Digital Dictionary of Buddhism

DDB Top Page 
 
 
  XML source

僧

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: community of monks and nuns

Senses:

  • Originally an abbreviation of the transcription of the Sanskrit saṃgha as 僧伽, also translated as 和合衆 and 衆. In earlier East Asian usage it refers the corporate assembly of at least three (formerly four) monks under a chairman, empowered to hear confession, grant absolution, and ordain—the church or monastic order, the third member of the triratna. Later the term comes to refer to individual monks and nuns, known collectively as 二部僧 or 兩僧伽. Also seen rendered as 僧侶, 僧佉, 僧加, 僧企耶 (Skt. ārya-saṃgha, gaṇa, gaṇârya, dhīmat, bhikṣu, bhikṣu-saṃgha, śrāvaka-saṃgha, sāṃghika; Tib. dge 'dun). [Charles Muller; source(s): Nakamura,YBh-Ind, Hirakawa, JEBD, Yokoi, Iwanami]
  • That which belongs to, or is of the saṃgha. [Charles Muller]
  • In China and most other countries where Buddhism has flourished, a Buddhist monk is a man who has (at least) shaved his head, donned monastic robes, and been ordained with the ten novice precepts 沙彌十戒 established in the Indian Vinaya, which makes him a novice 沙彌. A bhikṣu 比丘 or full-fledged monk 大僧 is one who has, in addition, been ordained with the full precepts 具足戒 of the complete Prâtimokṣa. In Japan, however, from the Heian period (794–1185) on some men who shaved their heads and joined monastic orders began to be ordained using only bodhisattva precepts. In present-day Sōtō Zen, monks are men who have undergone the ceremony of taking precepts when going forth from household life 出家得度式作法; the rite entails shaving the head, donning monastic robes, and receiving the bodhisattva precepts. In present-day Rinzai Zen, monks are men who have taken the traditional ten novice precepts. Technically, therefore, there are no Japanese Zen bhikṣus 比丘, but in certain ritual contexts that term is used for Zen monks 禪僧 nevertheless. Throughout most of the history the Zen schools of Buddhism in Japan, celibacy was the norm for Zen monks. However, in 1873 the new Meiji government reversed state policies concerning the Buddhist saṃgha that had been in force during the preceding Edo period (1600–1868), and since that time monks belonging to the Zen schools have been allowed to marry. Most Zen monks today are the sons of Zen temple priests, an occupation that has become largely hereditary. In Japanese Zen today, monks comprise more than 99 of the total ordained clergy, which numbers about 25,000. [Griffith Foulk]
  • CJKV-E
  • Search SAT
  • Search INBUDS Database

    • Feedback

    [Dictionary References]

    Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 661

    Bulgyo sajeon 499a

    Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.) 711c

    Iwanami bukkyō jiten 508

    Japanese-English Buddhist Dictionary (Daitō shuppansha) 305a/338

    Zenrin shōkisen (Mujaku Dōchū) 224/193

    Japanese-English Zen Buddhist Dictionary (Yokoi) 573, 726

    Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura) 873a

    Ding Fubao

    Buddhist Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary (Hirakawa) 0148

    Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)3017c

    Bukkyō daijiten (Oda) 1070-3

    Sanskrit-Tibetan Index for the Yogâcārabhūmi-śāstra (Yokoyama and Hirosawa)

    Copyright provisions

    The rights to textual segments (nodes) of the DDB are owned by the author indicated in the brackets next to each segment. For rights regarding the compilation as a whole, please contact Charles Muller. Please do not reproduce without permission. And please do not copy into Wikipedia without proper citation!

    Entry created: 1993-09-01

    Updated: 2014-10-14