bhikku

bhikku, in Buddhism, one who has renounced worldly life and joined the mendicant and contemplative community. While individuals may enter the monastic life at an early age—some renunciate communities include children in their pre-teens—a candidate for ordination must be 21 years of age, have parental permission, and be physically healthy, free of debt, and possessed of a sound mind.

The term bhikku comes from a verbal root meaning “to beg.” Thus, a Buddhist monk or nun is marked primarily by his or her practice of poverty and nonattachment to the material world. Originally, bhikkus were the mendicant followers of the Buddha (6th century bc) who had left their families and worldly pursuits in order to meditate and to apply the Buddha’s teachings to their everyday life. Bhikkus tended to live as a group in forest retreats near villages and towns; in exchange for food, the monks taught the townspeople the ways of religious righteousness (dhamma; Sanskrit: dharma). Buddhist texts indicate that in the beginning the Buddha allowed only men to enter the monastic community (the sangha) but later permitted women to take vows as well. However, the female monastic order has never been as large as the male one.

A bhikku must observe all of the rules (227 to 250, depending upon the sect) of the monastic code that regulate all details of daily life; bhikkunīs observe an even greater number of rules. Violations of the code must be confessed in twice-monthly meetings of the monks (the uposatha). Four monastic rules, if broken, result in lifelong expulsion from the order. These prohibit (1) having sexual relations, (2) taking or ordering the taking of life, (3) taking something as one’s own that has not been freely given, and (4) making claims regarding one’s spiritual attainments, powers, or degree of enlightenment.

The bhikku’s head and face are kept shaven. He wears three garments—an upper and lower robe and a stole—originally made of cast-off rags dyed with saffron, now more likely the gift of a layperson. He is allowed to retain only a minimum of possessions—his robes and stole, a girdle, an alms bowl, a razor, a needle and thread for mending, and a strainer to prevent his harming the small insects that might otherwise enter his drinking water.

The bhikku begs daily for his food; the donation of food by the laity is viewed as meritorious. The bhikku may eat no solid food between noon and the following morning. Except on holy days, which are vegetarian, meat may be eaten but only if it has not been cooked especially for a monk.

In the Theravāda countries of Southeast Asia, the monk commonly is prohibited from handling money and from doing physical labour. This is not the case in China and Japan, where Ch’an (Zen) Buddhism early established the rule, “A day without work, a day without food.”