The Nature and Function of Ordination

In Buddhism, those who renounce the household life are divided into five categories: śrāmaṇera, śrāmaṇerikā, śikṣamāṇā, bhikṣu, and bhikṣuṇī. These five—also known as the five ranks or five classes—are defined as follows: a male who has taken the ten precepts is called a śrāmaṇera, and a female who has taken the ten precepts is called a śrāmaṇerikā; a male who has received the full set of monastic precepts is called a bhikṣu, and a female who has received the full set of monastic precepts is called a bhikṣuṇī.

The śikṣamāṇā stage is a transitional phase between the śrāmaṇerikā and bhikṣuṇī stages. Every śrāmaṇerikā must go through two years as a śikṣamāṇā before she can receive the bhikṣuṇī precepts and become a bhikṣuṇī. This rule was established primarily to prevent women who became pregnant while still living in the lay world from entering the monastic order. Since the śrāmaṇerikā period has no fixed duration, if a woman is already eighteen years old when she renounces the household life and takes the ten precepts of a śrāmaṇerikā, she is then immediately given the śikṣamāṇā training. After two years, provided there are no signs of pregnancy and she has grown accustomed to the monastic life, she may receive the bhikṣuṇī precepts at the age of twenty.

The meaning of renunciation has been discussed above. As for the nature of renunciation, Buddhism divides it into three types:

First, renunciation of both body and mind: Living in a monastery in the mountains and forests constitutes renunciation of the body; no longer cherishing the five desires of worldly life, and remaining unconcerned about reputation, gain, and loss, constitutes renunciation of the mind. When body and mind are in harmony, dwelling contentedly in the Way, this is renunciation of both body and mind. This is the proper course of renunciation and the rightful duty of one who has left home.

Second, renunciation of the body but not the mind: Some people may shave their heads, don monastic robes, live in a monastery, remain unmarried, and perhaps even maintain personal purity, yet their inner life and outer appearance are not in accord. Body and mind are at odds. Outwardly they appear to have renounced the world, but inwardly they yearn for the five desires. They renounce the household life for a livelihood, or even for social prestige and status. Although they have no genuine interest in the monastic way of life, the pressures of making a living and social relationships compel them to persist.

Such people are most pitiable. They find no joy in the life of the present world, nor do they receive the benefits bestowed by the Dharma. What awaits them, however, is a fearful retribution in future lives, for their faith in Buddhism is bound to be compromised, and their monastic life can never be whole and without flaw. Therefore this is a kind of renunciation censured by the Buddha, and yet it is a common sight in the Age of Dharma Decline.

Third, renunciation of the mind but not the body: This describes holy Bodhisattvas. They are not attached to the pleasures of the five desires, yet in order to guide and liberate sentient beings, they frequently manifest as householders, taking wives and raising children. Vimalakīrti and Bhadrapāla are examples of this. Although they live at home and enjoy the company of wives, their minds remain unattached and unafflicted, free from greed and desire, pure and luminous. However, this is by no means something ordinary beings can accomplish, and so it is not the common path of renunciation, nor can it serve as a model for monastic life.

The monastic way of life in Buddhism also serves several purposes:

First, it exists for the sake of escaping the cycle of birth and death: this emphasizes the aspiration toward the spirit of transcendence, and gives rise to the call for monastic life.

Second, it exists to awaken the world and guide the misguided: this offers a path of clarity and antidote, aimed at those who are lost in the battlefield of sounds and forms, intoxicated in the ocean of the five desires.

Third, it exists for the sake of the Dharma's abiding in the world: this focuses on establishing the Saṅgha, so that the task of unfolding and continually spreading the Buddha's teachings may be carried out in an orderly and enduring manner.

Nevertheless, for the vast majority of those who have renounced the household life within Buddhism, all three purposes should and must be embraced at once: for oneself, the aim is to seek liberation from birth and death; for others, the aim is to awaken the world and guide the misguided; and for Buddhism, the aim is to uphold and propagate the Dharma. If any one of these is missing, the practice cannot be whole. To renounce the household life without seeking one's own liberation from birth and death is a renunciation that need not be undertaken; to renounce the household life without awakening the world and guiding the misguided betrays the spirit of the Dharma's mission to transform the world; to renounce the household life without upholding the Dharma fails to repay the great kindness of the Buddha's teaching.