While
many Bhutanese dream of becoming a monk or nun, sadly it
is often impossible. The poor Bhutanese people can hardly pay
for their
children’s clothing, not to mention the cost of entering
a life of religious practice.
Furthermore, monks and nuns receive hardly enough to live.
Nuns, for example, receive only US$7 per month. High school
students who become monks or nuns often give up because life
in the monastery is so hopeless.
“If you could see the monasteries yourself, tears would
come to your eyes. You would know why officials don’t
send their children. At Tashicho Dzong, which is supposed to
be the most prestigious monastery, there is no room for the
monks, who have to build their own rooms in the attic! It is
so sad. It is the same at other monasteries and nunneries where
they don’t have enough to eat or wear”—Monk
from Bhutan
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