Buddhist Practices - Buddhist Monasticism and Laity

Buddhist Monasticism and Laity

• Disciple 声闻弟子ShengWenDiZi (sāvaka • śrāvaka)
• Male lay follower (忧婆塞 YouPoSai) (upāsaka) and Female lay follower (忧婆夷 YouPoYi) (upāsikā)
  • Householder 在家弟子ZaiJiaDiZi
  • Dhammacārī — lay devotees who have seriously committed themselves to Buddhist practice for several years
  • Anāgārika — lay attendant of a monk
  • 近侍Jisha (Japan), JinShi (chinese) — personal attendant of a monastery's abbot or teacher in Chan/Zen Buddhism
  • Ngagpa — non-monastic male practitioners of such disciplines as Vajrayana, shamanism, Tibetan medicine, Tantra and Dzogchen
  • Thilashin — Burmese Buddhist female lay renunciant
  • Mae ji — Buddhist laywomen in Thailand occupying a position somewhere between that of an ordinary lay follower and an ordained monk
• Lower ordination (pabbajja • pravrajya)
  • Novice monk (sāmaṇera • śrāmaṇera)
  • Novice nun (samaṇerī • śrāmaṇerī)
• Higher ordination (upasampadā)
  • Monk (bhikkhu • bhikṣu)
  • Nun (bhikkhunī • bhikṣuṇī)
• Titles for Buddhist teachers
  • General
    • Acariya (Ācārya) — teacher
    • Upajjhaya (Upādhyāya) — preceptor
    • Pandita — a learned master, scholar or professor in Buddhist philosophy
    • Bhante — Venerable Sir
  • in Theravada
    • in Southeast Asia
      • Ayya — commonly used as a veneration in addressing or referring to an ordained Buddhist nun
    • in Thailand
      • Ajahn — Thai term which translates as teacher
      • Luang Por — means "venerable father" and is used as a title for respected senior Buddhist monastics
    • in Burma
      • Sayādaw — a Burmese senior monk of a monastery
    • in China
      • 和尚，Heshang — high-ranking or highly virtuous Buddhist monk; respectful designation for Buddhist monks in general
      • 僧侣，SengLv — Monk
      • 住持，ZhuChi — Abbot
      • 禅师，ChanShi — Chan/Zen Master
      • 法师，FaShi — Dharma Master
      • 律师，LvShi — Vinaya Master, teacher who focuses on the discipline and precepts
      • 开山祖师，KaiShanZuShi — founder of a school of Buddhism or the founding abbot of a Zen monastery
      • 比丘，BiQiu — transliteration of Bhikkhu
      • 比丘尼，BiQiuNi — transliteration of Bhikkhuni
      • 沙弥，ShaMi — transliteration of Samanera
      • 沙弥尼，ShaMiNi — transliteration of Samaneri
      • 尼姑，NiGu — Nun
      • 论师，LunShi — Abhidharma Master, one who is well versed in the psychology, thesis and higher teachings of buddhism
      • 师兄，ShiXiong — dharma brothers, used by laity to address each other, note that all male or female lay disciples are called 'Dharma Brothers'

• • in Japan
    • Ajari — a Japanese term that is used in various schools of Buddhism in Japan, specifically Tendai and Shingon, in reference to a "senior monk who teaches students
    • 和尚 Oshō — high-ranking or highly virtuous Buddhist monk; respectful designation for Buddhist monks in general
  • in Zen
    • in Japan
      • 开山 Kaisan — founder of a school of Buddhism or the founding abbot of a Zen monastery
      • 老师 Roshi — a Japanese honorific title used in Zen Buddhism that literally means "old teacher" or "elder master" and usually denotes the person who gives spiritual guidance to a Zen sangha
      • 先生 Sensei — ordained teacher below the rank of roshi
      • Zen master — individual who teaches Zen Buddhism to others
    • in Korea
      • Sunim — Korean title for a Buddhist monk or Buddhist nun
  • in Tibetan Buddhism
    • Geshe — Tibetan Buddhist academic degree for monks
    • Guru
    • Khenpo — academic degree similar to that of a doctorate or Geshe. Khenpo's often are made abbots of centers and monasteries
    • Khenchen — academic degree similar in depth to post doctorate work. Senior most scholars often manage many Khenpos
    • Lama — Tibetan teacher of the Dharma
    • Rinpoche — an honorific which literally means "precious one"
    • Tulku — an enlightened Tibetan Buddhist lama who has, through phowa and siddhi, consciously determined to take birth, often many times, in order to continue his or her Bodhisattva vow