In short: the Saṅgha is the community of the Buddha's disciples, the third of the Three Jewels after the Buddha and the Dhamma. In its deepest sense it means those who have realized the path: "The Saṅgha of the Buddha's disciples is practicing the way that's good, direct, systematic, and proper." (SN 11.3). In everyday use it means monks and nuns, and more widely everyone who practices.
In the Buddha's words
"The Saṅgha of the Buddha's disciples is practicing the way that's good, direct, systematic, and proper." "It consists of the four pairs, the eight individual persons… the supreme field of merit for the world."
SN 11.3
Three meanings
- ✦ Noble Saṅgha: those who have reached the stages of awakening
- ☸ Monastic Saṅgha: monks and nuns
- ♡ Community: everyone practicing together. "Good friends… are the whole of the spiritual life" (SN 45.2)
Try it
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Questions people ask
What is the Sangha?
The community of the Buddha's disciples: in the strict sense, those who have realized the path; more broadly, monks and nuns, and in everyday use the whole community of practitioners. It is the third of the Three Jewels.