Do you have any advice for making a gradual transition from a simple lay life to the monastic life?
Are the rules very strict?
Is there a leeway with regards to monks' behaviors?
It is singing, dancing.
You want to be a singing monk, no?
A dancing monk?
No, there's no leeway.
If you can't give up singing and dancing, don't become a monk.
A person should become a monk because they know that they have defilements but they want to be free from them.
If you don't want to be free from your defilements, don't become a monk.
If you want to sing and dance, don't become a monk.
Bad idea.
But that's the second question.
The third question.
Second question, are rules very strict?
Yes, they're very strict.
First question, how to make a gradual transition from lay life to monastic life?
Stop dancing.
Stop singing.
That's your first.
Stop listening to music.
Start keeping the eight precepts.
It's really nice, actually.
There's like stepping stones.
Start with the five precepts.
Once you got them covered, go to the eight.
Once you got them covered, go to the ten.
Once you got them covered, go to the 227 plus, plus, plus, plus, plus.
I did a Dhammapada verse on this, didn't I?
Didn't I already do that one?
This lay disciple who went to the monastery and he asked, what should I do?
Where can I start?
They said, keep five precepts.
Okay, so he did that, came back later.
What should I do next?
Come keep the eight precepts.
Okay, he did that.
What should I do next?
Well, go for ten precepts.
And then eventually he ordained as a monk.
So he did these things in order and he became known as anupubha, anupubhaka or something like that, the one who practices in order, in progression.
So that's a good next step.
Give up the singing, dancing, go for eight precepts.
And once you can do that, then go on to...
becoming a novice monk.
Once you become a novice monk, see if you can do that, and if you can do that, go on becoming a full monk.
So, if you're still dancing and singing, I'd say your lay life is not simple enough yet.
You could make the jump to monastic life, but you'd have to be sure that you can give up dancing and singing and listening to music and so on.
If you can't, give them up first and prepare yourself to become a monk.