What do Buddhist monks do all day?

Monks sweeping the road at the front of monastery in Bagan, Burma. Photography by Andy Cheek

The daily life of the monks depends on the kind of monastery they live in, and the stage of their monastic career. In the monasteries situated in the villages, towns and cities of Thailand, monks attend morning and evening services, go on almsround in the early morning, and spend the rest of their day studying, teaching or performing ceremonial duties. Generally speaking, meditation practice does not constitute a major part of their life. Monks in these monasteries take two meals a day, the first after almsround and the second at around eleven a.m.

In forest monasteries monks rise at about three a.m. In some monasteries group chanting and meditation take place in the early morning and evening; in others monks practice alone. At first light the monks set off on almsroung into surrounding villages, on routes varying from around two to as much as ten kilometers in length. Forest monks only eat once a day, usually at around eight a.m. They spend much of the day practicing sitting and walking meditation. Book study takes secondary role and is left to the individual. Perhaps two or four times a month they receive formal instruction from their teacher. In the afternoon monks usually work for one or two hours, mainly cleaning the monastic buildings and sweeping the forest paths. In the poorer monasteries the monks will often do any construction work needed themselves.