Having heard the Buddha speak a householder or a householder's
son or one born in some other family hears that Buddha-Dhamma.
On hearing this sublime Dhamma he acquires faith in the Tathagata.
Possessing that faith, he considers thus: Household life is crowded,
cramped and dusty. The Life gone forth is out in the wide open...
It is not easy, while living in a home, to lead the Noble life utterly
perfect and pure as a polished shell. Suppose I shave off my hair
and beard, put on the yellow robe, and go forth from the home life
into homelessness. On a later occasion, leaving behind any small or
large fortune, leaving behind a small or a large circle of relatives,
he shaves off his hair and beard, puts on the ochre robe, and goes
forth from the home life into homelessness...
 

So is the faith of those who after countless lives at last have
accumulated and now possesses the right and ripe conditions
for attaining the advantageous state of Bhikkhu under Buddha...

This is the next step towards the Bliss of Deathless Nibbāna!
 

MN 27: Culahatthipadopama Sutta. The Short Elephant Footprint Simile
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.027.than.html