Will the real Buddhist sangha stand up

Buddhisms gradual transformation into a more monk dominated religion after the Buddhas parinirvana at Kusinara was a change from what I shall term a spiritual sangha into an episcopal sangha in which the monastic community played the role of overseer (G., episkopos) not only guiding the sangha but molding Buddhism to fit the special needs of the monastic sangha and, indirectly, the lay Buddhist population.

For anyone who has been involved with the monastic sangha it is a complex bureaucracy in many respects. Those at the top oversee those on the bottom. The monastic structure, in this regard, is rather totemic. What is generally unknown by the monastic community and especially the Buddhist lay community is that the monastic sangha is not the same as the Triple Gem sangha (P., ti-ratana). They are quite different. Walpola Sri Rahula writes:

"The Sangha of the Triple-Jewel whcih is called svaka-sangha ("the Community of Disciples"), consisting of those eight holy persons indiscriminately from all four categories of the Buddha's disciples, both lay and monastic, male and female, may be considered as the "Spiritual Sangha". This is not an organized body controlled by a set of rules. This Holy Community exists in the world of the Dhamma, in the spiritual realm of our world. This is the Sangha of the Triple-Jewel in the purest and the highest sense (World Buddhism, Vol. XII, No. 11, July 1974, p. 330)

Monks who are not ariya-svakas (S., arya-sravaka) are naturally, puthujjanas, or worldlings. They have not entered the stream, that is, seen nirvana.

I have gone over this before in more detail in the blog: A sangha beyond the monastic sangha. Much of it is based on what I found in the World Buddhism publication. Edmund F. Perry & Shanta Ratnayaka did a great two article piece entitled, The Sangha of the ! Ti-Ratan a appearing in the 1974 June and July World Buddhism publication. To my knowledge the work of Perry and Ratnayaka, and even Rahulas previously cited article, have been all but ignored. This is not altogether amazing when we take into consideration the enormous power the Buddhist monastic sangha has over the minds of the lay population and especially the media.

Part of the reason modern Buddhism seems to be drifting towards secular materialism is that its spiritual side is being actively suppressed (along with the spiritual sangha) by some who wear the robe; who make up the monastic sangha. They should be better educated but apparently they arent or dont wish to be. Chinese Buddhist monks and nuns, on the other hand, seem to understand that after so many years of being a robe coat hanger they have to go into retreat if they are truly seeking enlightenment. Only by doing this can they hope to join the spiritual sangha.


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