Bhikkhu
Buddhist monks in Thailand
Chinese name
Chinese	比丘
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin bǐqiū - Wade–Giles Pi3-ch'iu1
Native Chinese name
Chinese	和尚
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin héshàng - Wade–Giles he2-shang4
Burmese name
Burmese	ဘိက္ခု
Tibetan name
Tibetan	དགེ་སློང་
Transcriptions - Wylie dge slong - THDL gelong
Thai name
Thai	ภิกษุ
RTGS	phiksu
Japanese name
Kanji	和尚
Transcriptions - Romanization Oshō
Tamil name
Tamil	துறவி turawi
Sanskrit name
Sanskrit	Bhikṣu
Pali name
Pali	Bhikkhu
Nepali name
Nepali	भिक्षु

A Bhikkhu (Pāli) or Vhikṣu (Sanskrit) is an ordained male Buddhist monastic.^[1] A female monastic is called a Bhikkhuni (Skt: Bhikṣuṇī) Nepali: भिक्षुणी). The life of Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis is governed by a set of rules called the patimokkha within the vinaya's framework of monastic discipline.^[1] Their lifestyle is shaped to support their spiritual practice, to live a simple and meditative life, and attain Nirvana.^[2] In the Vinaya monastic discipline, a man under the age of 20 cannot ordain as a bhikkhu but can ordain as a samanera (เณร); the female counterpart is samaneri.

Introduction[link]

Tibetan monks engaging in a traditional monastic debate.

Bhikkhu may be literally translated as "beggar" or more broadly as "one who lives by alms". It is philologically analysed in the Pāli commentary of Buddhaghosa as "the person who sees danger (in samsara or cycle of rebirth)" (Pāli: Bhayaṃ ikkhatīti: bhikkhu). He therefore seeks ordination to release from it.^[3] The Dhammapada states:

He is not thereby a Bhikkhu
merely because he seeks alms from others;
by following the whole code (of morality)
one certainly becomes a Bhikkhu and not (merely) by seeking alms. Herein he who has transcended both good and evil,
whose conduct is sublime,
who lives with understanding in this world,
he, indeed, is called a Bhikkhu.^[4]

A bhikkhu has taken a vow to enter the Sangha (Buddhist monastic community)^[5] and is expected to obey the Patimokkha, rules of monastic conduct (typically around 227 for a male and 311 for a female) as set out in the Vinaya, although there are considerable local variations in the interpretations of these rules. A novice monk or nun in the Tibetan tradition takes 36 vows of conduct. The minimum age to take bhikkhu vows according to ruling is 20 years counted from the conception (i.e., approximately 19 years and 3 months from birth).

In English literature before the mid-20th century, Buddhist monks were often referred to by the term bonze, particularly when describing monks from East Asia and French Indochina. This term is derived via Portuguese and French from the Japanese word bonsō for a priest or monk and has become less common in modern literature.^[6]

Becoming a Bhikkhu/Bhikkhuni[link]

In India, monasticism is part of the system of "vows of individual liberation".^[3] These vows are taken by monks and nuns from the ordinary sangha, in order to develop personal ethical discipline.^[3] In Mahayana Buddhism, the term "sangha" is, in principle, often understood to refer particularly to the Arya Sangha (Tib. mchog kyi tshogs, pronounced chokyi tsok)) the "community of the noble ones who have reached the first bhumi". These, however, need not be monks and nuns.

The vows of individual liberation are taken in four steps. A lay person may take the five upāsaka (Pali and Sanskrit; feminine: upāsikā; Tibetan dge snyan/dge snyan ma, pronounced genyen/genyenma, "approaching virtue") vows. The next step is to enter the pabbajja (Srt: pravrajya, Tib. rab byung pronounced rabjung), or monastic way of life, which includes wearing monk's or nun's robes. After that, one can become a samanera (Pali; feminine: samaneri; Skt. śrāmaṇera/śrāmaṇeri, Tib. dge tshul/dge tshul ma, pronounced getshül/getshülma), or novice monk/nun. The last and final step is to take all the vows of a bhikkhu/bhukkhuni (Pali, Sanskrit: Bhikṣu/Bhikṣuṇīs, Tib. dge long/dge long ma>, pronounced gelong/gelongma) a "fully ordained monk/nun."

Monks and nuns take their vows for a lifetime. A monk can give bhikkhu vows back and return to home living,^[5] and take the vows again later.^[5] He can take them up to three times or seven times in one life; after that the sangha should not accept him.^[7] In this way, Buddhism keeps the vows "clean". It is possible to keep them or to leave this lifestyle, but it is considered extremely negative to break these vows.

In Tibet, rabjung, getshül, gelong ordinations are usually taken at ages six, fourteen and twenty-one or older, respectively.

Robes[link]

Monk at Great Wild Goose Pagoda, Xi'an, China

The special dress of ordained people, the robes, comes from the idea of wearing cheap clothes just to protect the body from weather and climate. Monks often make their own robes from cloth that is donated to them.^[1] They shall not be made from one piece of cloth, but mended together from several pieces. Since dark red was the cheapest colour in Kashmir, the Tibetan tradition has red robes. In the south, yellow played the same role, though the color of saffron also had cultural associations in India; in East Asia, robe color varies from yellow to brown (Thailand, Theravada), red to purple (Burma, Theravada) and grey or black (e.g., Vietnam, Vajrayana (Zen)).

The robes of getshül novices and gelong monks differ in various aspects, especially in the application of "holes" in the gelong dress. Some monks tear their robes into pieces and then mend these pieces together again. The rabjung novices shall not wear the "chö-göö", the yellow tissue worn during Buddhist teachings by both getshüls and gelongs.

In observance of the Kathina Puja, a special Kathina robe is made in 24 hours from donations by lay supporters of a temple. The robe is donated to the temple or monastery, and the resident monks then select from their own number a single monk to receive this special robe.^[8]

Additional vows in the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions[link]

Portrait of a Buddhist Monk

In Mahayana traditions, a Bhikṣu may take additional vows not related to ordination, including the Bodhisattva vows, samaya vows, and others, which are also open to laypersons in most instances.

In addition, in some traditions there are forms of non-vinaya ordinations, the holders of which are not considered Bhikṣus. These included ordination into the "White Sangha" lineage of Tibetan yogis (Tib. naljorpa/naljorma, <rnal hbyor pa/ma>), and all of the ordination lineages of the various Japanese traditions.

Conclusion[link]

"Ordination" in Buddhism is a cluster of methods of self-discipline according to the needs, possibilities and capabilities of individuals. According to the spiritual development of his followers, the Buddha gave different levels of vows. The most advanced method is the state of a bikshu(ni), a fully ordained follower of the Buddha's teachings. The goal of the bhikku(ni) in all traditions is to achieve liberation from suffering.

Monks in Japan[link]

Saicho (AKA Dengyo) petitioned for a Mahayana Ordination Platform to be built in Japan. Permission was granted seven days after Dengyo died.^[9] The platform was completed in 827 CE by Dengyo's disciple, Gishin.^[9] Dengyo believed the 250 precepts were Hinayana, and that people should be ordained with the Mahayana Precepts of the Brahma Net Sutra.^[9]

During the Meiji Restoration, monastics in Japan were permitted to marry and eat meat to secularise them and promote the new imperial Shinto as a state religion, Buddhism having been the administrative assistant of choice of the previous regime.^[10][11]

See also[link]

• Anagarika
• Unsui
• Master Cheng

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Inwood, Kristiaan. Bhikkhu, Disciple of the Buddha. Bangkok, Thailand: Thai Watana Panich, 1981. (No ISBN listed in the Library of Congress catalog.)
• Inwood, Kristiaan. Bhikkhu, Disciple of the Buddha, revised edition. Bangkok, Thailand: Orchid Press, 2005. ISBN 978-974-524-059-9.

External links[link]

• The Buddhist Monk's Discipline Some Points Explained for Laypeople
• Thirty Years as a Western Buddhist Monk

Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
Ajaan Geoff giving a Dhamma Talk
Religion	Theravada Buddhism
School	Kammatthana
Dharma name(s)	Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu Ajaan Geoff
Personal
Nationality	American
Born	c. 1949
Senior posting
Based in	Metta Forest Monastery
Title	Phra Geoffrey DeGraff
Religious career
Teacher	Ajaan Fuang, Ajaan Suwat
Website	www.watmetta.org

Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, also known as Ajaan Geoff, (born 1949) is an American Theravada Buddhist monk of the Dhammayut Order (Dhammayutika Nikaya), Thai forest kammatthana tradition. He is currently the abbot of Metta Forest Monastery in San Diego County. Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu is a notably skilled and prolific translator of the Pāli Canon.^[1] He is also the author of many free Dhamma books.^[2]

Biography[link]

Ajaan Geoff going on almsround

Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu was born Geoffrey DeGraff in 1949 and was introduced to the Buddha's teaching on the Four Noble Truths as a high schooler, during a plane ride from the Philippines.^[2] After graduating in 1971 with a degree in European Intellectual History from Oberlin College, he travelled to Thailand, where he practiced meditation under Ajaan Fuang Jotiko, who'd studied under Ajaan Lee. He was ordained in 1976 at Ajaan Lee's Wat Asokaram, where Ajaan Lee's nephew, Phra Rajvarakhun (Samrong Gunavuddho), served as Preceptor for his ordination. Later, he took residence at Wat Dhammasathit in Thailand, where he continued studying under Ajaan Fuang.^[3]

Before Ajaan Fuang's death in 1986, he expressed his wish for Ajaan Geoff to become abbot of Wat Dhammasathit. Some time after his teacher's death, Ajaan Geoff was offered the position of abbot, but with "strings... attached" and no authority since he was a Westerner in a monastery founded by and for Thai monks. Instead of taking that position, he travelled to San Diego County in 1991, upon request of Ajaan Suwat Suvaco, where he helped him start Metta Forest Monastery.^[2] He became abbot of the monastery in 1993.^[3] In 1995, Ajaan Geoff became the first American born, non-Thai bhikkhu to be given the title, authority, and responsibility of Preceptor (Upajjhaya) in the Dhammayut Order. He also serves as Treasurer of that order in the United States.

Publications[link]

His extensive list of publications includes:^[4]

• Translations of Ajaan Lee's meditation manuals from the Thai
• Handful of Leaves, a five-volume anthology of sutta translations
• The Buddhist Monastic Code, a two-volume reference handbook on the topic of monastic discipline
• Wings to Awakening, a study of the factors taught by Buddha as being essential for awakening
• The Mind Like Fire Unbound, an examination of Upadana (clinging) and Nibbana (Nirvana) in terms of contemporary philosophies of fire
• The Paradox of Becoming, an extensive analysis on the topic of becoming as a causal factor of stress and suffering
• The Shape of Suffering, a study of dependent co-arising and its relationship to the factors of the noble eightfold path
• Skill in Questions, a study of how the Buddha's fourfold strategy in answering questions provides a framework for understanding the strategic purpose of his teachings
• Noble Strategy, The Karma of Questions, Purity of Heart, and Head & Heart Together, collections of essays on Buddhist practice
• Meditations (1-5), collections of transcribed Dhamma talks
• Dhammapada: A Translation, a collection of verses by the Buddha
• And as co-author, a college-level textbook, Buddhist Religions: A Historical Introduction

Aside from Buddhist Religions, all of the books mentioned above have been made available for free distribution, and many of these can be read and downloaded in digital format online. Also available for free are the audio recordings of many of his Dhamma Talks.

Some Teaching Locations[link]

Metta Forest Monastery, Portland Friends of Dhamma, Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, The Cambridge Insight Meditation Center

External links[link]

• Wat Mettavanaram Forest Monastery
• Being a Monk - Interview with Oberlin Alumni Magazine
• Hundreds of Audio Dhamma Talks, Some Books and Essays by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
• Online Books and Articles at Access to Insight
• Suttas read aloud
• Audio archive from the Do It Yourself Dharma website
• Talks at AudioDharma

Notes[link]

References[link]