Sangha

Sangha is a Sanskrit and Pali term meaning association, assembly, or company, referring in Buddhism primarily to the monastic community of ordained monks (bhikkhu) and nuns (bhikkhuni); some Buddhist scholars have argued that the tradition of the sangha represents humanity's oldest surviving democratic institution. A separate category, the aryasangha or noble sangha, refers to those who have attained recognized stages of enlightenment regardless of whether they hold monastic status, and scholars identify two levels of meaning for the term overall: an ideal level encompassing all of the Buddha's followers, lay or ordained, who have reached at least the first stage of enlightenment, and a conventional level referring specifically to the ordained orders of monks and nuns. Established by Gautama Buddha in the fifth century BCE, the sangha provides a disciplined environment for full-time spiritual practice, preserves Buddhist teachings, maintains doctrinal integrity, and offers spiritual support to lay communities, with its members adhering to the vinaya, a code of conduct containing 227 main rules governing celibacy and other ethical requirements. While some Buddhist traditions restrict the term sangha to enlightened practitioners specifically, Mahayana Buddhists and modernist Buddhist movements increasingly use the term more broadly to encompass all members of the Buddhist community.