Editing Sangha (section)

==Definitions==
In a glossary of Buddhist terms,<ref>Robinson et al. (2005). ''Buddhist Religions: A Historical Introduction''. Fifth Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson, p. 327</ref> Richard Robinson et al. define sangha as:

{{blockquote|sign=|source=|Sangha. Community. This word has two levels of meaning:
(1) on the ideal (''arya'') level, it denotes all of the Buddha’s followers, lay or ordained, who have at least attained the level of [[sotāpanna|srotāpanna]];

(2) on the conventional (''saṃvṛti'') level, it denotes the orders of the Bhikṣus and Bhikṣunis.}}

[[Mahayana]] practitioners may use the word "sangha" as a collective term for all Buddhists, but the Theravada [[Pāli Canon]] uses the word ''[[parisā]]'' (Sanskrit ''pariṣad'') for the larger Buddhist community—the monks, nuns, lay men, and lay women who have taken the [[Three Jewels|Three Refuges]]—with a few exceptions<ref>Todd Lewis, ''Buddhists: Understanding Buddhism Through the Lives of Practitioners'', Chicester, 2014, p. 30 mentions this too. An example of such a sutra is AN II.1.vii Catukka nipata, Bhandagamavaggo https://archive.today/20130222111223/http://www.what-buddha-taught.net/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/4Anguttara-Nikaya/Anguttara2/4-catukkanipata/001-bhandagamavaggo-e.html</ref> reserving "sangha" for its original use in the [[Pāli Canon]]—the ideal (''arya'') and the conventional.<ref name="accesstoinsight.org"/><ref name="Robinsonet">Robinson et al. (2005). ''Buddhist Religions: A Historical Introduction''. Fifth Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson, p. 32.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/glossary.html |title=A Glossary of Pali and Buddhist Terms |access-date=3 August 2009 |archive-date=8 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708143211/https://www.accesstoinsight.org/glossary.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{blockquote|The two meanings overlap but are not necessarily identical. Some members of the ideal Sangha are not ordained; some monastics have yet to acquire the Dharma-eye.<ref name="Robinsonet" />}}
{{blockquote|Unlike the present Sangha, the original Sangha viewed itself as following the mission laid down by the Master, viz, to go forth "…on tour for the blessing of the manyfolk, for the happiness of the manyfolk out of compassion for the world, for the welfare, the blessing, the happiness of deva and men".<ref name="SpiroMelford">Spiro, Melford: ''Buddhism and Society: A Great Tradition and Its Burmese Vicissitudes'' (1982). Berkeley: University of California. p. 279.</ref>}}