Lecture 10: Sangha

Buddhas Teaching As It Is Bhikkhu Bodhi

PowerPoint presentation on Bhikkhu Bodhis recorded lectures on Buddhas Teaching As It Is. Materials for the presentation are taken from the recorded lectures (MP3) posted at the website of Bodhi Monastery and the notes of the lectures posted at beyondthenet.net
Originally prepared to accompany the playing of Bhikkhu Bodhis recorded lectures on Buddhas Teaching As It is in the Dharma Study Class at PUTOSI Temple, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. This series of weekly study begins in November, 2010.

Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammasambuddhassa

Lecture 10

Bhikkhu Bodhi

SANGHA

Sangha
The Buddhas dispensation is founded upon three guiding ideals, they are the objects of veneration: the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha. The Buddha is the Teacher; the Dhamma is the Teaching; and the Sangha is the community of those who have realized the teaching and embody it in their lives. These three are together called the Three Jewels or Triple Gem. They are called the Three Jewels because for one who is seeking the way to liberation, they are the most precious things in the World. The word Sangha means those who are joined together, thus a community. However, "Sangha" does not refer to the entire Buddhist community. It does not mean the totality of Buddhists or of those committed to the Buddhist Path.

Sangha
The word, Sangha signifies a smaller community within the larger Buddhist society. It refers in particular to the two such communities making for two kinds of sangha: 1. The Noble Sangha (Ariya Sangha) - the community of the noble ones or of Buddhas true disciples. 2. The conventional Sangha - the order of fully ordained monks and nuns. In principle, the conventional Sangha includes bhikkhunis that is, fully ordained nuns - but in Theravada countries the full ordination lineage for women has become defunct, though there continue to exist independent orders of nuns.

Ariyan Sangha
The Ariyan Sangha is the community of noble persons, all those who have reached the supramundane paths and fruits. This Sangha consists of eight types of individuals joined together into four pairs. The four pairs are:1. The person on the path of stream entry and the stream enterer 2. The person on the path of once returner and the once returner. 3. The person on the path of non-returner and the nonreturner. 4. The person on the path of arahatship and the arahant.

Ariyan Sangha
What unites all these persons and makes them a community is that they all share a penetration through direct experience of the innermost essence of the Dhamma. All these persons have followed the Buddhas path to the height of wisdom and seen for themselves the ultimate truth, the truth of the unconditioned. The experience that makes a person an ariyan disciple is called the arising of the eye of Dhamma. We all have physical eyes by which we can see form. We also have mental eyes through which we can understand ideas intellectually, but what the Ariyan person has that an ordinary person lacks is the dhammachakkhu, the eye of truth, the penetrating vision that sees into the real nature of things, the vision that sees the unconditioned element, Nibbana.

Ariyan Sangha
By arousing the eye of Dhamma, the noble person has cut off the first three fetters, fetters of personality view, doubt and clinging to rites and rituals. Such a person (now an ariyan disciple) gains absolute confidence in the Triple Gem, in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. He can never go for refuge to any other teacher other than the Buddha, or take as his guiding principle any teaching other than the Dhamma. He has been spiritually reborn, born with a noble birth.

Ariyan Sangha
It is the profound experience of the Dhamma that makes a person a member of the Ariyan Sangha, a true disciple of Buddha. The status of an Ariyan Sangha is not established by any formal act of ordination. Any person - monk or nun, layman or laywoman - who penetrates the Dhamma, who arouses the eye of the Dhamma, immediately becomes an Ariyan disciple of the Buddha. Lay persons living at home can also reach all four levels of liberation. But the lay people who have become Arhants are very few and when they do so, according to natural law they immediately renounce the household life and enter the monastic order.

Ariyan Sangha
Those who become ariyans have entered the definite path to final liberation. They have stepped beyond the ranks of the multitude caught up in craving and ignorance revolving in birth and death. They can never fall back to the level of a worldling because they have realized the truth by direct experience. They are now bound to reach full enlightenment and final liberation.

Ariyan Sangha
The highest of the noble disciples is the arhant. He is the one who never comes back to any form of existence high or low. He has reached enlightenment right in his body, he has cut off all craving and extinguished all defilements. He lives out his days in the bliss of liberation until the break up of the body. With the break up of the body, he attains the final goal, the Nibbana element without residue. The Ariyan sangha is the jewel of the sangha. It is this sangha that functions as one of the three refuges.

Ariyan Sangha
When Buddhists recite "Sangham saranam gachchmi" (I go for refuge to the Sangha), they are referring to the Ariyan Sangha. The Ariyan Sangha is absolutely essential to the Buddhas dispensation, for the ariyan disciples stand as living proof of the truth of the Buddhas teaching. The Ariyans are the ones who have put the teaching to the test, who have practised the path and verified the Dhamma in their own experience. They are the ones who have accomplished the aim of the Dhamma. The Buddhas teaching aims at transforming ordinary people from worldlings into noble people, at bringing them to the stages of liberation.

Ariyan Sangha
They are the guides and models. They encourage us to follow the path, since they began as ordinary people like ourselves, but by practising the path they have risen up above the ordinary plane and reached the state of spiritual nobility. Through their own attainments they can give effective instructions to others, instructions that are not based on mere guesswork or book learning but on personal experience.

Conventional Sangha
The monastic order is called the conventional Sangha because admission to the order depends entirely on the convention of ordination, which can be given to any properly qualified candidate. It does not require any special spiritual attainment, but simply a person who wishes to enter the order and is free from any of the conditions that obstruct ordination. The monastic order is not a jewel or a refuge in the highest sense. It is still a jewel in the secondary sense.

Conventional Sangha
The monastic Sangha is regarded as extremely precious, and worthy of deep reverence and respect for two basic reasons. Firstly because the members of the sangha continue to follow the holy life laid down by the Buddha in its fullness; and secondly because they transmit the teaching of the Buddha from generation to generation, out of concern for the welfare of others. They keep the Dhamma alive in the world. The Buddha established the Sangha in order to provide ideal conditions for reaching the ariyan state, for attaining Nibbana.

Monastic Order
The bhikkhus who take ordination into the order are those who have followed the Buddha into the state of homelessness. They take on the Buddhas mode of practice; they wear his robe; they live according to his rules. The Buddha laid down the brahmacariya, the holy life as the way to deliverance. The monastic state provides the optimal conditions possible in this world for living the holy life intended by the Buddha. Ariyans do not arise only from the monastic sangha. Those persons who have become monks and nuns have the best opportunities for practicing to reach the ariyan states.

Monastic Order
The second reason that the monastic order is revered so highly as mentioned before is that the members have the function to transmit the Buddhas dispensation. They keep alive the way of life and practice established by the Buddha. They show to others its possible to live a life of purity, of renunciation, of restraint, meditation and realisation. By training disciples, they ensure that the Buddhas dispensation is passed on from one generation to another so that it doesnt disappear from this world. By studying the scriptures and teaching them, they preserve the teachings of the Buddha, spread and propagated for the welfare of others. For these reasons, the monastic order stands as a field of merit, worthy of respect, offerings and support.

Formation and Growth of the Sangha

The formation of the Sangha took place soon after the Buddha finished his first discourse, to the five ascetics. When the Buddha finished explaining the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, Kondanna attained the stage of stream entry and requested to be a disciple of Buddha. The Buddha ordained him, Come bhikkhu, the Dhamma is well proclaimed. Live the holy life for the complete ending of sufferings. With these words, Kondanna became the first bhikkhu, a monk disciple of Buddha. In formal term, a sangha is a community of a minimum of four monks.

Formation and Growth of the Sangha

Then the Buddha continued his discourse, and the other four ascetics gained stream entry after his talk. They also asked to become bhikkhus under the Buddha. They were ordained bhkkhus with the same words. They were ordained with the same words. The Sangha was formed for the first time, a community of five monks headed by the Buddha. Shortly after that, the Buddha then taught them the Truth of Anatta (egolessness). At the end of this discourse, the five monks achieved enlightenment, destroyed all defilements and became arahats, fully liberated in mind.

Formation and Growth of the Sangha

In the months and years ahead, the sangha continued to expand very rapidly for several reasons. The age when the Buddha lived was a period when spiritual ideal was highly valued. The prevalent religions of Buddhas time failed to meet the spiritual needs of the people. In contrast to the other teachings of the time, the Buddha offered a clear and direct path to the highest goal, a path that is open to personal verification, appealing in simplicity and practicality. The Buddhas teachings attracted followers who wanted to live the monastic life. They came from all castes and social classes, kings, princes, aristocrats, merchants, outcasts, beggars, etc. By the time the Buddha passed away, the order grew to thousands in numbers, spread out in northern India.

Renunciation and Deliverance

The key move that characterizes the act of becoming a monk is renunciation. The initial act is pabbajja, going forth from the household life into homelessness. While the Buddhas teaching is applicable to those living the household life, anyone who has correctly grasped the drift of the Buddha Dhamma will see that the path of renunciation follows from it with complete naturalness. The Buddha teaches that life in the world is inseparably connected with dukkha, with suffering and unsatisfactoriness, leading us again and again into the round of birth and death.

Renunciation and Deliverance

The reason we remain bound to the wheel of becoming is because of our attachment to it. We hang on to it through our craving for desire, for power, for continued existence. To gain release from the round, we have to extinguish our craving. That is the highest renunciation, the ultimate inner act of renunciation. But to win that attainment we generally must begin with relatively easy acts of renunciation, and as these gather force they eventually lead us to a point where we no longer are attracted to the lures of secular life. When this happens, we become ready to leave behind the household life, to enter upon homeless state in order to devote ourselves fully to the task of removing the inner subtle clinging of the mind.

Renunciation and Deliverance

The homeless life is not absolutely essential for this work. True renunciation is an inner act, not a mere outer one. But the homeless life provides the most suitable outer conditions for practising true renunciation. The holy life requires purified conduct, but household life stimulates many desires that run contrary to pure conduct. The homeless life is a life of meditation, calling for constant mindfulness, clear awareness and contemplation. All this requires time, a calm environment, freedom from external pressures and responsibility. The Buddha founded the Sangha in order to provide such objective conditions.

Bhikkhu
The bhikkhu, the Buddhist monk, is not a priest; he does not function as an intermediary between the laity and any divine power, not even between the lay person and the Buddha. He does not administer sacraments, pronounce absolution or perform any ritual needed for salvation. The main task of a bhikkhu is to cultivate himself along the path laid down by the Buddha, the path of moral discipline, concentration, and wisdom.

Bhikkhu
Entrance into the Sangha is not binding for life time. One who becomes a Buddhist monk does not take life-long vows. In some Buddhist traditions in countries like Sri Lanka, its expected that those who take higher ordination remain in the robe for life. If a person finds himself unsuitable for monastic life he is free at any time to leave the order and return to lay life without any kind of religious blame attached to him, without incurring any kind of obstruction to his spiritual progress. In some countries like Burma and Thailand, its customary for all males at sometime in their life to take ordination for short periods.

Distinctive Marks of the Bhikkhu

The distinctive marks of the bhikkhu in all the Buddhist countries in most Buddhist traditions are the shaven head and the saffron robes. The reason the bhikkhu adopts this appearance is rooted in the very nature of his calling. The Buddhist monk seeks to realize the truth of anatta, of selflessness. This means the relinquishing of ones claims to stand out as a special individual, to be a "somebody". The aim of the bhikkhu is to eliminate the sense of ego, of self identification. Our clothes, hairstyle, and beard often become subtle ways by which we assert our sense of identity or express our self image. Bhikkhus give up their personal identity and blend into a larger body the Sangha.

Distinctive Marks of the Bhikkhu

The robe and the shaven head is also the reminder and theme for their daily reflection. "My way of life is different from that of worldly people". Unlike the common people, he leads a life of restraints, self-control, and inner cultivation. The robe also serves to make others aware of the Buddhas teaching. His conduct has the effect of impressing on others the fruits of the Buddhas teaching. Another special aspect of the lifestyle of the Buddhist monk is that he lives in dependence on the offerings of others. He does not work for his living, he does not receive payment for his religious services, but he lives entirely in dependence on the support of the laity. Those who have confidence in the Dhamma provide him with the basic requisites, his robes, food, dwelling place, medicines, and whatever other simple material support he might need.

Relationship Between Sangha and Lay People

The monks and nuns do not ask society for support. The code of monastic disciplines prohibit the monks and nuns from asking lay people for material goods except in the case of close relatives. The monks and nuns who live in accordance with the Dhamma are a blessing for the lay people who provide them with the requisites. The benefits they provide can be found at several levels: 1. First, by receiving the support, they are able to become teachers of the Dhamma. Because they are freed from the necessities of providing for themselves economically, they can study the teaching, learn it thoroughly, and teach it to others. They guide and teach others the principles that lead to their spiritual welfare.

Relationship Between Sangha and Lay People

2. At a deeper level, the monks and nuns who receive the support maintain the traditions of Buddhist practice, especially the higher practices of meditation. They serve as an example for others; as models of those who are pursuing the highest spiritual ideals. They show that the Dhamma is just not a set of abstract theories, but a real path that can be practised; and they inspire others to undertake the practice and lead them to liberation. 3. A third benefit the sangha provides is to serve as a field of merits for others. The Buddha teaches that giving, dana, is a source of merit. The merit that comes from giving is proportional to the purity of the recipient.

Relationship Between Sangha and Lay People

When the receivers are persons striving for enlightenment and liberation, the highest goals, they become the most fruitful field of merit. By making gifts to the sangha of the requisites, robes, food, etc, the lay people gain merit that will sustain them in their own quest for liberation, which will bring them benefits in this and future lives. Perhaps the primary symbolic expression of the close relationship between the lay people and the sangha is the alms round. The monks acquire their food by walking with eyes downcast, silently and mindfully; from house to house without discrimination, giving everyone the same opportunity to make merit, gathering the offerings in their alms bowls.

Relationship Between Sangha and Lay People

The monk does not ask for anything. He is not a beggar. The bhikkhu shares the offerings with everyone in the monastery. The practice of going for alms round is a source of joy for everyone, the bhikkhu receives his material support; the lay people gain the chance to practice generosity and acquire merit.

SANGHA PART II

Ordination and Precepts

There are two basic levels of monastic status in the sangha, the rank of the samanera and the rank of the bhikkhu. The samanera is a novice monk and a bhikkhu is a fully ordained monk. Samanera means a little samana (sramana) or monk. A samanera is one who has left the household life and entered the monastic fold, but he has not yet been fully admitted to the sangha. He is still preparing for full ordination as a bhikkhu. He might have to undergo a training for a period of several months or years, but sometimes mature men are given the novice ordination and full monk ordination on the same day. The ceremony of becoming a samanera is called pabbajja, the going forth from lay life to homeless life.

Ordination and Precepts - Samanera

To become a samanera, the candidate must be at least 7 years old; physically fit; provided with robes; and accepted by a senior bhikkhu as a pupil. At the ceremony of ordination, the candidate approaches his preceptor with the head shaved and carrying his robes in his hand, he then requests his preceptor to be given the pabbajja. The preceptor would then give him an explanation of what is involved. The preceptor takes the robes and gives them back and this marks the acceptance of the candidate as a samanera. The new novice then goes off to the side, takes off his lay clothes and puts on the robes.

Ordination and Precepts - Samanera

He returns to the teacher and requests the teacher to give him the three refuges and the ten precepts of a samanera. The teacher will then recite the formula for the three refuges and the ten precepts, the samanera repeating them after the preceptor. From then on, the samanera must observe the ten basic precepts of the monastic life. These are: 1. To abstain from killing or taking life. 2. To abstain from taking what is not given or stealing. 3. To abstain from incelibacy, to lead a life of strict chastity. 4. To abstain from lying. 5. to abstain using from using intoxicants (drinks & drugs).

Ordination and Precepts - Samanera

To abstain from eating (taking solid food) at the wrong time (from midday to next dawn). 7. To abstain from singing, dancing, musical instruments and unsuitable shows. 8. To abstain from using ornaments, scents, garlands and perfumes that beautify a person. 9. To abstain from using high or luxurious seat and bed. 10. To abstain from accepting gold or silver or money. During the period of training, the young novice monk must study the Dhamma, learn the aspect of monastic discipline and prepare himself for future full ordination.
6.

Ordination and Precepts - Bhikkhu

The ceremony of full ordination as a bhikkhu is called upasampada. To be eligible for upasampada, the candidate must have been a samanera for sometime; twenty years old; free from impediments such as incurable diseases (leprosy, tuberculosis and epilepsy); a free man, not in debt, not in debt, exempt from military service; have permission from the parents. He must have a complete set of robes and an alms bowl when he comes for the ceremony, these are usually provided by a lay supporter. The ceremony of upasampada requires a sangha of at least five bhkkhus, usually more are present. The sangha is headed by a bhikkhu of at least 10 years standing in the order, who has a good knowledge of Dhamma and Vinaya or code of moral discipline. This senior monk

Ordination and Precepts - Bhikkhu

will serve as the preceptor for the new bhikkhu. The ceremony begins with a monk chanting the motion that such and such a candidate requests upasampada with such and such a senior monk as his preceptor. Three announcements of this fact are made. If none of the bhkkhus present object, then when the third announcement is finished, the candidate is accepted as a bhikkhu. After the actual ordination, the preceptor explains to the new bhikkhu the four things that are absolutely prohibited (parajika) for a newly ordained monk: 1. Engaging in sexual intercourse of any kind.

Ordination and Precepts - Bhikkhu

Taking anything of value that is not given. 3. Killing another human being. 4. Falsely claiming to have reached some higher spiritual attainment. If a bhikkhu commits any of the above forbidden acts, he is immediately expelled from the sangha; and he can never be ordained again in this life time. The preceptor then explains the four supports of the homeless life. These are: 1. To live on food collected on alms round. 2. To use robes made from cast-off rags.
2.

Ordination and Precepts - Bhikkhu

To live beneath a tree. 4. use cows urine as medicine. These four observances are not compulsory. Monks are allowed to accept food offered by lay people at home or brought to the monastery. Monks can wear robes already prepared by householders. They can live in buildings like temples or monasteries or cottages. They can use any kind of proper medicine. Nowadays only the first support is commonly followed. However the formula is still recited as a formality to emphasise the spirit of poverty, simplicity and purity that are essential to a monks life.
3.

Ordination and Precepts - Bhikkhu

The bhikkhu is allowed to own eight articles. These include: three robes: antaravasika or under-robe worn around the waist; upper robe or utarasangha worn over the shoulder covering the upper part of the body; double thick outer robe, sanghati, usually worn only in cool weather. Belt; alms bowl; razor and needle; and water strainer. In actual practice, bhikkhus usually own a few other extra necessities, varying in quantities according to their life styles. Teaching bhikkhus in towns would need extra robes, books, note paper, pens, etc. Bhikkhus living in the forest would need little extra beyond their requisites, fan, sandals, clock, umbrella etc.

Ordination and Precepts - Bhikkhu

A monk has to obtain his requisites in a pure way. He doesnt work at a profession. He is forbidden to beg, coerce or persuade others to give them. He receives the requisites through the generosity and kindness of the laity. In using the four principle requisites, the robes, the alms food, the shelter, and medicine, he has to reflect on their proper purposes. When he puts on his robes, he has to reflect that he uses the robes for the purposes of keeping off the cold, the heat, the sun, wind and creeping things and for covering up the body.

Ordination and Precepts - Bhikkhu

He reflects that he uses the alms food in order to support his life, to keep himself in good health, to prevent disease and to live the life of holiness. He reflects that he uses the shelter to keep out the heat, cold, mosquitoes, gnats, and to protect himself from the weather. He reflects that he uses the medicines for the purpose of keeping off disease, for the maximum of health and wellbeing. Life in the sangha is regulated by a body of rules called the Vinaya. The word, Vinaya means leading away, the code of rules that lead us away from wrong deeds of body and speech.

Vinaya
Vinaya is contained in the Vinaya Pitaka, the Books of Discipline. These books set forth the precepts of monastic life. Some of these precepts are moral in nature and concerned with the fundamentals of spiritual development. Others are principles of etiquette, which help to establish harmony among the monks themselves, and between the sangha and laity as a whole. The heart of the vinaya is the code of 227 rules called the patimokkha. These are the backbone of monastic discipline. The rules of the patimokkha are classified into several categories of different degrees of moral weight. The most important are the four parajika, four prohibited acts -

Vinaya
sexual intercourse, theft, killing another human being, and false claim of spiritual attainment. Violation of any of these four leads to defeat, expulsion from the order. Thirteen other rules of lesser degree of gravity if violated lead to a period of penance with temporary suspension of monastic privileges. The remaining rules vary in importance and in the consequences that are entailed when violated. For good monks, it is important that they try to keep all the rules as scrupulously as they can. All the rules might not seem to be extremely serious, but the problem is once a person starts breaking minor rules, its

Vinaya: Patimokkha
often a matter of time until he starts breaking major rules. Therefore the guiding principle for a monk who is serious in following the Buddhas path is to try to maintain and protect all the rules to the best of his ability. The foundation of higher stages of spiritual training is moral discipline. For a bhikkhu, the backbone of his moral discipline is the patimokkha. The patimokkha is recited by the sangha together at a ceremony called uposatha which is held on the day of the full moon and the new moon of each lunar month. Its held in a monastery whenever there are four monks or more living together.

Uposatha; Vassa
Before the uposatha ceremony takes place, the bhikkhus need to confess their transgressions to one another. Then they all sit together, one senior bhikkhu will recite the patimokkha while the rest will listen. While it is recited, if a monk remembers a transgression he has committed, then he will confess the transgression before the group as a whole. Another special occasion of the monastic life is the vassa. Vassa is a period of three months coinciding with the rainy season of India, from the full moon day of July to the full moon day of October. During vassa, the monks take up residence in a single dwelling without travelling outside except in emergencies or special cases when their presence is required somewhere.

Vassa
The rule requiring the bhikkhu to observe the vassa was made by the Buddha because of the conditions in India during the time of the rain. When the rain fell, the earth would teem with vegetation and insect life would become abundant. If the monks travelled a lot, they would trample on the crops, ruined the peoples field and destroy insect life. To prevent this, the Buddha made the rule for the monks to stay in a fixed abode for a period of three months. During this time the lay people would provide them with their requisites and take care of the monks with great felicity. Even now in places where there is no rain during this period, its traditional for the monks to observe the retreat of vassa.

Vassa
During this period the bhikkhus would devote themselves to study, or meditate or write to perfect their own skills. At the close of the vassa, the bhikkhus would assemble and hold a ceremony called pavarana. At the pavarana ceremony, each monk invites the other monks in the community to point out any wrong he might have committed and to ask for their patience and forgiveness for any wrongs he might have committed. When the pavarana is finished, the vassa is completed. Usually within a month after the end of the vassa, a major ceremony called kathina takes place, bringing together the laity and the sangha, symbolising the unity of the Buddhas followers.

Vinaya
At the kathina ceremony, the laity offer new robes to the monks who have observed the vassa retreat. They also bring other goods needed by the temple of monastery. All the monks, irrespective of their age and standing, are guided by the same training in moral discipline concentration and wisdom. All share the same disciplinary code, the patimokkha, and the rest of the vinaya. Beyond these, the members of the order divide into two basic types, the career of books (study of scripture) and the career of practice (meditation). These two are not absolutely exclusive. Ideally there should be a synthesis of the two.

Careers: Pariyatti & Patipatti

Monks who study scriptures would do daily meditation while the monks who meditate would have some proficiency in the scriptures. Generally there is a tendency towards specialisation. Some monks emphasise the pariyatti Dhamma (study of scriptures); others emphasise patipatti Dhamma (practice meditation). Monks following the two careers usually live in different regions. Monks who follow the career of study usually live in the cities, towns or villages, while the following the way of strict practice usually live in more remote areas in the forests. This division is not so sharp. Sometimes in city monasteries, there are monks who are devoted fully to meditation. In some forest monasteries, there are also monks who are specialists in scriptures

Pariyatti
The main task of the monks following the career of books is to study, teach and expound the scriptures of Buddhism. In the Theravada tradition, the main scriptural authority is the Tripitaka, the three baskets of doctrine, set down in the ancient Pali language. These are the Sutta Pitaka (discourses of the Buddha and the great disciples), Vinaya Pitaka (the Books of Monastic Disciplines), and the Abhidhamma Pitaka (philosophical and psychological treatises). To learn means to memorise. Memorisation is still emphasised today. Monks would memorise the scripture and study the commentaries to learn the meaning thoroughly. When they have gained some proficiency, they would teach others, give sermons and lectures, and train younger monks in the scriptures.

Town Bhikkhus
Those studying bhkkhus who live in the vicinity of cities, towns or villages participate in various religious rites in domestic life of the laity. They interact with the laity in all occasions in daily life from birth to death. Their main involvement are in meal invitation and chanting of sutta and preaching. Dana is a great source of merits for the lay people. Dana would be offered to the monks by a family or group of lay people. After the meal, the monk would give a sermon followed by chanting of benediction. Special chanting sessions are also held from time to time. A group of monks would be invited to chant special protective discourses, the paritta.

Town Bhikkhus
At periodic intervals, monks would deliver lengthy sermons. These can be attended by large numbers of lay people who make these occasions of preachings their main opportunities for learning the Dhamma. On special occasions in Uposatha day, devoted lay people would go to the temple and stay the whole day and night. On these occasions, they would take the eight precepts living like novice monks and nuns. They devote their time to meditation, reciting texts and to asking monks questions, quiet study and listening to several lengthy discourses which might be delivered during the uposatha period.

Forest Bhikkhus
In contrast to the life of the town bhikkhus, the life of the forest bhikkhus is quiet. Their time is reserved for inner work, for cultivating their mind for the development of calm and insight. In forest hermitages, the group of monks live together usually under the guidance of an accomplished meditation master. They live in small huts usually separated at some good distance from one another to give the seclusion needed for the practice. The training of the forest monk follows the ancient pattern coming down from the time of Buddha sila, samadhi and panna. He lives a life of discipline; contentment with simplicity; applies control of the senses; mindfulness in daily actions and activities; meditation to purify the mind and develop jhana as a base to develop wisdom.

Place of Nuns in Buddhism

In India at the time Buddhism arose, women were held in a subservient position, made to be dependent on men in all periods of their life dependent on the father in their childhood, dependent on the husband in their maturity, dependent on the sons in their old age. They were bound down by domestic duties and burden. They received little consideration as individuals in their own right. Their capacity for spiritual development went unrecognised. Its against this background that we should view the Buddhas move in creating the bhikkhuni sangha, an order of fully ordained nuns. The Buddha hesitated to permit women to enter the homeless life. When he agreed to do so, he laid down several special regulations for the nuns.

Bhikkhuni Order
The order of nuns was established in the early years of the Buddhas ministry. One year after his enlightenment , he returned to his homeland of Kapilavatthu and taught Dhamma to his people, the Sakyans. A good number of them, men and women achieved insight and attained different levels of realisations. His foster mother, Mahapajapati Gotami became a stream-enterer and his father, the King became a non-returner. Several years later, he returned to Kapilavatthu to see his father who was lying in his death bed. He taught Dhamma to his father. His father attained arahatship just before dying. After his fathers death, his mother Mahapajapati went to the Buddha and asked him if women could be allowed to enter into the homeless life. The Buddha did not refuse flatly.

Bhikkhuni Order
The Buddha discouraged her, please do not ask for women to be allowed to go forth into the homeless life. He repeated this three times. Probably he was thinking that the homeless life which was difficult even for men to follow would be much harder for the women who had been brought up in sheltered life in the palace to follow. The Buddha left Kapilavatthu for Vesali, about 250-300 miles away. Meanwhile Mahapajapati cut off her hair and put on saffron robe. Together with a group of Sakyan women, she set out for Vesali. When she arrived in Vesali, Venerable Ananda saw her standing there, her feet were swollen and her limbs were covered with dust, looking very unhappy with tears on her face. Venerable Ananda asked her why she was standing there like that.

Bhikkhuni Order
She explained to Venerable Ananda that the Buddha would not allow the women to go forth. Then Venerable Ananda approached the Buddha and on behalf of the women asked the Buddha for permission for the women to go forth into the homeless life. He asked three times. Three times, the Buddha did not refuse but responded, do not ask for women to be allowed to receive the going forth. After the third time, Venerable Ananda used a different tactic, he asked, Venerable Sir, is it possible for women to achieve the path and fruit? Is it possible for them to achieve arahatship?. The Buddha said, its possible, Ananda.

Bhikkhuni Order
Then Venerable Ananda said, 'If this is so, and since Mahapajapati had been so helpful to you, when your mother died, she became your foster mother and gave you milk and took care of you in every way, for this reason, it would be good if women could obtain the going forth. Then the Buddha said he would allow the women to go forth to become bhikkhuni if they would agree to eight principles. These eight principles all have the effect of making the bhikkhuni sangha to some extent subordinate to the bhikkhu order. They require the order of nuns to show special respect and reverence for the bhikkhus.

Bhikkhuni Order
These rules were intended to reduce the contact of the nuns and monks that may lead to corruption of the order, and to retain the respect of the laity for the order and the Dhamma so that the Dhamma would not disappear due to possible loss of respect from the laity. Once the order of bhikkhuni was formed, it attracted women from all walks of life. Women of royal staff, poor women ordinary housewives, courtesans, young girls, etc left their homes to put on the yellow robes of Buddhist nuns. Some achieved arahatship; some became prominent members of the sangha, masters of meditation, excelling in wisdom and concentration, in learning and supernormal powers.

Bhikkhuni Order
Some of the nuns discourses are collected in the Sutta pitaka. The verses of the nuns who had achieved arahatship were collected together into a single book of the Sutta Pitaka, the Therigatha, the Verses of the Elder Nuns. Like the order of the bhikkhus, the order of nuns has its own patimokkha. These contain more than 300 rules, more than that of the order of monks. One of the regulations for the bhikkhuni sangha which was to have unfortunate consequences was the requirement that a woman novice has to receive full ordination from both orders, the order of monks and the order of nuns.

Bhikkhuni Sangha
For several centuries, the bhikkhuni sangha continued to flourish in India. During the 3rd century B.C., King Ashoka allowed his own daughter, Sanghamitta to become a bhikkhuni. Together with a group of nuns, Sanghamitta travelled to Sri Lanka with a branch of the Bodhi tree and helped to establish the bhikkhuni sangha in Sri Lanka. After Sanghamitta had set up the bhikkhuni sangha, many women from all the different strata of the Singhalese society joined the womens order which became famous for the saintliness and piety of its nuns. The bhikkhuni order continued to thrive in Sri Lanka for many centuries, right up to the 10th century A.D.

Bhikkhuni Sangha
During this period, it received the support of the kings, royal governments and laity. Due to a series of invasions from south India, the bhikkhuni sangha seemed to die out in the 10th century A.D. The bhikkhuni order also disappeared in India. Since ordination as a bhikkhuni has to be received from an existing bhikkhuni sangha, when the latter has died out, ordination becomes impossible and the lineage cannot continue. Today, women in Theravada countries continue to be drawn to the monastic life, living the holy life of ancient bhikkhunis; serving as teachers and meditation master; engage in social services. (see separate article by Bhikkhu Bodhi for more current development of Theravada nuns)