🌟 Mahayana Buddhism
A bodhisattva vows to help all beings reach enlightenment. A well-known example is Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. Mahayana Buddhists try to copy this compassion in daily life.
Buddhism: Origins and Their Impact on the Community » The Sangha: Bhikkhus, Bhikkhunis and Bodhisattvas
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 2 Buddhism (4RS1/2A), 1.3, 1.1
- The Buddha and the bodhisattvas as examples of leadership for Buddhists today
- The role and importance of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis, including ordination and the Vinaya
- Why the Sangha matters in the lives of individual Buddhists
- How monks, nuns and lay people support each other
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Unlock This CourseLeadership in the Sangha: the example of the Buddha
The Sangha is the Buddhist community, and in a narrow sense the community of monks and nuns. In The Buddha's Teaching, Death and Parinirvana you saw that it began at Sarnath. Who leads it? The Buddha led by example. Buddhist tradition says he:
- taught for about 45 years, travelling on foot from place to place
- taught people of every background
- founded the Sangha and gave it its rules
- named no successor. He told his followers to take the Dhamma as their guide.
This is why there is no single head of all Buddhists. Leadership in the Sangha rests on following the Dhamma and the rules, and on the example of respected teachers.
Bodhisattvas as examples
A bodhisattva (met in Ultimate Reality in Buddhism: Do Gods Matter?) is a being on the way to becoming a Buddha. Buddhists understand the word in different ways:
🙏 Theravada Buddhism
The word is used for the Buddha before his enlightenment. Theravada Buddhists look instead to the arhat, a person who has reached enlightenment, as the model to follow.
Key terms:
- Avalokiteshvara: the bodhisattva of compassion in Mahayana Buddhism.
- Ordination: the ceremony in which a person formally becomes a monk or nun.
- Laity: Buddhists who are not monks or nuns (lay people).
Bhikkhus and bhikkhunis
A bhikkhu is a Buddhist monk and a bhikkhuni is a nun (both words appeared in Childlessness, Contraception and Celibacy in Buddhism). They give up ordinary family and working life to follow the Buddha's path more fully. Their role has several parts:
- Ordination. Someone who joins the Sangha is ordained. They wear simple robes and give up most possessions.
- Following the Vinaya. The Vinaya (the rules for the Sangha, met in the same lesson) covers how monks and nuns live. It includes celibacy, owning very little and living simply.
- Study. They study the Buddha's teaching, so that it is passed on.
- Meditation. They have time to meditate every day, aiming to reduce craving and reach nibbana.
- Teaching and leading ceremonies. They teach the Dhamma to lay people and lead ceremonies, such as chanting and blessings.
Monks and nuns are important because they keep the teaching alive and show Buddhists what a life committed to the path looks like. Many lay Buddhists respect them as role models.
A debate about nuns. As you saw in Equality, Women and Disability in Buddhism, Buddhists disagree about full ordination for women. Some support it, and some traditions do not allow it.
The importance of the Sangha in people's lives
The Sangha is one of the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha. These are the three things in which Buddhists take refuge (the Three Refuges). For an individual Buddhist, the Sangha gives:
📚 Guidance
Teachers who explain the Dhamma and answer questions.
🤝 Support
Fellow Buddhists to practise with, which makes the path less lonely.
🌟 Example
People who show that the teaching can be lived every day.
How the monastic Sangha and the laity depend on each other
Monks and nuns do not earn a living, so they depend on lay people. Lay people depend on them for teaching. This is mutual dependence.
🍚 Lay people give
Food, robes and shelter. Giving (dana) earns merit, which Buddhists believe leads to good results in the future.
📖 Monks and nuns give
Teaching, guidance and example. They also lead ceremonies and give advice.
Buddhists view this in different ways. Some stress that the two groups need each other equally. Others say that monastic life is the fullest way to practise, and lay life supports it. Many modern Buddhists, especially in the West, put great weight on the practice of lay people.
Common mistakes
- Saying the Buddha chose a leader. He named no successor and pointed his followers to the Dhamma.
- Saying all Buddhists see bodhisattvas the same way. Mahayana and Theravada understand the word differently.
- Saying only monks and nuns count as Buddhists. Lay people are Buddhists too.
- Describing what monks do without saying why it matters. Always add why it matters for Buddhists.
Exam-style question
Paper 2 (a) [AO1] Outline two roles of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis in the Sangha. [4 marks]
Paper 2 (b) [AO1, AO2] Explain why the Sangha is important for Buddhists. [6 marks]
Paper 2 (c) [AO1, AO2] "Monks and nuns are more important to Buddhism than lay Buddhists."
Discuss this statement, considering the arguments for and against. In your answer you should include reference to teachings, other (divergent) points of view, and your own opinion using reasoned arguments. [10 marks]
Model answer
(a) They study and pass on the Buddha's teaching (1), so that the Dhamma is kept alive (1). They also teach lay people and lead ceremonies (1), which helps ordinary Buddhists understand and practise the Dhamma (1).
(b) The Sangha is one of the Three Jewels, and Buddhists take refuge in it (1). It shows what a life committed to the path looks like, so monks and nuns are role models (1). It gives guidance, because teachers explain the Dhamma and help Buddhists with questions (1). It gives support, because Buddhists practise together (1). It keeps the teaching alive by studying and passing it on (1), and it links lay people and monastics through giving (dana) and teaching, so both gain (1).
(c) Plan. For: monks and nuns follow the Vinaya, meditate and study full time, so they keep the teaching alive and give lay people a model; many Buddhists see monastic life as the closest to the Buddha's own example. Against: monks and nuns rely on lay people for food, robes and shelter, so without the laity the Sangha could not continue; most Buddhists are lay people, and Buddhist teaching says anyone can follow the path, including householders; many modern Buddhists put great weight on lay practice. Possible conclusion: monastics are very important because they preserve and teach the Dhamma, but they depend on lay people, so the two are equally needed. I think neither can be called more important because each makes the other possible.
Exam tip
In a 4-mark "Outline two" question, give two different roles and add a short development to each, such as "so that" or "which means". Keep to monks and nuns, not lay people.