the PATH. They are called stream-enterersbecause the
stream of the dharma, the understanding of the FOUR
NOBLE TRUTHSthat systematize the content of the Bud-
dha’s liberating teaching, has become one with the
stream of their minds. In this traditional understand-
ing of the san ̇gha, the Buddha, as an arhat, is a mem-
ber of the san ̇gha, and embodies the dharma as well.
The salvific function of the san ̇gha has been much
discussed. Traditional explanations liken it to a nurse
who helps a patient take the medicine (the dharma)
that is prescribed by the Buddha, who is likened to a
perfect doctor. Early Indian Buddhism (Majjhimani-
kaya75, 105), perhaps drawing on ancient Indian med-
ical theory (e.g., Caraka-samhita9.19), claims that the
Buddha or TATHAGATA(one who knows things as they
are) can only teach disciples the path to the end of suf-
fering, he cannot “wash away the sufferings of others
by hand” (Udanavarga). The suffering person effects
his or her own cure by putting into practice the eight-
fold path to freedom taught by the Buddha. Salvific
power resides in the dharma, not in the Buddha or in
the san ̇gha, and according to early Buddhist texts, not
in monks or nuns, either as individuals or as a group.
History of the early community
The earliest parts of the Buddhist canon extant in Pali
suggest that the original historical community con-
sisted of those engaging in ascetic endeavors as s ́ra-
manas (Pali, samana) and pravrajika(Pali, pabbajita;
those gone forth into homelessness). Buddhist ascetics
were distinguishable from other similar groups of
mendicants primarily by their dislike of intellectual
disputation, their avoidance of extreme asceticism,
their shared admiration for Gautama S ́akyamuni, and
a commitment to mental cultivation or MEDITATION
(Sutta Nipata2). Whereas the very earliest members
of the community had no fixed monasteries, and shel-
tered under trees or in caves, the difficulty of traveling
during the rainy season soon led members to take shel-
ter in permanent buildings. It is likely that house-
holders and wealthy patrons who originally gave alms
without discrimination to all religious mendicants, be
they Jainas, Ajvikas, or orthodox followers of the
Veda, over time began to favor the followers of Gau-
tama Buddha and to understand themselves as re-
sponsible for their sustenance and well-being. This led
to the basic division of the community into bhiksu
(Pali, bhikkhu; MONKS) and bhiksunl(Pali, bhikkhunl;
NUNS), words that literally mean “beggars,” and upasaka
and upasika(male and female LAITY). According to tra-
dition, ANANDA, the personal attendant of Gautama,
asked that women be admitted into the community,
and the first Buddhist nun was MAHAPRAJAPATIGAU-
TAMI, the Buddha’s aunt.
Entrance into the community was originally earned
simply by answering the Buddha’s call to come for-
ward. When charismatics like S ́ARIPUTRAand MAHA-
MAUDGALYAYANA, with considerable followings of their
own, became Gautama’s disciples, the community
grew considerably larger. Even before Gautama’s
demise it is probable that senior members of the com-
munity were allowed to induct new members by hav-
ing them recite the refuge formula (I go for refuge to
the Buddha, etc.) three times. Gradually a more com-
plex upasampada(ritual ordination) came into being.
By that time, ORDINATIONmeant ordination as a monk
or nun, and for practical purposes the Buddhist com-
munity became equivalent to the community of monks
and nuns, though the community of the four assem-
blies (monks, nuns, and male and female laity) was also
recognized.The history of the community of Buddhist monks
and nuns over its first five hundred years is primarily
a history of samglti(councils) and nikaya(ordination
lineages or schools). Immediately after the death of
the Buddha, members of the fledgling community met
in what was later called the First Council to record the
Buddha’s teachings. Probably the earliest codification
of community rules, the PRATIMOKSA, was formulated
at about that time. Pratimoksa may originally have
meant “anti-dissipatory,” and its recitation was the
main factor connecting the various nikayas,which
were already growing separate because of geography,
loyalty to particular charismatic monks, and minor
disagreements over discipline.
The Second Council took place about a hundred
years after the death of the Buddha. By that time the
basic constitution of the community of monks and
nuns, and most of the rules and rituals relating to
monastic discipline and procedure, had already been
codified. The texts in which this codification is found
are together called the VINAYA(discipline). These texts
comprise the first of the three sections of the tripitaka
(the Buddhist CANON). The Vinaya Pitakaconsists of
three main sections: (1) the Vinaya-vibhan ̇ga,a list of
personal rules for the different levels of ordination
along with stories about how they came into being; (2)
the Skandhaka(Pali, Khandhaka), an explanation of
the rules governing community procedures, such asSAN ̇GHA