Geshe Lhundrup Sopa is a professor in the Department of South Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, USA. This advice is excerpted from an interview by Kalleen Mortensen earlier this year.

I think for Westerners to be ordained, generally, is a good thing in order to practice the high level of spiritual teaching. The main emphasis is on pure morality in order to attain the highest samadhi of meditation, and then wisdom. First you develop your basic moral foundation. In order to have pure morality of body, speech and mind, you take and try to keep those vows purely. With vows, you think, I should not do this because I promised not to do it. It is much, much stronger that way; with vows, virtuous activities are much stronger. But also, when you break those vows, you create much more powerful negativity.

But if one wants a spiritual goal really strongly, and is not too interested in this temporary life with the time of death unsure, then it is good to take vows (and of course, the bodhisattva and tantric vows as well, depending on the level you have reached.) The vows are for somebody who thinks of the future life and has spiritual goals and who has a strong intention. But once you have taken them, you must try to follow the vows. It’s not good to make a big promise at the beginning, taking all of the vows, and then not keeping them. Therefore ordination should not be rushed, especially for Westerners. It is culturally difficult to keep these vows.

In order to keep the major vows, one needs minor vows. For example, if you have an orchard with something special in the center, in order not to damage it you put a fence around it, then one around that, and then a third fence. Some vows are in the center and some are like a fence. Culturally, these many small vows are difficult to keep, so in general keeping in mind the main essence of the teachings and wishing to keep a certain vow, is good. Whether you are able to keep them or not in this culture is unsure, for in Western culture you have to be social. It is a completely different social system from Tibetan. You need to make a living, for example.

Normal living conditions are not very suitable for monks and nuns; you need to be in a monastery or a center where everybody is able to keep vows, then it is easy. Otherwise you are alone. Singly you take vows and try to live and it is very difficult. I see a lot of Westerners becoming monks or nuns, and then they don’t have financial support. It is difficult. They have to take a job and work in robes. Then if nobody gives them a job, they change their appearance. Outside they look like an ordinary lay person, and at home they are a monk or nun. Going back and forth like that I see as difficult.

So, instead of being a monk or nun, just try to practice with good morality and motivation, purely. Whatever it requires, do as much as you can do inside; it is not necessary to take vows. Then you won’t look strange outside, just an ordinary person, nothing special. I don’t mean you shouldn’t take vows, that’s a negative thing to suggest, but in reality I have seen taking vows bring a lot of problems.

Actually, being a monk or nun is like being a white crow. Crows are black, right? If there’s a white one, it doesn’t fit in. It is completely strange. But if you feel confident and then you take vows, whoever says bad things, you won’t care. When problems come, you will enjoy practice.