The Distinction Between Monastic and Lay Life

First, what is a home, and what is the concept of a home? A home, first and foremost, requires a house where the entire family lives together and carries out daily activities. Second, it involves family members—whether parents, spouses, or children—who accompany, depend on, and rely on one another. Third, there is shared worldly life, such as eating, daily routines, entertainment, and so forth. Fourth, there is shared property and material resources serving as the foundation for communal life, along with sources of income. Fifth, there are shared life goals and rules.

These conditions combined form a family, which is specific to the human realm within the desire realm of the Saha World. This is because beings in the human realm possess strong desires and thus require houses to conceal their sexual activities, preventing others from peeping and mocking them. Originally, in the human realm of the Saha World, beings descended from the Second Dhyana Heaven to Earth. Having greedily consumed the earth's essence, their bodies became heavy, preventing them from flying back to the heavenly palace. They were thus compelled to remain on Earth, becoming humans. The earliest humans were beings from the Second Dhyana Heaven, without distinctions of male and female forms. Later, as their numbers increased, emotions arose among them, leading to mutual attachment and desire. Consequently, humans differentiated into male and female forms. These men and women engaged in sexual activities, initially avoiding others but eventually building houses and gradually forming families. With the birth of children, families emerged, and the concept of "home" came into being.

Thus, it is evident that a home cannot exist without men and women or without sexual desire between them. Without sexual desire, people would not form families, nor would they have children. Desire realm deities with weak sexual desire do not have families, nor do humans in Uttarakuru (the northern continent). All beings in the form realm lack distinctions of male and female forms and have no sexual desire; they abide in meditative concentration. They have no families, nor do they need to toil to support a household or seek sources of income. Therefore, the concept of home is specific to the human realm of the Saha World, and the act of leaving home (monastic life) only exists in the human realm of the Saha World. Without a family, there is no question of leaving home or not. Moreover, without the need for income or the necessity to work to support a family, one does not belong to the householder category.

In contrast, the Buddha-lands where Buddhas and Bodhisattvas reside are all celestial environments, even more sublime than heavenly realms. There are no distinctions of male and female forms, no worldly life, no need to toil for survival, and no secular undertakings. Everything done is for the benefit and happiness of sentient beings—all are Buddha's work. Therefore, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have no need to manifest the so-called "monastic appearance" identical to that in the human realm of the Saha World. There is no need for them to shave their heads to remove the "hair of afflictions," as they have no afflictions. Nor is there a need for them to wear the monastic robes of the Saha World's human realm, for their form bodies are inherently unbound; Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and all beings do not cling to form. Any appearance they manifest is a monastic appearance, not a householder's appearance, because there are no householder affairs whatsoever.

We sentient beings of the human realm in the Saha World cannot be compared to the Buddhas of the ten directions, nor to all the Equal Enlightenment and Wondrous Enlightenment Bodhisattvas, nor even to the Tenth Ground Bodhisattvas, by claiming that beings in this defiled world of five turbidities need not manifest a monastic appearance or leave home, yet are the same as those who have left home.

In reality, for each person living in this world, the difference between being a monastic and a householder is vast. Householders are burdened by worldly life and cannot free themselves. The constraints they face on the spiritual path are immense. Many suffer under the weight of worldly responsibilities, unable to focus wholeheartedly on spiritual practice. Even if they wish to leave home, karmic conditions pull them back; some leave home multiple times only to be drawn back by karmic ties. This is the true situation in the human realm of the Saha World. We cannot ignore this reality and insist that householder life and monastic life are the same, without difference. In truth, the difference is enormous. Each person should search their heart and not flatter themselves by claiming they are the same as monastics.