What age can you become a Buddhist monk or nun?

Answer 1

Religious orders will not accept people for membership until they have reached 18 years of age; many require that applicants be older. The process takes several year before full membership is achieved, and can be anything from 7 years to 12 (for a Jesuit). Postulancy: 6 months Novitiate: 1-2 years Simple vows: 3-5 years Final vows: after simple vows

Answer 2

Buddhism is practiced in many different countries, and according to different rules and regulations. Some of the rules are imposed by governments, some by the various Buddhist sects, and some simply by the culture of the place where the monastery is located. In Tibet boys as young as four were admitted to monasteries, while in North America today no boy would be accepted as a monk until he reached the age of consent - generally 18 years old. There is no reason you can not practice the Dharma and take refuge in the Buddha at any age. Being a monk is really only a symbolic act, since your Buddha nature is already manifest in you.

Answer 3

There is no specific minimum age to become a novice monk or nun. In Theravada Buddhism, the minimum age to become a fully-ordained monk or nun is 20. (There is debate as to whether there are any validly fully-ordained Theravadin nuns left.) In the Mahayana it is 15.

Answer 4

Before the middle of the 12th century it was possible for people to give their very young children to a monastery or nunnery, if they did not have the means to take care of them or feed them. These children were called oblati (oblates) and they would be given an education and looked after by the master of the boys (or girls, in a nunnery). In general a boy oblate would take monastic vows at the age of 17, having effectively served far more than the 1 year term a novice would be expected to serve.

The oblate system was finally abolished in 1215.

Adult recruits (conversi) could apply at any age and were expected to serve a year as a novice, being educated and instructed in the very strict and isolated regime; if a novice quickly proved himself he might only serve a few months before taking final vows. Others found the discipline, lack of sleep and repetitive diet too demanding and simply left.

There were different rules in the different Orders of monks and nuns, but in general a girl would be considered an adult at about age 14, a boy at about 17.

Answer 5

It depends on each order, most have a minimum age, or education level. However, Canon Law stipulates that an Order may not receive anyone into the novitiate who has not completed the seventeenth year of age. Each order may have a higher age, depending, and all orders have an age beyond which they will not go without special consideration.

Answer 6

Buddhist monks must be at least twenty years old to request permission to be a monk. Women must be eighteen years old before they will be able to become a nun.