It’s not my place to post an announcement, but I did want to say thank you with gratitude and respect to Bhante Akāliko as he starts a new journey in life. He posted on Facebook about 5 days ago. So many Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis that I consider in my own life as direct or influential teachers (via youtube et al) I will never get to meet in ordinary life. Yet, I am thankful for their dedication and sacrifice, their wisdom and teaching abilities, and for the Dhamma that they impart with such heart and good faith. I just didn’t want a week to go by without acknowledging his gift of Dhamma to me and others.
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Today I mentioned Ven Akaliko to someone and learned that he disrobed back in April. I feel dismayed.
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When one disrobes in the Theravada lineage, what is the process of coming back, if one so desires, to Monastic life? I am interested in this as I greatly respect the Theravada Monastic community.
The Vinaya doesn’t contain any special prescriptions for the re-ordination of a monk who disrobed, and so in theory there doesn’t need to be any difference at all.
In practice, on the other hand, there may be small differences. For example, in traditions where a candidate for monkhood has to undergo a probationary period of training before being ordained as a bhikkhu there’s the question of whether this requirement should be waived or enforced in the case of someone who is re-ordaining. Different monasteries have different policies on this.
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