I08 The Buddhist Community
Sangha as refuge, and we can see this act as loosely defining an
individual as a 'Buddhist'. In ancient India the Buddhist Sangha
probably received considerable support from 'householders~
who would not have regarded themselves as formally Buddhist
upiisakas or upiisikiis; moreover becoming even an upiisaka or
upiisikii did not necessarily involve an exclusive commitment to
the Buddhist Sangha.^60 Some householders seem to have supported
. wanderers of various groups-Jains, Aj1vikas, Buddhists-rather
indiscriminately, with little awareness of their different teachings,
seeing them all as 'holy men' and as such deserving of some
support. Other householders and their families clearly developed
a sense of loyalty and commitment to one particular group ot
teacher, seeking out their company and requesting them to
teach. But even this need not have involved exclusive allegiance.
Thus we are told that when a supporter of the Jain order took
refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, the Buddha sug-
gested that he should honour the traditions of his family and not
withdraw all support from the Jains.^61 Historically the degree of
commitment and support offered to the Sangha, the degree of
interest taken in Buddhist teachings and practice by lay supporters
must have varied a great deal. Much the same state of affairs
prevails in Buddhist cultures today. Thus in Theravada practice
today the term upiisaka or upiisikii implies a commitment to
and involvement with Buddhist practice beyond what is implied
by the routine taking of the refuges; in East Asian and Tibetan
Buddhism formally 'going for refuge' often becomes an expres-
sion of a particular commitment to Buddhist practice.
As we saw at the close of Chapter 3, the Buddhist path can be
summed up in terms of the progressive development of generosity
(dana), good conduct (slla/slla), and meditation (bhiivana). The.
very act of giving is seen in general as loosening attachment, turn-
ing the mind away from selfish concerns. From the point of view
of Buddhist psychological theory, generosity is an expression of
two of the wholesome 'roots' or fundamental motivating forces of
the mind: non-attachment and friendliness. Many of the stories
of the Buddha's previous lives (jataka) tell of the Bodhisattva's
heroic acts of generosity. One of the most famous relates how
