Summarize:

The Buddhist teachings include the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment. Attend a Buddhist temple and improve your mediation technique. Think carefully about Buddhist teachings and understand how they relate to your everyday experience. Ordination within the Buddhist community is a challenging endeavor, and the vows are taken for life. If you've only read a few books on Buddhism and have a vague understanding of its teachings, you should not become ordained. After learning a bit about Buddhism, dive deeper with a learned Buddhist. In Buddhist tradition, it is important to have a teacher or guide to help you realize and understand the truths contained within Buddhist practice and law. Your spiritual guide will likely be another monk or nun, and they must be someone who can grant permission to ordain you. Taking refuge refers to the act of formally professing before a member or members of the Buddhist clergy to place your faith in the Buddha, the Sangha (the Buddhist community), and the Dharma. Five additional vows you must take include include commitments to remain free of lying, intoxication, stealing, inappropriate sexual behavior, and harming other living things. Going on spiritual retreats within the Buddhist community will give you a flavor of what life is like for a nun or monk. Talk to the nuns or monks you go on the retreat with, and begin practicing celibacy. You should also adopt the monk's diet of vegetarianism during this time. If you travel to Asia, you might be able to partake in a part-time ordination program where you can live as a monk or nun for a few days or weeks during the year. If you are ordained outside the Buddhist community where you intend to stay, you will be taken on as a guest monk at the monastery or convent. The monastic community will give you advice on Buddhist practice and evaluate your understanding of Buddhism. After about two to three months, your monastery or nunnery will decide to accept you. Attain permission from the senior monk or abbot of your temple to become ordained. After getting the official monk's robes, you'll need to ask for the help of your fellow monks to shave your head. When the ceremony begins, approach the senior monk and bow three times. Hand over your official monk's robes and recite a passage. The passage you recite will be decided by the senior monk or abbot, and come from the sayings of the Buddha. After recitation of the passage, you will ask for the robes back in a formal way. You might also ask for a simple monk's bowl. Then, make a formal request to be ordained. The specific content of this request will be explained by the abbot before the ceremony. The abbot or senior monk will then administer the Three Refuges and Ten Precepts and give you your robes and/or bowl. After being ordained, you'll be expected to join a monastery for at least five years. This might be the same monastery you were ordained at, or a different one. You might also choose to join a dharma center under the guidance of your mentor(s). When you join a monastery, you are forbidden from holding a "worldly job." While basic amenities like food, clothing, and shelter are provided, you will need to work to obtain additional resources for your monastery. Many monks and nuns have the opportunity to offer their services to their dharma community in order to fulfill its needs. Talk to your abbot or spiritual mentor about opportunities within your monastery.
Familiarize yourself with Buddhist teachings and practice. Have a spiritual mentor. Take refuge and vows. Go on retreats. Join a monastic community. Undergo the ordination ceremony. Contribute to the religious community.