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A special ceremony presided over by the head lama and attended by at
least four full-fledged priests is held. A three-fold change is supposed to take place in
the initiate the change of his name, the change of his garments and the supposed change of
his mental attitude. The initiate solemnly affirms to abide by thirty-six vows and
directives, the more important ones being promises not to commit violence nor to keep
company of woman nor to indulge in wine nor crime nor lying.
After the ceremony the boy becomes a
Gayachhul literally meaning 'who has religion'. Henceforth he spends the winter in the
monastery and the summer at his home. Once in every three years, his lay guardian goes to
the monastery to affirm solemnly that the Gayachhul did not, during his stay at his
parent's place, infringe any of the sacred vows and directives. There have been some
instances of Gayachhul being expelled from the monasteries on account of misbehavior.
For thirteen years, the Gayachhul studies,
generally under the tutelage of an elder inmate of the monastery, and when he attains the
age of twenty he is considered fit to become a Gaylong i.e. a full-fledged lama or
literally one who abides by religion. An auspicious day is chosen to mark this occasion of
his graduation, and in the presence of the head lama and four other important lamas, he
affirms to stand by 253 vows and directives, which are divided into the following six
groups: (1) The Basic Four; (2) the Remaining Thirteen; (3) The Binding Thirty; (4) The
Particular Ninety; (5) the Personally Forgivable four; and (6) the Peceadillo Prohibitive
One Hundred and Twelve.
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