Theravāda ''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' ( anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or '' Dhamma'' in ...

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, ''parisā'' (

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

for "assembly"') or ''catuparisā'' (Pali for "fourfold assembly"') refers to the wider Buddhist community of

monks A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

nuns A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of Evangelical counsels, poverty, chastity, and obedience in the Enclosed religious orders, enclosure of a monastery or convent.' ...

laymen In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. ...

(''upāsaka''), and laywomen (''upāsikā'') who have taken refuge in the

Three Jewels In Buddhism, refuge or taking refuge refers to a religious practice which often includes a prayer or recitation performed at the beginning of the day or of a practice session. Its object is typically the Three Jewels (also known as the Triple ...

. The term is distinct from the word "''

sangha Sangha or saṃgha () is a term meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community". In a political context, it was historically used to denote a governing assembly in a republic or a kingdom, and for a long time, it has been used b ...

''" which refers only to ordained monastics, but with reference to several specific contexts in the Pali Tripitaka which also uses the word "''sangha''" to refer to laymen and laywomen who have attained the four stages of awakening (''ariya'').Sangha
. 2005–2012.Robinson et al. (2005). ''Buddhist Religions: A Historical Introduction''. Fifth Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson, p. 32.{{Cite web , title=A Glossary of Pali and Buddhist Terms , url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/glossary.html , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708143211/https://www.accesstoinsight.org/glossary.html , archive-date=8 July 2020 , access-date=3 August 2009

References

Buddhism