Buddhist monasticism

Buddhist monasticism is the religious life and institutional organization of monks and nuns, centered on renunciation, communal discipline, study, and spiritual practice.

Sangha: The Buddhist community, especially the ordained monastic community in its narrower use. The monastic community is the institutional core of Buddhist monasticism.
Upasampada: The formal higher ordination by which a Buddhist novice becomes a fully ordained monastic. It confers the status and obligations of full membership in traditions that distinguish novice and full ordination.
Shakyamuni Buddha: The historical Buddha, an Indian teacher whose life and teachings founded Buddhism. Accounts of his followers establish the remembered beginnings of Buddhist renunciant communities.
Lay Buddhism: Buddhist practice and religious life undertaken by people who have not taken monastic ordination. Lay Buddhists share teachings and ethical commitments without adopting the full monastic rule.
Vinaya: The body of Buddhist monastic rules and procedures governing conduct and communal life. Its disciplinary codes structure ordination, daily conduct, and communal decisions.
Kathina: An annual Buddhist robe-offering ceremony held after the rains retreat in traditions that observe it. The ceremony links seasonal retreat, lay generosity, and communal monastic life.
Śramaṇa: A renunciant movement in ancient India whose practitioners pursued liberation outside household life. Buddhist monasticism emerged within the wider Indian culture of wandering renunciants.
Theravada: A major Buddhist tradition whose canonical language is Pali and whose monastic institutions follow Theravada lineages. Its Vinaya lineage and alms-based ideals offer one influential model of monastic life.
Pratimoksha: A recitation of core monastic precepts that ordained Buddhists undertake to observe. Its precepts form the recurring personal discipline embedded in monastic codes.
Vassa: The annual rainy-season retreat observed by Buddhist monastics in many traditions. Its period of residence and intensified practice anchors the monastic calendar.

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