Sangha

Sangha refers the group of people that follow the teachings of Buddha, translating literally from Sanskrit as “collection” or “assemblage” (Borchert, 2012). Sangha is included in the ‘Three Jewels” or Buddhist sites of refuge, the two others being the Buddha and the Dharma. Who is included in the Sangha is highly dependent on the author of the definition. In the broadest terms, the “fourfold” sangha is made up of monks (bhiksus), nuns (bhikshunis), male lay followers (upāsaka), and female lay followers (upāsikā) (Bechert, 2005). However, some traditional texts define sangha more narrowly, including only those followers who have achieved the “first stage of awakening” (Access to Insight, 2013).

There is an important distinction to be made between Sangha and the Sangha Gem. Sangha represents a community of physical people described above, while the Sangha Gem is a theoretical space of refuge. This can lead to potential misunderstanding because “if we don’t know clearly what the Sangha Gem is, we might think it refers to the people in our Dharma center. Then, if that community disappoints us, or acts improperly, we might lose our refuge thinking, ‘This is not at all something trustworthy […]'” (Berzin, 2003). Thus, the Sangha Gem should be thought of as separate from Sangha as a collection of people. Both the Theravada and Mahayana traditions consider the Sangha Gem to be held at the level of “arya,” or that which has achieved spiritual enlightenment at one of the four stages (Berzin, 2003).

Sangha holds practical importance for the propagation of Buddhist thought and practice. On a mechanical level, the Buddhist tradition relies on the principle of “succession” as a way of purveying knowledge through the teachers (monks and nuns) and pupils who come together to lay the foundation of Sangha.

At the dawn of Buddhism, Sangha consisted of a collection of “homeless wanderers” and lay followers that accompanied the Buddha in his travels and teachings, having renounced all of their ties to friends, family, and physical posessions (Gethin, 1998). It is understood that the first of these followers were five ascetics to whom the Buddha recited his first sermon. They followed him for a period of six years before being formally inducted into monkhood (Buswell, 2003). As the Buddha’s following grew in number and the Buddha himself passed away, it became necessary for the large groups of followers to settle during the monsoon season when the heavy rains would make travel difficult and destructive to the environment. During this period the followers resided in āvāsas, which they constructed themselves, and ārāmas, which were donated by wealthy supporters (Keown and Prebish, 2007). Gradually, these settlements became permanent as the advantages of settled life became apparent. It was not until Buddhists abandoned transience in favor of permanence that scholarship and literary traditions were able to flourish, setting the foundations for what the religion has become today.

The Vinaya Pitaka, often shortened to Vinaya (translates to Basket of Monastic Discipline), is a series of texts that arose with the establishment of monasteries that have been used and altered by a variety of Buddhist traditions (Bechert, 2005). The first part serves as a set of monastic codes that detail vows and practices to maintain the order of monastic structure. The second part of the Vinaya is the Skandhaka, which deals more with the overarching governance of the Sangha. A third section of the Vinaya addresses miscellaneous concerns. There are three types of Buddhist vows: Pratimoksa vows, Bodhisattva vows, and Tantric vows. Within the Pratimoska Sūtra are a set of vows, subdivided into lay vows (5), novice vows (10), and full monastic vows (258 for men, 364 for women). The successive number of vows for each order is a good representation of the increasing demands of monastic life as compared to lay life. Additionally, there are 8 heavy dharmas for fully ordained nuns, which describe how nuns must act in relation to male monks. The full monastic vows are a window into the degree to which women have been traditionally treated as inferior to their male counterparts (from in-class handout on vows).

The meaning of Sangha evolved with the gradual institutionalization of Buddhism in the form of monasteries. Monasteries can be recognized by several parameters. Firstly, they establish a physical separation from the rest of the world and a withdrawal from “regular” lifestyle. Secondly, they served as a recipient-site of offerings. Thirdly, they were hardly self-sufficient and reliant on the laity and communities outside their walls for financial and material support. The lay community expresses its support for the monastic institution mainly through “acts of generosity,” which might include donations of food in the form of offerings to monks, time and money for the maintenance of the grounds, or other communal services. For their “acts of gratitude” the laity receive spiritual credit that will advance their practice and accrue good karma (Gethin, 1998, p. 107).

As Buddhism finds its place in modernity, it is important to address the dynamic between urban and rural Buddhist monasteries, as well as tension between traditional and modern ways of settlement. “A situation where a monk lives in a wealthy monastery effectively enjoying personal rights of ownership over a share of that monastery’s wealth is somewhat removed from the ideal of the homeless mendicant,” which pervades early depictions of the Sangha, writes Rupert Gethin in The Foundation of Buddhism. While some Buddhists still practice this type of forest-dwelling extreme asceticism, it remains more of ideal than a widespread practice. Likewise, even monastic life has become less and less prevalent as landscapes change and cities have reconstructed Buddhists’ relationship to space and seclusion. In order for the endurance of Sangha, Buddhists are reckoning with new ways of engaging with and organizing followers (Keown and Prebish, 2007).

References

Bechert, Heinz. “Sangha: An Overview.” Encyclopedia of Religion, edited by Lindsay Jones, 2nd ed., vol. 12, Macmillan Reference USA, 2005, pp. 8071-8076. Gale eBooks, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3424502728/GVRL?u=31841&sid=GVRL&xid=825c034d. Accessed 10 Nov. 2019.

Bhikkhu, Thanissaro. “Refuge: An Introduction to the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha.” Access to Insight. 2001.

Bhikku, Thanissaro (translator). “Mahanama Sutta.” 1997. https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an11/an11.012.than.html#recall-Sangha

Borchert, Thomas. “Sangha.” Oxford Bibliographies, 2012.

Gethin, Rupert. The Foundations of Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 1998, Oxford.

In-class handout on Buddhist vows.

Keown, Damien and Charles Prebish. “Sangha.” Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2007, p. 653 – 667.

“Sangha”, edited by Access to Insight. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/sangha.html.

Further Readings

Batchelor, Stephen. “Creating Sangha.” Tricycle Magazine, 1995. https://tricycle.org/magazine/creating-sangha/ —– A interesting contemplation on the role and relevance of monks and nuns in the sangha in modern Buddhism.

Strenski, Ivan. “On Generalized Exchange and the Domestication of the Sangha.” Man, New Series, Vol. 18, No. 3 (Sep., 1983), pp. 463-477 http://www.jstor.org/stable/2801592—– This research expands upon some of the ideas discussed in this entry and posits that Sangha has developed as a “physical residence” (monasteries, etc.) not because of deviation from traditional values but as a result of contributions from supporters.

This book, “The Monastery Rules: Buddhist Monastic Organization in Pre-Modern Tibet,” is deeper dive into the traditional monastic cultures described in this entry. The introduction, as well as individual chapters, can be accessed through the JSTOR link.

External Links

Photo documentary of the Sangha around the world through the Buddhist E-Library, photographed by Friedrich Reg.

In this video, Buddhist monk Ajahn Brahm explains the relationship between Sangha and Buddhist ideas of democracy. Brahm is Australian-born and was ordained in Bangkok at the age of twenty three.

A video of a Harvard Divinity School panel titled “Buddhism and Race in America: Intra-Sangha Racial Dynamics.” This is a relevant source for continuing to think about the adjustment of Sangha to modernization.