Sangha and Laity Training Program
The Sangha and Laity Training Program was established at the Sagely City of Dharma Realm approximately 30 years ago. The purpose of the program is to lay a solid foundation for monastic cultivation and training by living in a group setting, sharing responsibilities, and learning to put the needs and well-being of others and of the group ahead of one’s own. Members of the laity training program are required to live at the temple, to participate in community work along with scheduled daily activities, thereby gaining further understanding by participation and practice. The training program trains Buddhists to have proper knowledge and proper views in order to serve the community and the world at large and to propagate Buddhadharma.
Entry into Monastic Life
Once a lay person has completed at least two years of the Laity Training Program, if interested, one may apply to leave the home-life and become a novice nun in accordance with the regulations. Those who pass the interview assessment may leave the home life and receive the ten precepts to become a novice nun, who from this point on, will receive more rigorous training. CDR has held many solemn and captivating ceremonies for women’s entry into monastic life over the years.
Precept Training
After a prescribed period of study and training, which typically ranges between 2 to 3 years, and with the approval of the Sangha, a novice nun may proceed to receive the Buddhas’ pure precepts and become a bhikshuni. Before receiving full ordination, novices must undergo 108 days of intensive training during which they bow sincerely in repentance, memorize the Vinaya for Daily Use, the Shramanera Vinaya, the Bodhisattva Precepts in the Brahma Net Sutra, and the 348 Bhikshuni precepts. Only then will they be qualified to receive full ordination, which will establish a foundation for their cultivation. The Sagely City of Dharma Realm has held several precept training sessions, providing a pure bodhimandala for the novices to cultivate cautiously and vigorously according to dharma and Vinaya, further reinforcing their resolve to receive the full ordination.
Threefold Ordination
The threefold ordination held in the City of Ten Thousand Buddha.
