robes is to go away and get a job, get a live-in-girlfriend, and learn the meaning of relationships, learn the meaning of money and then "come back and see me in a couple of years".

"And nobody's ever come back," he laughed.

Posted 20 Jun 2018 Wed 20 Jun 2018 at 1:33am, updated 20 Jun 2018 Wed 20 Jun 2018 at 2:23am