WEST ORANGE, NJ — The monastery on Ridgeway Avenue became occupied once again in December, when a group of Buddhist monks moved in and began introducing themselves to the West Orange community. Buddhist Insights moved into town from New York City and is about to launch a schedule of community programming. Founded by Ayya Soma, who has been a monk for the last several years, the monastery recently held an open house, so neighbors could tour the building and chat with the monks.
“We were in Rockaway Beach, Queens,” Ayya Soma said in an interview with the West Orange Chronicle at the monastery on March 2. “We were looking for different options, and looking at new places and came here.”
Ayya Soma is from Italy and discovered Buddhism after moving around and changing jobs several times.
“I never settled. I was constantly seeking happiness,” she said. “I was always changing my position. If I wasn’t happy in the city I was in, I would change the city. I had gotten to the point where I had achieved a lot of the things I wanted to achieve, but I wasn’t happy. That was kind of depressing.”
Ayya Soma became a monk at a monastery in West Virginia and found herself becoming happier throughout the process.
“I became significantly happier as time went by,” she said. “You learn how to be happy regardless of external factors.”
According to Bhante Suddhaso, another monk at Buddhist Insights, prospective monks go through three to six months of training at a monastery before becoming a novice. The novice period lasts a year and is followed by a five-year training period. Once the five years is up, a monk can live where they choose and do what they want.
Among other rules, Buddhist monks shave their heads, don’t eat after noon and don’t partake in any kind of entertainment. They also don’t use money.
“Your life becomes much simpler,” Bhante Suddhaso said in an interview with the Chronicle at the monastery on March 2. “When you need something, someone either gives it to you or you don’t have it. You learn how to be happy without it.”
He said that many people have a perception of Buddhism that they learn from movies or a few days in middle school social studies class, and that it’s not always an accurate picture.
“It’s a complex system and it’s practiced very differently by a lot of people,” Bhante Suddhaso said. “It’s practices you incorporate into your life in order to have tranquility. It’s about training your mind to be peaceful. People are interested in meditation, but we’re really training our minds all the time. I always thought my mind was this chaotic thing that never stopped moving, but your mind can be quiet.”
He has been a monk since he began doing his own research about Buddhism in college, after having read about it when he was younger and not been interested at all.
“I was really impressed with the directness of the teaching and the attitude there is of ‘Try it out and see what happens,’” Bhante Suddhaso said. “It was a natural progression from being agnostic. So I dropped out of college, because this seemed better than writing essays. I haven’t written a single essay as a monk, and I’m very happy about it.”
Much of what the Buddhist monks practice and teach is how to bring happiness to the world around them.
“We train our minds to wish happiness on everyone,” Ayya Soma said. “It uplifts your mind and your heart. You’re changing the world around you, because you’re just becoming a nicer person.”
Bhante Suddhaso, who grew up in Colorado and trained at a monastery in northern California, agreed.
“It’s about bringing as much benefit to the world as we can,” he said. “What can I do to make the world better? We’re not going door to door or handing out pamphlets, but we’re here and sharing that. And there are people who are from different backgrounds and religions who are perfectly happy incorporating some Buddhist practices in their life. We’re not trying to change what anyone believes.”
The monastery welcomes the community to its Wednesday-night tea events and talks. More information and a calendar can be found at www.buddhistinsights.com.
“The goal of Buddhism is to attain happiness,” Bhante Suddhaso said. “For that to happen we need to change the way we look at the world.”
Photos by Amanda Valentovic
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