Abandoning a loan on religious grounds?

I know this is going to sound quite odd, but I'm quite serious. I hope the forum staff will also take this question seriously.

Is it possible through some mechanism to abandon a student loan based on religious grounds?

I phoned student loans and asked them, but didn't really get an answer. I imagine nobody ever calls them asking such things.

Let me explain...

If I explained to the Canadian government I was going to abandon the worldly life and never again for the rest of my life earn another cent ergo be unable to repay in capital any kind of debt to them, could the loan be discharged and/or forgiven in its entirety?

I actually want to become a fully ordained monk, but the only thing preventing me is my debt with student loans. I have the connections and qualifications (graduate studies in Buddhism and I know Japanese + Mandarin). As long as I'm an income earner and ordinary person I'm obviously obliged to pay them back what I can, but who knows when I'll be able to pay back everything and be debt free? The economy is wretched and I don't earn that much money. If I could pay them back in the foreseeable future it wouldn't be an issue, but that's just it -- who knows when I'll be able to.

I have no interest in wealth, home ownership, credit, marriage, kids, whatever... I just want to be free of debt so I can go become a monk without a penny to his name. This isn't a pie in the sky dream either. I have the formal education and connections to do it. I just want the government to forgive my debt altogether so I can enter the holy life.

However, as far as I know the Canadian government probably for one thing wouldn't believe that one of their citizens is serious about such a thing (he must be trying to evade taxes or something!). Is there a snowball in hell's chance that I could beg the government to forgive all 35K of my loan so I can become a poor monk?

Hi Johnny. Thank you for the swift reply!

Would I send a letter to the National Student Loans Service Centre or somewhere else?

If they get the letter and can't make heads or tails of it I imagine they submit it to their higher-ups, but then I'd like someone in a seat of authority somewhere to consider it (I could also submit a letter from a monk indicating his willingness to recommend me to a monastery). I fear it would just be dismissed by the mail room staff and I'd get a reply indicating the obvious that loans are not discharged because you can't pay them back.

Hi Johnny.

I'll look into this further and see what's what.

BTW it'd be a Buddhist monastery.

Hi Johnny

I imagine there would be official documents from the government concerning the visa documentation and so on.

The problem is that I cannot take up residence as a monk, let alone ordain, with outstanding debt to my name. There is no official way of verifying whether someone wanting to ordain has outstanding debts or not, but I'd like to start my career as a monk without telling any lies.




If I could I'd just declare bankruptcy since poor credit is irrelevant when you intentionally give up all wealth as well as the crazed insanity of the ordinary world (I would never need a mortgage that's for sure). I'm still registered full-time (which fortunately means no interest for now), so at least from later next year I'd have to wait a minimum, what, seven or eight years before I could declare bankruptcy, right?

I've paid back my provincial loan, but that was only like $2500. Now I have $35K to pay back to the feds... I just want to be forgiven the whole thing so I can go become a penniless monk. My friend, a Buddhist monk, is going to build schools in Cambodia to teach poor kids useful skills so they don't fall into prostitution and crime. I'd love to help him in such a project, but when my repayment kicks in I'll need to be earning a nice income just to pay them back.

At this point I'm thinking my best bet is to proceed to a Ph.D program and with the income I earn (plus scholarships and so on), try to pay off the loan as much as possible while the loan remains interest free. I honestly don't know what kind of employment I can expect to get and with what wages, so having the loan remain interest free while tossing money at it as much as possible sounds more realistic than trying to get a job during a depression.

I really enjoyed reading this, as I too was inspired.

I would love to see details on how this goes. It is a moral quandary, as you are at a point in your life where your beliefs would dictate the release of worldly possessions, and that includes money.

You have a very compelling case, my friend.

Hi guys. Thank you for your support. 

I am looking into this further.

One idea I had was this...

I have student loans and I -would- declare bankruptcy on them right now if I could, but the rule about having to wait eight years before being eligible prevents me. So I could just as well send them a letter giving them notice that I will in the future declare bankruptcy when they're ready to receive the formal paperwork. In other words the paperwork will be in the mail in a few years when they're jolly good and ready to receive it. Therefore the debt can be considered discharged.

In principle they're willing to recognize the ability of an individual to abandon their debts (bankruptcy). Therefore if someone just abandons their debt by informing them of that action then in principle there really is no problem. Paperwork issues aside, the lender recognizes the right of an individual to abandon their debt.

If I actually do that they'll really be confused. No phone number, no income and no income tax return to be withheld... nothing. If I end up back in Canada they'll come looking for me and it'll be like getting blood from a stone. Sorry -- no money, no intention to ever make money ever again in the future... please wait for the paperwork in the mail which you're not willing to accept at the moment.

Just a correction, its now 7 years, or 5 years if you can prove hardship.