The
bhikkhu order, in its earliest form, upheld continuous movement for eight months a year, and ate one meal a day, received from begging.
Theravada from Germany in United States Theravada monasticism is organized around the guidelines found within a division of the
Pāli Canon called the
Vinaya Pitaka.
Lay followers will undergo ordination as a novitiate (
śrāmaṇera or sāmanera) in a rite known as the "going forth" (Pali:
pabbajja). Sāmaneras are subject to the
Ten Precepts. From there full ordination (Pali:
upasampada) may take place. Bhikkhus are subject to a much longer set of rules known as the
Pātimokkha (Theravada) or
Prātimokṣa (Mahayana and
Vajrayana).
Mahayana , Kyoto. The
Jōdo-shū sect follows a
bodhisattva precept ordination that does not rely on the Vinaya precepts In
Mahayana Buddhism,
Vinaya based monasticism is part of the system of "vows of individual liberation". In
Mahayana and
Vajrayana traditions like
Tibetan Buddhism, the term "sangha" is, at the highest level, often understood to refer particularly to the
aryasangha (), the "community of the noble ones who have reached the first
[bodhisattva]
bhūmi". These need not be monks and nuns per se. Nevertheless, most traditional Mahayana communities maintain Vinaya ordination, with the exception of most of
Japanese Buddhism (see below). Traditionally, the vows of individual liberation are taken in four levels. A lay person may take the five
upāsaka and upāsikā vows (, "approaching virtue"). The next step is to enter the
pabbajja or monastic way of life (Skt:
pravrajyā, ), which includes wearing monk's or nun's robes. After that, one can become a
samanera or samaneri "novice" (Skt.
śrāmaṇera,
śrāmaṇeri, ). The final step is to take all the vows of a bhikkhu or
bhikkhuni "fully ordained monastic" (Sanskrit:
bhikṣu, bhikṣuṇī, ). Monastics take their vows for life but can renounce them and return to non-monastic life and even take the vows again later. In this way, Buddhism keeps the vows "clean". It is possible to keep them or to leave this lifestyle, but breaking these vows requires confession and expiation. In Tibetan Buddhism, the upāsaka, pravrajyā and bhikṣu ordinations are traditionally taken at ages six, fourteen and twenty-one or older, respectively. Tibetan Buddhism also includes a system of non-celibate clergy, called
Ngakpas. These Tibetan clergy may still be called "
lamas", but they do not follow the monastic Vinaya precepts. Nevertheless, all Tibetan Buddhists may still take additional vows not related to Vinaya ordination, including the
Bodhisattva vows, tantric
samaya vows and others, which are also open to laypersons in most instances.
In Japanese Buddhism In 9th century Japan, the monk
Saichō believed that the 250 Vinaya precepts were no longer able to be maintained. Since he held they had been primarily taught for the
Śrāvakayāna, and they had become too difficult to keep during the
age of Dharma decline, he promoted a form of monastic ordination that relied only on the
Mahayana bodhisattva precepts of the
Brahmajala Sutra. Saichō stipulated that the monastics of his new
Tendai school would remain on
Mount Hiei for twelve years of isolated training and follow the major themes of the 250 precepts:
celibacy, non-harming, no intoxicants, vegetarian eating and reducing labor for gain. After twelve years, monastics would then use the Vinaya precepts as provisional or supplemental guidelines when serving in non-monastic communities. As such, the
Tendai school developed an ordination system that did not rely on the traditional Vinaya precepts, marking a radical break with Buddhist monastic tradition. During the
Kamakura period (1185 to 1333), various other Buddhist schools were founded by Tendai monastics, including the
Jōdo-shū,
Sōtō Zen and
Nichiren. These new sects, who would later become some of the largest schools of Buddhism in Japan, also followed the Tendai model of bodhisattva precepts. During Japan's
Meiji Restoration (1870s), the government abolished
celibacy and
vegetarianism for Buddhist monastics in an effort to secularise them and promote the newly created
State Shinto. This changed the ordination practices of all sects, who had to abandon the following of the Vinaya. As such, the tradition of ordaining true Buddhist monks and nuns who adhere to the Vinaya has been effectively lost in Japanese Buddhism. In contemporary
Japanese Buddhism, non-celibate clergy are commonly referred by terms like
sōryo , and are regarded as distinct from
bhikkhu, known in Japanese as
biku . While often labeled “monks” and "nuns" in English, some consider it offensive and misleading to refer to non-celibate Buddhist clergy by this term, as it conflates them with
bhikkhu and
bhikkhuni. In English, non-celibate Buddhist clergy may be referred to as “priests” or "priestesses" to distinguish them from actual monks (bhikkhu) and nuns (bhikkhuni).
Korean Buddhism After the
Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910, when Japan annexed Korea, Korean Buddhism underwent many changes. and
Nichiren schools began sending missionaries to
Korea under Japanese rule and new sects formed there such as
Won Buddhism. The Temple Ordinance of 1911 () changed the traditional system whereby temples were run as a collective enterprise by the Sangha, replacing this system with Japanese-style management practices in which temple abbots appointed by the
Governor-General of Korea were given private ownership of temple property and given the rights of inheritance to such property. More importantly, monks from pro-Japanese factions began to adopt Japanese practices, by marrying and having children. Today, the practice of monastic celibacy varies in
Korean Buddhism. The two sects of
Korean Seon divided in 1970 over this issue; the
Jogye Order is fully celibate while the
Taego Order has both celibate monastics and non-celibate Japanese-style priests. == Monastic robes ==