Does spiritual practice require becoming a monastic, eating vegetarian food, or giving up family life?

Not necessarily. When people hear about spiritual practice, many immediately wonder whether they must shave their heads, eat vegetarian food, stop working, or give up relationships. I do not think we need to jump that far ahead. Our present families, jobs, and daily lives already contain many lessons we need to learn and face.

Among the students and disciples at Sheng Zhen Men, some help here full-time. Others have regular jobs and come to recite scriptures, sit in meditation, and do their practice in the evenings or on days off. We do not all have to live in the same way for it to count as spiritual practice. If you have a family, take good care of it. If you have a job, work conscientiously. Can you show more understanding toward others? Can you recognize your own problems when something happens? These are also forms of practice.

Entering monastic life and shaving one's head express a very serious commitment, and I think that deserves respect. Eating vegetarian food is also a good thing. From the perspective of spiritual practice, I hope for my own energy to be clearer and purer. But we cannot judge someone's progress solely by whether they have shaved their head or eat vegetarian food. We still need to work on whether our temper, thoughts, and way of doing things have changed.

Spiritual practice is therefore not a call to abandon your spouse and children. It is about learning to organize your life. There are only twenty-four hours in a day. The time you are willing to set aside for learning and practice will gradually add up. You cannot put in no effort, offer a brief prayer, and expect the deities to take care of everything.

You can live your life and practice at the same time. What matters is whether you are genuinely willing to learn and use what you have learned, rather than neglecting responsibilities you should face because you consider yourself a spiritual practitioner.