What does the word Sangha mean?

Sangha (saṅgha) literally means “assembly”, “community”. The word has two uses in Buddhism: the sangha as the monastic institution as a whole, and the sangha as the class of practitioners with certain spiritual attainments. The two overlap, but they do not coincide completely.

The monastic Sangha is the community of monks (bhikkhu-saṅgha) and nuns (bhikkhunī-saṅgha) who live by the Vinaya, the code of discipline. In other words, the whole Buddhist monastic organisation with its ordinations, rules and procedures.

The Sangha of the Buddha’s disciples (sāvaka-saṅgha), also called the noble Sangha (ariya-saṅgha), is both monks and lay people who have reached one of the four key “milestones” of the path. The canonical formula defines them as “four pairs, eight persons” (MN 7, AN 8.59):

• the one practising for stream-entry and the stream-enterer;
• the one practising for once-return and the once-returner;
• the one practising for non-return and the non-returner;
• the one practising for arahantship and the arahant (the highest spiritual attainment in Buddhism, short of being a “buddha”).

A noble disciple, then, can turn out to be a monk or a lay person alike. It should be added that this is the classification of the Pali canon. Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism introduce the institution of bodhisattvas with gradations of its own.

The Sangha is one of the “Three Jewels” of Buddhism, in which refuge is taken (on entering Buddhism). The refuge formula means precisely the “noble Sangha”, the Sangha of the Blessed One’s disciples. Accounts of going for refuge sometimes mention “the Sangha of monks”, but the normative explanation of the Third Jewel is exactly the four pairs and eight persons.

These days the word “sangha” is often used as a collective name for the Buddhist community as a whole - the four assemblies (parisā):

• monks;
• nuns;
• laymen;
• laywomen.

And, beyond that, almost any group practising in the spirit of Buddhism, secular ones included.

In this sense our Majjhima Nikaya reading club can also be called a sangha - a gathering of people who read, argue and practise together. It is not, however, a canonical term.

A key theme for the Sangha is living in peace and concord. The suttas of the canon give it a great deal of attention. In particular, six principles of cordiality are laid down for the monastic sangha:

• kindness in deeds;
• kindness in speech;
• kindness in thought;
• readiness to share without stinginess with fellow practitioners whatever has been rightfully obtained, down to the food in the bowl;
• discipline held in common;
• view held in common (AN 6.12).

And if a dispute does arise, many ways of settling it are offered (MN 104).

Where to read: MN 7 (the formula of the Sangha’s qualities), MN 104 (how the community handles disputes), MN 118 (an exemplary monastic Sangha on a full-moon night).