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Originally Posted by JoshAussie
Apart from whatever Buddhist rituals you have to go through to become a monastic, what are the rules on like.. turning up in another country and deciding to live at a Buddhist Temple as a monastic? Will they just get deported or something? Is there a "Im leaving standard civilzation and rules don't apply to me anymore" Visa?
Basically, I was just trying to figure out in my head how those foreigners ended up living as monastics at a temple in Loas, and if it's harder, or even possible to do in a country like Japan.
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Very interesting question since visitor type visa are of a limited duration and I would think any other sort would have to show proof of "employment". Perhaps the head of a monastery can sign as a sponsor in the same way that an employer does. Or perhaps they qualify for a student visa.
I know that it can be done, because I just read a book by someone who was studying at a Suwa shrine in Nagasaki for over a year. Unfortunately for our puposes that issue was not mentioned since he was not writing about himself, but the events at the shrine.