(Bell)
(IN FRENCH) At what age can you become a monk?
How old do you have to be to become a monk?
How old are you?
(Crowd laughs)
(IN FRENCH) Five years and nine months.
How old are you?
Five years and nine months. - Five years and nine months!
A big boy!
(Crowd laughs)
(IN ENGLISH) I think when a boy or girl can take care of himself or herself
and does not need his mother to do that for him
I think they can become a novice monk.
You know the abbott of the Upper Hamlet, Thay Phap Huu,
he was ordained at the age of 13
Now he has become the abbott of Plum Village Upper Hamlet!
And Thay started at the age of 16.
And I think ...
Sister...Bang Nghiem...at the age of 12.
Yeah.
So I think you can hope that at the age of 10
(Crowd laughs)
you can be ordained, hopefully,
if you don't rely too much on your mother
(crowd laughs)
if you can take a shower by yourself,
if you can wash your clothes by yourself,
then you know that it's time for you to be ordained as a monk.
(Crowd laughs)
And I can tell you
there is a lot of fun when you become a monk.
(FRENCH) A lot of fun.
Thank you.
(Crowd laughs)
One more
(Bell)