TJ asks, can you explain the similarities and or differences between a monk, a meditator, and a yogi?
A monk is a fully ordained male or female person.
Male monks do have 227 precepts to keep.
Female monks have 311 precepts to keep.
They are generally living in monasteries and living according to the Buddhist principles.
Not all do teach Dhamma, not all practice the Dhamma even, but
monks, male or female, should have as their goal, as their highest goal, to become enlightened in this life.
A meditator and a yogi is basically the same, I would say, to my understanding.
People who come here to our place, to our monastery, are called meditators or yogis.
They have eight precepts as long as they're here and try as good as they can to live almost like monks.
they don't have so many rules and they are not required to
have a knowledge about them in detail, but an interested yogi can really try to, without having the precepts, try to keep more than the eight precepts.
The meditator and the yogi are both people who come to stay in a meditation center or in a monastery.
practice meditation or maybe meditator could be distinguished as somebody who stays at home and practices there I don't know that's now I was just thinking about my favorite example this monk who
I have lots of stories about him, but one of the stories about one of the monks at Jomtong who was a little bit, well he had an anger problem.
At one point during our relationship he came up to me and started abusing me.
I can't remember what he said.
It's been so long I've forgotten the story.
But he must have said something like, you're evil.
And he always said, you think you're God.
You think you're God.
And it was because I stayed in the office with the computer.
And so I said, no, you're not allowed to come in at any hour of the day to use the computer because this is my meditation room as well.
So I said, we need hours.
And so he thought I was a control freak.
Anyway, but he had all these things.
And I remember he must have said something fairly significant.
And he said, how can you... He said something about... Because I wasn't talking to him.
I wasn't just listening and not answering.
And he said, how can you not talk to me?
I'm a monk.
And I looked at him and I said, you're not a monk.
And he walked away.
He stormed off.
But a half an hour later he came back with some Vinaya book to show me and he said, I want you to confess your offence.
No, you have to go on probation, this is what he said.
You have to go on probation.
I said, what do you mean?
He said, you've committed a sangha disesa, which is an offense that requires probation.
I said, how so?
He said, you have accused me of committing a parajika offense, an offense that requires you, or that makes you no longer a monk.
He said, the only way that I, you said that I'm not a monk.
Therefore the only way And the only way that I cannot be a monk Is if I've committed a Parajika This is recently And I haven't committed a Parajika Therefore you have no basis to accuse me And because you have no basis to accuse me And because I don't think he said because you're angry But he said because you've done it baselessly That's a Sangati Sesa offense This is his His legal argument
And I said to him, that's not what I meant when I said you're not a monk.
I said, according to the Buddha's teaching, I even quoted it for him.
I said, the Buddha said one is not a recluse, someone who has gone forth, so a novice or a monk, or even a recluse in other tradition.
who abuses and reviles others.
And one is not a samana, a shaman, or it's the same meaning, one who has gone forth, one who has left the world.
Parang vihetayanto, who scolds others or abuses others.
And I really got him with that, because he likes these kind of arguments.
And so he came back with a tray of flowers and apologized to me.
So all I wanted to say, I mean, that's the answer that I would have given as Palanjani gave it, but there is some other way that you can answer this question, and that is to talk about what is a monk.
A monk is, the word comes from mono, which means alone or one, the significance of being one who stays alone, one who is, as the Buddha said, ekaratta.
who delights in staying alone, who delights in a secluded dwelling.
A meditator is one who meditates, one who, as we answered before, is one who considers things, who ponders things, who does some sort of investigating the truth of things, uses yoni-somanasikara to get to the essence of the experience or the essence of the problem, the essence of life.
And a yogi is one who practices yoga.
Now, yoga is an interesting word.
Yoga means some sort of...
some sort of practice or some sort of development or cultivation.
It's one who has, if I'm not wrong, it's one who is engaged in spiritual development.
So actually all three of them are one and the same.
And it's not by wearing a robe that one becomes a monk.
The Buddha was, in one sense,
In one sense you can say, like as I said to this monk, I really got him, I said, you're not a monk.
And actually I don't think I was thinking clearly when I said it, I was probably upset at him.
But then I did come back with a good reply.
Because there are two kinds of Bhikkhu.
The word Bhikkhu, there are two kinds of Bhikkhu.
There's the Sutta Bhikkhu and the Vinaya Bhikkhu.
Vinaya Bhikkhu is one who has ordained and has a colossal number of precepts.
The Sutta Bhikkhu is one who sees the fearsome, the danger in samsara.
Who sees the danger in clinging, the danger in creating, in becoming things, in having ambitions and having goals and having...
future, thoughts about the future and intentions.
One is considered a bhikkhu because they see the baya in the ikati.
They see the ikati, the baya, the danger, the baya in samsara.
That's why they're called a bhikkhu.
So you can play with these words.
The Buddha called himself a Brahmin.
He said a Brahmin is someone who is, if I can remember this, Papang Bahi.
Bahi?
Bahi means external, so Brahmin comes from Bahi, he says, or something like that, who has expelled evil.
This is why they're called a Brahmin.
Samana is because they have santimana, they have a peaceful mind.
And so a yogi, he would find a meaning for the word yogi.
They're really all just words.
I mean, the answer you gave is correct and probably the answer that was requested, but I just thought it was an interesting opportunity to talk about what's really important.
What makes one a monk is that they stay alone.
If a person who calls themselves a monk goes cavorting around with lay people or even with other monks and gets caught up with useless pursuits and socializing specifically, then they can't be called a monk.
even if they do have all the rules and are correctly certified and so on.
One can't be a meditator just because one stays in a meditation center or even just because one practices walking and walks back and forth and sits for a long time.
You have to actually be meditating.
You have to actually be considering.
And you can't be a yogi if you're not dedicated, if you're just because you're wearing this or that clothing or you've taken on some precepts.
A yogi is someone who is constantly involved, who is engaged in the practice.
So, just more thoughts.