SAṂGHA: AN OVERVIEW

Saṃgha (or saṅgha) is a common noun meaning "multitude" or "assemblage" in Sanskrit, Pali, and the various prakrit languages. Buddhists have adopted the word to describe their religious community; followers of Jainism and other contemporary religious groups also use the term in this sense.

The Buddhist saṃgha consists of four "assemblies" (Skt., pariṣad; Pali, parisā); they are the monks (bhikṣu; Pali, bhikkhu), the nuns (bhikṣuṇī; Pali, bhikkhunī, the male lay followers (upāsaka), and the female lay followers (upāsikā). Jain sources also include a similar wider understanding of the term "fourfold saṃgha." In the narrower sense of the word, saṃgha refers to the community of monks and nuns only.

The first Buddhist saṃgha was established by the Buddha himself, Siddhārtha Gautama (c. 563–c. 483 bce), when he accepted as his disciples five men before whom he had preached his first sermon in a park near Vārāṇasī. During his lifetime, the community grew considerably, and the Buddha is credited with having regulated its life and organization in a rather detailed manner.

Sources of Rules

The first part of the Buddhist scriptures forms the law book for the Buddhist saṃgha. This collection, called the Vinaya Piṭaka (Basket of monastic discipline), or Vinaya, has been handed down in a number of different recensions, each belonging to a particular "school" (nikāya) of early Indian Buddhism. The rather close similarity of the main parts of these texts clearly points to a common source. The complete text of the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Mahāvihāra (the main tradition of the Theravāda school of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia) has been preserved in Pali. Most other versions were originally composed in Sanskrit, but only parts of the original texts have been preserved. Several complete recensions are available in Chinese translation, and the Mūlasarvāstivāda version is available in Tibetan translation. Chinese translations exist of nearly complete manuscripts of the Vinaya Piṭakas of the Sarvāstivāda, Mūlasarvāstivāda, Dharmaguptaka, Mahīśāsaka, and Mahāsāṃghika schools. Parts of the Vinaya texts of the Lokottaravāda, Kāśyapīya, and Sammatīya schools are also extant.

Most versions of the Vinaya Piṭaka consist of three main sections: the Vibhaṅiga (Pali, Vibhaṅiga or Suttavibhaṅga) or Vinayavibhaṅga (in certain traditions, Prātimokṣavibhaṅga), the Skandhaka (Pali, Khandhaka) or Vinayavastu, and the Parivāra (partly corresponding with Kṣudrakavastu, Muktaka Prakīrṇaka sections in other versions of the Vinaya collection). The essential part of the Vibhaṅga is represented by the group of rules known as the Prātimokṣa (Pali, Pātimokkha), injunctions regulating the behavior of monks and nuns; all of these rules are believed to have been issued by the Buddha himself. Their number is slightly different for each of the various early Buddhist schools, ranging from 218 rules for the Mahāsāṃghikas to 263 rules for the Sarvāstivādins. These rules are also handed down as a separate work serving as the confession formula to be recited at the regular confessional ceremonies of the saṃgha. In the Vinayavibhaṅga, all these rules are listed, along with an account of the occasion upon which the Buddha issued each one, with casuistry and additional explanations. The work is divided into two parts, the first of which lists regulations for monks and the second gives rules for nuns. Since each rule is an injunction whose transgression is followed by a particular sanction, the Prātimokṣa and Vibhaṇga represent a compendium of the penal laws of the saṃgha.

The Skandhaka, or Vinayavastu, functions as the procedural law of the saṃgha. This section describes regulations for admission to the order, the confessional ceremony, and various aspects of monastic life, such as the behavior prescribed for monks and nuns during the rainy season, what possessions they are permitted to own, the use of medicines, and so forth. Most versions of these Vinaya texts contain as an appendix an account of the first two Buddhist councils (saṅgīti or saṅgāyanā). The Parivāra contains additional material in the form of mnemonic summaries, explanations, and so on.

Rules and Procedures in the Laws of the SaṂgha

The term saṃgha may be used in a general sense denoting "the saṃgha of the four directions" (i.e., the Buddhist monastic communities as a whole), but in the context of the juridical prescriptions of the Vinaya Piṭaka, it designates the saṃgha of a particular place that may perform a "Vinaya act" (vinayakarma or saṅghakarma) within an established "boundary" (simā) in accordance with the regulations of Buddhist law.

Admission to the saṃgha by the Buddha himself was a rather informal process, but detailed formalities were prescribed in the Vinaya for the admission by the monastic community after the Buddha's death. Two steps are required in the complete transformation of a lay person to a fully ordained monk or nun. The first step is pravrajyā (Pali, pabbajjā), the "going forth" by which a candidate becomes a novice (śrāmaṇera; Pali, sāmaṇera). The second step is upasaṃpad (Pali, upasampadā), the "obtaining" of ordination, whereupon the novice is admitted as a bhikṣu, a full-fledged member of the saṃgha. Admission as a śrāmaṇera requires a minimum age of eight years. The novice remains under the guidance of a preceptor and a spiritual master even after ordination, for which the minimum age is twenty years. Śrāmaṇeras and bhikṣus are expected to follow the respective rules of monastic discipline (vinaya). The novice obeys ten precepts (śikṣāpada; Pali, sikkhāpada), whereas a bhikṣu is expected to obey all injunctions listed in the Prātimokṣa. These regulations are divided into seven groups according to the seriousness of offenses against them. Violation of the four pārājika injunctions, which forbid sexual intercourse, theft, the intentional taking of human life, and falsely or self-interestedly claiming superhuman powers, is cause for permanent expulsion from the saṃgha. A monk who transgresses the rules of the second group is subject to temporary demotion in the saṃgha. For minor offenses, confession is considered a sufficient punishment.

Further procedures of the saṃgha include the poṣadha (Pali, uposatha), or confessional ceremony, which is held on the days of the new moon and the full moon, during which time the Prātimokṣa is to be recited. All procedures must strictly follow the established rules in order to be valid. They must be performed by a complete saṃgha within an established boundary (sīmā) by using the particular karmavācanā (Pali, kammavācā), or prescribed formula. All monks living within a particular place defined by such boundaries that have been fixed by a formal act of the saṃgha must meet and act together. The minimum number of monks who may perform valid acts of Vinaya is four, but for particular legal acts, a larger number of monks must be present; for example, ten monks are required for the performance of an ordination in India, but only five are required in the borderlands. For most formal acts, a unanimous decision is necessary; for less important decisions, a majority vote may be permissible.

In order to be valid, an ordination must go back in an uninterrupted succession to an ordination obtained from the Buddha himself and all ordinations in this lineage must be valid. If this is not the case, the particular person may not be considered a Buddhist monk or nun. He or she may still join the Buddhist community, however, as an upāsaka or upāsikā.

As mentioned before, the Buddha also admitted women to be members of the saṃgha. Therefore, the nuns have similar rules, viz. the Bhikṣuṇīvibhaṅga (Pali, Bhik-khunīvibhaṅga). The particular procedural laws for the bhikṣuṇis in the Theravāda tradition are formulated in a particular section of the Cullavagga (second part of the Vibhaṅga), whereas the texts of some other schools contain separate collections of regulations for nuns.

In nearly all Buddhist traditions, the lineage of the ordination of nuns has been uninterrupted; the only exception is in the tradition of the Dharmaguptaka school. Most Buddhist nun communities demonstrate great vitality, particularly in Taiwan and Korea. Recently, engaged Buddhist women undertook reestablishing the saṃgha of nuns in the Theravāda tradition, but as of the early twenty-first century, most Buddhist monks had not accepted their claim.

If the saṃgha of a particular place fails to assemble in full, or if it cannot agree, saṃgha bheda (division in a saṃgha ) has occurred; such a schism is considered a grave offense. Devadatta, the adversary of the Buddha, created the first saṃgha bheda by unsuccessfully trying to replace the Buddha and make himself the head of the Buddhist community.

Life of the Monks

Early saṃghas were communities of mendicants. The tradition states that, upon leaving worldly life, the candidate must give up all possessions and thenceforth depend on the laity for his or her subsistence. The number of requisites he or she owns is prescribed. Members live on the food that is placed in their begging bowls during the daily alms round. They are allowed to accept personal invitations for meals, but not to eat after midday.

As a community, however, the saṃgha may accept most kinds of donations, including property, and generous contributions to the saṃgha by laity are considered highly meritorious acts. In this way, some monastic communities became wealthy, and the way of life of their members came to differ from original doctrinal and canonical ideals. Therefore, the application of the formal rules of monastic discipline grew more imperative, and the degree of strictness in the fulfillment of these regulations was considered a measure of the moral standard of a Buddhist monastic community.

The original saṃgha had practically no hierarchical organization. During his lifetime, the Buddha was the highest authority, but he declined to appoint a successor, saying that his doctrine alone should guide his followers. The only hierarchical principle accepted by the early saṃgha was that of seniority, counting from the day of ordination. An elder monk is called sthavira (Pali, thera). In principle, all monks have equal rights and equal obligations. In practice, however, the saṃgha elects particular monks to serve in various roles, including dispute resolution, ecclesiastical jurisdiction determinations, and various administrative duties in the monastery. As the saṃghas evolved from groups of mendicants into residential monastic units, the importance of these responsibilities grew.

The Place of the SaṂgha in the Teaching of the Buddha

The structure of the saṃgha as described above characterizes it as a legal system with formal regulations. The Buddha, however, stressed that he proclaimed all of his teachings for the exclusive purpose of guiding his disciples on their way to final enlightenment. The texts make it clear that monastic discipline and the saṃgha represent only the outer form, created in order to allow people to abandon their secular responsibilities and worldly connections in order to concentrate on enlightenment. Monastic discipline is the formal aspect of morality (śīla; Pali sīla), which is the right mode of mind and volition and, as such, the first foundation of the way to liberation. Morality in this sense is practiced through self-restraint; thus, the observance of the Vinaya is an integral part of the spiritual training of the Buddha's disciples.

In relation to the laity, a member of the saṃgha is legitimized as a disciple of the Buddha by his adherence to the laws of Vinaya. The saṃgha is worthy of respect and donations because it follows and perpetuates the Buddha's law, thereby embodying the "highest field of merit." On the other hand, the existence of the saṃgha is a precondition for the continuation of Buddhism, inasmuch as it hands down the teaching of the Buddha. The Buddha ordered his monks to preach his dharma, but in a decent, restrained manner, and only if asked to do so.

History of the SaṂgha

Immediately after the death of the Buddha, a first "council" (saṃgīti or saṃgāyanā) of Buddhist monks assembled in Rājagṛha and collected the words of the Buddha, thereby compiling the Buddhist scriptures. Although the extant scriptures are of later origin, the ancient record seems to reflect an historical event. It is likely that the earliest version of the Prātimokṣa and the most important sermons of the Buddha were collected during this meeting. A second council assembled at Vaiśāli one hundred years later to resolve certain disputes on monastic discipline. The division of the Buddhist tradition into various schools or groups (nikāyas), which are often wrongly termed "Buddhist sects," began at this time. In the first period, the formation of these groups was based mainly on the geographic diversification of local saṃghas and on different views about details of monastic discipline. The texts were handed down orally; their written codification began only in the first century bce. In most cases, the formation of the "schools" took place in such a way as to avoid the formal violation of the above-mentioned injunction against saṃgha bheda.

The nikāyas handed down separate recensions of the scriptures, and they also organized additional councils or convocations to collect and correct them. These collections of the scriptures arose in different parts of India and were originally transmitted in Middle Indo-Aryan dialects. Most of them were translated later into Sanskrit, with the exception of the scriptures of the Theravāda school, which remained in Pali, a dialect originating from central India.

Historical accounts of several schools contain traditions on a third council, held during the reign of King Aśoka (272–231 bce), but from the rather contradictory accounts it becomes clear that the diversification of the schools was already far advanced by that time.

Mahāyāna Buddhism came into existence around the beginning of the common era, yet its presence did not affect the organization of the early nikāyas, precisely because the nikāyas differed by their acceptance of a particular version of the Vinaya texts and not by dogmatic opinions. Therefore, in some instances, monks who held Hīnāyāna views could live together and perform vinayakarmas together, along with followers of Mahāyāna. In contrast, monks belonging to different nikayas rarely formed a common saṃgha, though they might accept similar dogmatic views. In the course of time, new nikāyas emerged on the basis of dogmatic dissensions. Each Buddhist monk, regardless of school, accepts and (at least theoretically) follows one particular recension of the Vinaya Piṭaka; consequently, each monk can be connected with one of the nikāyas of early Buddhism.

The SaṂgha in TheravĀda Buddhism

As mentioned above, the validity of a monk's ordination depends on an uninterrupted line of valid ordinations going back to the Buddha himself. Since pārājika offenses incur mandatory expulsion from the saṃgha, the validity of an ordination can be assured only if the monks who belong to the particular saṃgha lead an irreproachable life. Whenever the discipline in the saṃgha deteriorated, its legal existence was in danger, whether or not the transgressors continued to wear the monks' robes.

Originally, the Buddhist saṃgha was an autonomous body; its original laws did not permit interference by the laity. In this respect, the Jain order was different; there, the laity exercised a considerable degree of control over the saṃghas. King Aśoka, however, acted in order to achieve a purification of the Buddhist saṃgha in conformity with Vinaya rules. This tradition shaped the history of Theravāda Buddhism in Sri Lanka from the time of its introduction during the reign of King Aśoka. Several purifications of the Sinhalese saṃgha under royal patronage occurred. Later, additional law books, termed katikāvata, regulated the affairs of the saṃgha, supplemented by a hierarchical system. Parallel developments occurred in the history of the saṃgha of the other Theravāda communities in Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. Buddhism in these countries introduced ordination traditions from other countries that were deemed superior to the local tradition on the occasions of saṃgha purification. Moreover, royal patronage of the monastic institutions went far beyond that of ancient Indian rulers; in fact, in some countries, such as Thailand, the administration of the monasteries developed into a kind of government department. After the breakdown of royal patronage of the saṃgha in Burma and Sri Lanka, monks in these two countries interfered in secular affairs during the colonial and postcolonial eras. Since 1978, however, the people of Burma (now called Myanmar) have attempted to form an autonomous hierarchical organization of the saṃgha under the patronage of the government.

Theravāda countries continue to support the old tradition that the saṃgha should be devoted solely to its spiritual aims. To this end, monks in these areas formed groups of forest dwellers (araññavāsm). Eventually, the forest dwellers were integrated into the structure of the official saṃgha organization; other monks decided to leave the established ways of fully organized monasticism and retreat into solitude. Membership in the saṃgha always implies, of course, minimal relationships with other monks in order to perform the prescribed vinayakarmas.

New schools (nikāyas) of Thervāda have emerged at various times. In ancient Sri Lanka, the Abhayagirivihāravāsin formed a separate nikāya in the first century bce, as did the Jetavanavihāravāsin in the fourth century ce. In the twelfth century, King Parākramabāhu I ordered the three nikāyas to reunite and declared the Mahāvihāra tradition authoritative. Since the beginning of the nineteenth century, however, the saṃgha of Sri Lanka has again split into a considerable number of nikāyas. In Burma, the first great schism arose about 1165 ce when Chapaṭa and his disciples established the Sīhaḷa saṅgha (based on a tradition of ordination introduced from Sri Lanka), in contrast to the local Mrammasaṅgha. From the early eighteenth century, until a royal decision that was issued in 1784, the Burmese saṃgha was divided over the correct way of wearing the monastic robes. During the nineteenth century, a number of new nikāyas were established there. In Thailand and in Cambodia, the saṃgha currently comprises the Mahānikāya and the reformist Dhammayuttikanikāya (founded in 1864 by King Mongkut while he was still a bhikkhu). These divisions prevent monks belonging to different nikāyas from performing vinayakarmas together, but they do not prevent them from cooperating in many other ways, including performing other rituals. Most of these divisions have arisen, not from dissensions about dogma, but from controversies about the validity of vinayakarmas. For the Buddhist laity, such divisions are largely irrelevant.

Naturally, the saṃgha became involved with communal life in many ways, particularly in areas where nearly everyone identified with Buddhism. The study of the holy scriptures (pariyatti) and the realization of the road to salvation (paṭipatti) remained the traditional tasks of the monks, but religious practice largely concentrated on the gaining of merit, which is accomplished through the cooperation of monks and lay people. The everyday relationship between saṃgha and laity is characterized by copious gifts from ordinary people to the monks and monasteries, and invitations to the monks to participate in important functions, such as funerals. The monks give religious addresses, readings of sacred texts, and ceremonial recitations of paritta, texts from the Buddhist scriptures providing protection from evil forces and disaster. Until the creation of modern school systems, monks also acted as teachers, giving general education to the laity in their monasteries. A highly sophisticated system of monastic schools and ecclesiastical examinations and titles still functions in Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand.

As mentioned above, there have always been monks who have concentrated almost exclusively on asceticism and meditation, and a living tradition of meditation masters still exists in a number of Burmese and Thai monasteries. In recent years, famous monk-teachers have opened meditation centers to instruct laity interested in the practice.

The SaṂgha in MahĀyĀna Buddhism

Many of the ancient nikāyas survived in India until the final destruction of Buddhism by Islamic conquerors. The Buddhist monasteries housed both Hināyāna and Mahāyāna monks; the situation was similar in eastern Turkestan. Mahāyāna Buddhism prevailed in China, Korea, Japan, and Tibet, but the saṃgha as an institution continued to be based on one of the old Vinaya traditions. The Chinese monks follow the Vinaya of the Dharmaguptaka school, and this tradition has been adopted in other countries where Buddhism was introduced from China, including Vietnam. The Tibetans follow the Mūlasarvāstivāda tradition, and this version of the Prātimokṣa is still recited today in their monasteries. Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhism encompass other forms of religious initiation, and religious communities outside the structures of traditional monasticism have come into existence. The histories of Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism recount several successful efforts to revive the ancient monastic discipline, and, as a rule, the formal distinction between monks and laity is still observed. This, however, does not apply to all forms of Central Asian and East Asian Buddhism. Particularly in Japan, the ancient monastic tradition has lost much of its original importance, and a majority of Buddhist communities there no longer form monastic institutions.

The SaṂgha and the International Buddhist Movement

Buddhist monks played a leading role in the formation of the international Buddhist movement, which was created in order to bring together Buddhists of all schools and of all countries. Although the movement began at the end of the nineteenth century, an international saṃgha organization did not come into being until 1966. The World Buddhist Sangha Council met that year in Colombo, created by delegates from the following countries: Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Nepal, Cambodia, Korea, Pakistan, India, Singapore, Thailand, England, and Laos, and a special delegation of the Tibetan saṃgha in exile. In a declaration made at its third congress (Taipei, 1981), this organization stated that more than one million Buddhist monks practice their faith in the world today.

See Also

Councils, article on Buddhist Councils; Monasticism, article on Buddhist Monasticism; Priesthood, article on Buddhist Priesthood.

Bibliography

The Theravāda Vinaya Piṭaka in Pali was edited by Hermann Oldenberg as The Vinaya Piṭakaṃ, 5 vols. (London, 1879–1883), and has been translated by I. B. Horner as The Book of the Discipline, 6 vols., "Sacred Books of the Buddhists," vols. 10–14, 20, and 25 (London, 1938). For a complete bibliography of the Vinaya literature of other Buddhist schools published before 1978, see Yūyama Akira's Vinaya-Texte (Wiesbaden, 1979). The most recent relevant publications are: Prātimokṣasūtra der Sarvāstivādins, ed. Georg von Simson, part 2 (Göttingen, 2000); Ann Heirman's "The Discipline in Four Parts"–Rules for Nuns according to the Dharmaguptakavinaya, 3 vols. (Delhi, 2002; with translation). An excellent study of the growth of Vinaya texts is Erich Frauwallner's The Earliest Vinaya and the Beginnings of Buddhist Literature (Rome, 1956). Further information on the early Buddhist saṃgha and early Buddhist schools is provided in the relevant chapters of the standard work by Étienne Lamotte, Histoire du bouddhisme indien: Des origines à 1'ère śaka (Louvain, 1958); English translation: History of Indian Buddhism from the Origins to the Śaka Era, transl. Sara Webb-Boin (Louvain-la-neuve, 1988). On karmavācanā, see Herbert Härtel's Karmavācanā: Formulare für den Gebrauch im buddhistischen Gemeindeleben (Berlin, 1956); on the problem of saṃgha bheda and nikāyabheda and Aśoka's reform of the saṃgha, see Heinz Bechert's essay "The Importance of Aśoka's So-Called Schism Edict," in Indological and Buddhist Studies: Volume in the Honour of Professor J W. de Jong, edited by L. A. Hercus and others (Canberra, 1982). A survey of all available versions of the Prātimokṣa is found in Wang Pachow's A Comparative Study of the Prātimokṣa (Shantiniketan, 1955); a translation of six versions of the Prātimokṣa rules for nuns was provided by Chatsumarn Kabilsingh, The Bhikkhunī Pātimokkha of the Six Schools (Delhi, 1998). Earlier monographs on the Buddhist saṃgha and several recent studies mainly concentrate on historical and sociological aspects, such as the books by Sukumar Dutt, Early Buddhist Monachism (London, 1924), Gokuldas De, Democracy in Early Buddhist Sangha (Calcutta, 1955), Patrick Olivelle, The Origin and the Early Development of Buddhist Monachism (Colombo, 1974), Rabindramath Bijay Barua, The Theravāda Buddhist Sangha (Dacca, 1978), and Gunaratne Panabokke, History of the Buddhist Sangha in India and Sri Lanka (Colombo, 1993). The application of the Vinaya rules in Thailand is dealt with by Vajirañanavarorasa, The Entrance to the Vinaya, Vinayamukha, 3 vols. (Bangkok, 1969–83) and Ordination Procedure (Bangkok, 1973). Recently, important aspects of the structure of the saṃgha and details of the relevant regulations have been extensively dealt with by several authors, including Petra Kieffer-Pülz, Die Sīmā (Berlin, 1992), Haiyan Hu-von Hinüber, Das Poṣadhavastu, Vorschriften für die buddhistische Beichtfeier (Reinbek, 1994), Ute Hüsken, Die Vorschriften für die buddhistische Nonnengemeinde (Berlin, 1997), Jin-il Chung, Die Pravāraṇā (Göttingen, 1998). For the saṃgha in China and its more recent history, see Holmes Welch's The Practice of Chinese Buddhism, 2d ed. (Cambridge, Mass., 1973), The Buddhist Revival in China (Cambridge, Mass., 1968) and Marcus Günzel's Die Taiwan -Erfahrung des chinesischen Saṅgha (Göttingen, 1998). Important sources from Sri Lanka are edited and translated by Nandasēna Ratnapāla in his The Katikāvatas: Laws of the Buddhist Order of Ceylon from the Twelfth Century to the Eighteenth Century (Munich, 1971). For the relation between saṃgha and state in later Theravāda Buddhism, see relevant titles in the second part of this article, Saṃgha and Society. See also H. Bechert's Buddhismus, Staat and Gesellschaftin den Ländern des Theravāda Buddhismus, new enlarged ed., 2 vols (Göttingen, 1998–2000); Ruth-Inge Heinze, The Role of the Sangha in Modern Thailand (Taipei, 1977). For saṃgha in Jainism, see Shantaram Bhalachandra Deo's Jaina Monastic Jurisprudence (Varanasi, 1960) and his History of Jaina Monachism, from Inscriptions and Literature (Poona, 1956).

Heinz Bechert (1987 and 2005)