དགེ་སློང་། | Glossary of Terms

A fully ordained monk.

Fully ordained Buddhist monk.

A fully ordained monk.

A fully-ordained monk.

Fully ordained buddhist monk.

Fully ordained Buddhist monk.

A fully ordained monk of the Buddhist saṅgha.

Lit. “beggar.” Buddhist mendicant monk; bhikṣuṇī is the female counterpart.

A fully ordained monk.

A fully ordained monk of the Buddhist Saṅgha.

A fully ordained monk.

The term bhikṣu, which is often translated as “monk,” refers to the highest type among the types of prātimokṣa vows that make one part of the monastic community. The term is explained as having at least three possible meanings: (1) someone who begs; (2) someone who has taken the highest level of Buddhist ordination; and (3) someone who has destroyed mental defilements.

A fully ordained monk.

A male renunciant.

A male renunciant.

A fully ordained monk of the Buddhist saṅgha.

A fully ordained monk.

A fully ordained monk of the Buddhist saṅgha.

This term refers specifically to a monk who has received ordination, the highest level of monastic initiation available in the Buddhist tradition. The Sanskrit term literally means “beggar” or “mendicant,” referring to the fact that Buddhist monks and nuns‍—like other ascetics of the time‍—subsisted on alms begged from the laity.

The term bhikṣu, which is often translated as “monk,” refers to the highest type among the eight types of prātimokṣa vows that make one part of the Buddhist assembly. The term is explained as having at least three possible meanings: (1) someone who begs; (2) someone who has taken the highest level of Buddhist ordination; and (3) someone who has destroyed mental afflictions.

Fully ordained buddhist monk.

Fully ordained buddhist monk.

A fully ordained monk.

This term refers specifically to a monk who has received full ordination, the highest level of ordination available in the Buddhist tradition.

A fully ordained male practitioner.

Fully ordained Buddhist monk.

A fully ordained male practitioner.

This term refers specifically to a monk who has received full ordination, the highest level of ordination available in the Buddhist tradition, observing 253 Vinaya vows.

A fully ordained monk of the Buddhist Saṅgha. In the Tibetan tradition, which follows the Mūlasarvāstivāda vinaya, a bhikṣu follows 253 vows as part of his moral discipline. A nun (bhikṣunī; dge slong ma) follows 263 rules. A novice monk (śrāmaṇera; dge tshul) or nun (śrāmaṇerikā; dge tshul ma) by contrast follows thirty-six rules of moral discipline (although in other vinaya traditions novices typically only follow ten).

This term refers specifically to a monk who has received ordination, the highest level of monastic initiation available in the Buddhist tradition. The Sanskrit term literally means “beggar” or “mendicant,” which refers to the fact that Buddhist monks and nuns‍—like other ascetics of the time‍—subsisted on alms begged from the laity.

A fully ordained Buddhist monk observing 253 precepts.

A fully ordained Buddhist monk.

A fully ordained monk.

A fully ordained male practitioner observing 253 Vinaya vows.

A monk of the Buddhist saṅgha observing all the vinaya vows (253 in the Tibetan tradition).

Although the Tib. (dge slong) and Skt. (bhikṣu) terms usually refer to fully ordained monks, in the plural they may encompass nuns as well. Rendering it as “mendicant” in English remains faithful to the original meaning of bhikṣu as “one who begs for alms.”