The Lama of Likir
While getting out of Likir monastery courtyard, we find a couple of very young lamas (monk) deeply engrossed in their master's speech.
Donating a son or daughter to the monasteries in Ladakh has been an ancient practise. This is often thought as a direct result of fraternal polyandry (one woman married to several brothers) like in Tibet. However, polyandry in Ladakh was not influenced by the Tibetan society rather by Himalayan Kshtriayas (the warrior and ruling class).
Goutama Buddha (the historical Buddha) was a wanderer, a renuncient outside society, yet he was also a prince. Instead of remaining a solitary renouncer, he set about transforming society through the creation of an order of monks and nuns, the Sangha (council), and exercising social influence in the courts of kings. The early Sangha was fashioned on the model of the wandering yogic practitioners. They were casteless yet respected by all.
As years rolled by and numbers increased, the temporary encampments called viharas, used when traveling was impossible during the rainy season retreats, became fixtures and the early monasteries were founded. Receiving gifts and resources from the communities around them, gradually emerged as a common practice.
Incidentally, Buddhist monasteries had been in existence for thousand years or more; according to research scholars this style of institution deeply influenced West Asia, North Africa and Europe, which reflected in Manichaeism, among the Aramaic speaking sect and Egyptian Christianity. In turn the concept of building monasteries on hill/mountain top was a Christian monastic concept that spread from the Mesopotamian region.
With time these monasteries became the centers of learning where philosophical principles were developed and debated; but despite prohibitions on possessing wealth, many monasteries owned large plots of land. The ownership of a monastery often bestowed to the chief lama became vested in a single person, who would often keep the property within the family by passing it on to a nephew who ordained as a monk.
Though to outsiders the role of a monastery may appear as feudal, in reality the relationship with the surrounding community is more symbiotic. The monasteries that own large plot of lands are often worked on by the entire village. Some farmers in addition to their own land cultivate monastery fields in return for a faction of the yield.
At a broader social level, the monasteries offer social security and economic benefits. If a family finds itself struggling with too many mouths to feed, any number of sons (usually the youngest) and daughters are donated to become monks/nuns. In the monastery they are provided for, by the community in exchange for religious services. The donating families too enjoy special privilege extended by the monasteries.
The flip side of this is many of the monks/nuns spend too much time outside the monastery and in their homes attending to family affairs. They give themselves little time to study and their knowledge of Dharma (Buddhist teachings and doctrines) is lamentably poor. Even those who stay in the monastery are not necessarily suited for philosophical studies.
Donating a son or daughter to the monasteries in Ladakh has been an ancient practise. This is often thought as a direct result of fraternal polyandry (one woman married to several brothers) like in Tibet. However, polyandry in Ladakh was not influenced by the Tibetan society rather by Himalayan Kshtriayas (the warrior and ruling class).
Goutama Buddha (the historical Buddha) was a wanderer, a renuncient outside society, yet he was also a prince. Instead of remaining a solitary renouncer, he set about transforming society through the creation of an order of monks and nuns, the Sangha (council), and exercising social influence in the courts of kings. The early Sangha was fashioned on the model of the wandering yogic practitioners. They were casteless yet respected by all.
As years rolled by and numbers increased, the temporary encampments called viharas, used when traveling was impossible during the rainy season retreats, became fixtures and the early monasteries were founded. Receiving gifts and resources from the communities around them, gradually emerged as a common practice.
Incidentally, Buddhist monasteries had been in existence for thousand years or more; according to research scholars this style of institution deeply influenced West Asia, North Africa and Europe, which reflected in Manichaeism, among the Aramaic speaking sect and Egyptian Christianity. In turn the concept of building monasteries on hill/mountain top was a Christian monastic concept that spread from the Mesopotamian region.
With time these monasteries became the centers of learning where philosophical principles were developed and debated; but despite prohibitions on possessing wealth, many monasteries owned large plots of land. The ownership of a monastery often bestowed to the chief lama became vested in a single person, who would often keep the property within the family by passing it on to a nephew who ordained as a monk.
Though to outsiders the role of a monastery may appear as feudal, in reality the relationship with the surrounding community is more symbiotic. The monasteries that own large plot of lands are often worked on by the entire village. Some farmers in addition to their own land cultivate monastery fields in return for a faction of the yield.
At a broader social level, the monasteries offer social security and economic benefits. If a family finds itself struggling with too many mouths to feed, any number of sons (usually the youngest) and daughters are donated to become monks/nuns. In the monastery they are provided for, by the community in exchange for religious services. The donating families too enjoy special privilege extended by the monasteries.
The flip side of this is many of the monks/nuns spend too much time outside the monastery and in their homes attending to family affairs. They give themselves little time to study and their knowledge of Dharma (Buddhist teachings and doctrines) is lamentably poor. Even those who stay in the monastery are not necessarily suited for philosophical studies.