Sangha (Buddhism)

Sangha (Pali: saṅgha; Sanskrit: saṃgha; Chinese: 僧伽; pinyin: Sēngjiā; Wylie: dge 'dun) is a word in Pali and Sanskrit meaning "association", "assembly," "company" or "community" and most commonly refers in Buddhism to the monastic community of bhikkhus (monks) and bhikkhuni (nuns). These communities are traditionally referred to as the bhikkhu-sangha or bhikkhuni-sangha. As a separate category, those who have attained any of the four stages of enlightenment, whether or not they are ordained monastics, are referred to as the āryasaṅgha "noble Sangha".

According to the Theravada school, the term "sangha" does not refer to the community of sāvakas (lay followers) nor the community of Buddhists as a whole.

In a glossary of Buddhist terms, Richard Robinson et al. define Sangha as:

Sangha. Community. This word has two levels of meaning: (1) on the ideal (arya) level, it denotes all of the Buddha’s followers, lay or ordained, who have at least attained the level of srotāpanna; (2) on the conventional (saṃvṛti) level, it denotes the orders of the Bhikṣus and Bhikṣunis.

Modern lay practitioners may use the word "Sangha" as a collective term for all Buddhists, but the Theravadin Pāli Canon uses the word pariṣā (Sanskrit pariṣad) for the larger Buddhist community — the monks, nuns, lay men, and lay women who have taken the Three Refuges — reserving "Sangha" for a more restricted use.

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