s ́ramanerika.In Southeast Asia this step may be taken
as early as age seven; in East Asia one may not for-
mally become a novice until age nineteen, even
though one may have lived within the monastic com-
munity from a very young age. Short-term novitiates
of a few weeks or months are common in Southeast
Asia. Short-term higher ordinations are also com-
mon; the term is usually a summer rains-retreat pe-
riod or longer. There is no particular onus on those
who do not go on to full ordination. (The ritual de-
scribed in this section is based on the unpublished
translation by Gregory Schopen of the ordination rit-
ual found in the MULASARVASTIVADA-VINAYA.)
The full or higher ordination (upasampada), by
which one becomes a bhiksu or bhiksunl,can occur
only at or after age twenty (dated from conception).
In the primitive san ̇gha there was presumably a gen-
erally accepted core of about 150 rules in the monas-
tic code (PRATIMOKSA), but the diversification of
ordination lineages has led to divergences in many of
the minor rules. Hence THERAVADAmonks in South-
east Asia observe 227 rules (Theravada nuns once ob-
served 311), Tibetan monks observe the 258 rules (the
nuns 354) of the Mulasarvastivada-vinaya,and Chi-
nese and Korean monks observe the 250 rules (the
nuns 348) of the Dharmaguptaka-vinaya.East Asian
monks also accept the bodhisattva vows derived from
the FANWANG JING(BRAHMA’SNETSUTRA), a formal
part of ordination, and in most Japanese schools these
vows have entirely supplanted the pratimoksa rules.
The ordination ceremony must involve all the
monks in a given local san ̇gha, and no one can enter
or leave during the proceedings; usually a separate
temporary boundary (slma) is established for the du-
ration of the ceremony. There should be an assembly
of ten or more fully ordained monks (or, in border re-
gions, five monks) and a vinaya master to serve as pre-
ceptor. The ceremony begins with the ordinand paying
reverence to the monks, then entreating the preceptor
to confer ordination on him. The ordinand then takes
possession of his robes, or the cloth for their making,
declaring to the preceptor that they are of appropriate
material and cut. If the robes have not yet been made,
the ordinand declares his intention to wash, cut, dye,
and sew them properly from the material provided.
The same process occurs for the bowl.
The ordinand then moves out of hearing range but
stays within sight so that the officiant can ask the or-
dinand’s private instructor about his appropriateness
for ordination. The private instructor then goes over
to the ordinand and, after reminding him not to be
embarrassed by the questions, ascertains whether the
ordinand is free from any of the impediments to
ordination. These include questions about the indi-
vidual’s age, gender, genital completeness, and autho-
rization by his parents (if living), and his identity as
other than slave, criminal, eunuch, hermaphrodite, or
despoiler of nuns. The questions also confirm that the
ordinand has not been a member of another religious
group or suffered expulsion from another san ̇gha; has
not murdered his father, mother, or an ARHAT; has not
caused a split in the san ̇gha or wounded the Buddha;
is not a magically created phantom or animal; is not
in debt (beyond the ability to pay at point of ordina-
tion); is not suffering from any illness (giving a long
list); and is someone who is now fully entered into the
religious life, including the practice of chastity.
Upon returning to the assembly the private in-
structor informs them of the ordinand’s absence of
any obstacles. The candidate is then brought forward
and, after reverence to the Buddha and the elders of
the community, the private instructor entreats theORDINATIONBuddhist novices from a hill tribe in northern Thailand pray as
they walk past their families during an ordination ceremony in
Bangkok, 2001. © AFP/Corbis. Reproduced by permission.