In canonical Buddhism, householder refers to a particular strata of society whose individuals are typified by having a home life and family. In contemporary Buddhist communities, householder is often used synonymously with "laity."
The Buddhist notion of householder is often contrasted with that of wandering ascetics (Pāḷi: samaṇa; Sanskrit: śramaṇa) and monastics (bhikkhu and bhikkhuni), who would not live (for extended periods) in a normal house and who would pursue freedom from attachments to houses and families.
In some traditional Buddhist societies, such as in Thailand, people transition between householder and monk and back to householder with regularity and celebration. One of the evolving features of Buddhism in the West is the increasing dissolution of the traditional distinction between monastics and laity.[1]
In the Pali canon, householders received diverse advice from the Buddha and his disciples. Some householders (who were also lay disciples) were even identified as having achieved nibbana.
Core householder practices include undertaking the Five Precepts and taking refuge in the Triple Gem. In addition, the canon nurtures the essential bond between householders and monastics still apparent today in southeast Asian communities.
Who's a householder?
In traditional Indian society, a householder (Sanskrit, grihastha) is typically a settled adult male with a family.
In the Buddhist Pali canon, various Pali words have been translated into the English word "householder" including agārika, gahapati, gahattha and gihin.[2]
Vocations most often associated with householders in the Pali canon are those of guild foreman, banker and merchant (Pali, seṭṭhi) but other vocations are mentioned such as farmer and carpenter.[3] Other people in the canon who are sometimes identified as "householders" in contemporary translations are simply those individuals who dwelt in a home or who had not renounced "home life" (Pali, agārasmā) for "homelessness" (Pali, anagāriya).
Householder ethics
While there is no formal "householder discipline" or "code of ethics" in the ancient Buddhist Code of Ethics (Pali, Vinaya), the "Sigalovada Sutta" (DN 31)[4] has been referred to as "the Vinaya of the householder."[5] This sutta includes:
Other suttas in the canon likewise underline keeping the precepts, maintaining virtuous friends, homage to one's benefactors and earning one's wealth honestly.[8]
Elsewhere in the Sutta Pitaka the Buddha provides moral instruction to householders and their family members[9] on how to be good parents, spouses and children.[10]
Lay-monastic reciprocity
Some suttas suggest that Buddhist renunciates are best going it alone.[11] Many others celebrate and provide instruction for a vital reciprocity between householders and monastics. For instance, in the Khuddaka Nikaya,[12] the Buddha articulates that "brahmins and householders" (Pali, brāhmanagahapatikā) support monks by providing monks with robes, alms food, lodgings and medicine while monks teach brahmins and householders the Dhamma. In this sutta, the Buddha declares:
Householders & the homeless [monastics]
in mutual dependence
both reach the true Dhamma:
the unsurpassed safety from bondage.[13]
Householders & future lives
In the Pali canon, the pursuit of Nibbana (Skt: Nirvana) within this lifetime usually starts with giving up the householder life. This is due to the householder life's intrinsic attachments to a home, a spouse, children and the associated wealth necessary for maintaining the household. Thus, instead of advising householders to relinquish these and all attachments as a prerequisite for the complete liberation from samsara in this lifetime, the Buddha instructed householders on how to achieve happiness in this and future lives in a spiritually meaningful way.
In Buddhism, a householder's spiritual path is often conceived of in terms of making merit (Pali: puñña). The primary bases for meritorous action in Buddhism are generosity (dāna), ethical conduct (sīla) and mental development (bhāvanā). Traditional Buddhist practices associated with such behaviors are summarized in the table below.
The Anguttara Nikaya (AN 6.119 and AN 6.120[14]) identifies 19 householders (gahapati)[15] who have "seen deathlessness" (Pali, amata) and "realized the highest" (Pali, niṭṭhamgata) through their "unwavering faith" (Pali, aveccappasādena) in six things:
The following are examples of individuals who are explicitly identified as a "householder" (Pali, gahapati) in multiple suttas:
Anathapindika, is referenced for instance in AN 1.14.249 as "the householder Sudatta, the foremost lay devotee."[17]
Citta, referenced for instance in AN 1.14.250 as "the [foremost] householder for explaining the Teaching."[18] In SN 17.23, Citta is one of two male lay disciples identified for emulation by the Buddha.[19]
Nakulapita and Nakulamata, referenced for instance in AN 1.14.257 and AN 1.14.266, respectively, as "the best confident" and the foremost "for undivided pleasantness."[20]
Other individuals who are not explicitly identified in the suttas as "householder" but who, by the aforementioned broader critera, might be considered a householder include:
Ghatikara was a potter in the time of Buddha Kassapa. He was an Anagami and the chief supporter of Buddha Kassapa (MN 81).
Mahayana perspectives
In the Zen tradition, Vimalakīrti and Páng Yùn were prominent householders/laypersons who achieved enlightenment.
The Vajrayana tradition has produced many prominent householders, from Milarepa to Dromton Gyalwa Jungne, the heart son of Atisha; Padmasambhava to mention a few. The ngakpa (not to be confused with ngakpang, a term used by the false tulku organisation Ar'o ter) is a householder with certain vows that make them the householder equivalent of an ordained bikshu. As such, we can see the prominence of householders in the Vajrayana tradition. One can, however, be a householder without taking the vows of a Ngakpa. Simply holding the five precepts, bodhisattva vows and the tantric vows while practising diligently can result in enlightenment.
Contemporary Buddhist householder practices
Below common contemporary lay Buddhist practices are summarized. Some of these practices — such as taking Refuge and meditating — are common to all major schools. Other practices — such as taking the Eight Precepts or the Bodhisattva Vows — are not pan-Buddhist.
Theravada practices
For Theravada Buddhists, the following are practiced on a daily and weekly basis:
^ See, for instance, Wallace (2002), p. 35, who writes:
"For all the diversity of Buddhist practices in the West, general trends in the recent transformations of Buddhist practice ... can be identified. These include an erosion of the distinction between professional and lay Buddhists; a decentralization of doctrinal authority; a diminished role for Buddhist monastics; an increasing
spirit of egalitarianism; greater leadership roles for women; greater social activism; and, in many cases, an increasing emphasis on the psychological, as opposed to the purely religious, nature of practice."
^ The Pali Text Society's (PTS) "Pali-English Dictionary" provides the following definitions for these various householder-related Pali words (listed alphabetically below):
agārika - "having a house..., householder, layman," juxtaposed with anagārika. Similarly, agārikā is translated as "housewife." (PTS, 1921-25, p. 3, entry for agārika.)
gahapati - "the possessor of a house, the head of the household, pater familias," often with a social status similar to high-ranking personages (Pali, khattiyā) and brahmins, suggesting comfort and wealth; may be used as a form of address comparable to "Sir." (PTS, 1921-25, p. 248, entry for gahapati.) See also Buddhadatta, 2002, p. 96, where "gaha-ttha" is defined as "a layman; householder" and "gaha-pati" is defined as "master of a house"; and, Nattier (2003), pp. 22-25, which provides contextual information to support its conclusion: "The word gṛhapati [Sanskrit for the Pali gahapati] is thus not an indicator of simple householder status but rather of significant social and financial standing, and it would have been applied only to a relatively limited segment of the lay Buddhist population."
gahattha - "a householder, one who leads the life of a layman." (PTS, 1921-25, p. 247, entry for gaha with mention of use with the suffix -ttha.)
gihin - "a householder, one who leads a domestic life, a layman." (PTS, 1921-25, p. 251, entry for gihin.)
In the Pali canon, these terms for "householder" can be combined with some other appellations. For instance, in the Sāleyyaka Sutta (MN 41), the Buddha is addressed by sāleyyakā brāhmana-gahapatikā which, for instance, is translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi (2005, p. 156) as "brahmin householders of Sālā."
Within the Pali canon, there is a "Householder section" (Gahapativagga) in the following nikayas:
the Majjhima Nikaya (MN 51 to MN 60) (see Nanamoli & Bodhi, 2001, pp. 441-519).
^ Nyanaponika & Hecker (2003), p. 365, state that AN 6.120 refers to 21 "eminent lay disciples." The actual Pali text itself explicitly identifies 18 householders (gahapati) and three lay disciples (upasaka; see also, savaka); nonetheless, many of these identified householders are also identified as "foremost" (agga) lay disciples in AN 1.14.[3] Tangentially, Bodhi (2005), p. 226, notes that a lay disciple is able to achieve the state of nonreturner but is not able to achieve arahantship unless upon death or, after realizing such, they immediately become monastics.
^ These first three objects of faith -- the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha -- are known in Buddhism as the Triple Gem.
^ Bodhi (2000), p. 688. This sutta is entitled, "Only Son," and in it the Buddha states:
"A faithful female lay follower, rightly imploring her only son, dear and beloved, might implore him thus: 'Dear, you should become like Citta the householder and Hatthaka of Alavaka — for this is the standard and criterion for my male disciples who are lay followers...."
^ Also see AN 4.55 in Bodhi (2005), pp. 121-2, 433 n. 3. Note that, technically, Nakulapita is identified as the "householder" and, his spouse, Nakulamata as the "householder's wife."
^ Kapleau (1989), p. 191.
^ Daily chanting among Mahayana Buddhists can be found, for instance, among Nichiren and Pure Land practitioners.
^ In the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, the Buddha states that devotees can do pilgrimages to his birthplace, the place of his Awakening, the place of his first teaching and the place of his death. Other sites have also been traditionally recognized by Theravada practitioners. For more information, see Pilgrimage (Buddhism).
References
Bodhi, Bhikkhu (trans.) (2000). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-331-1.
Bodhi, Bhikkhu (ed.) (2005), In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-491-1.
Law, Bimala Churn (1932-33), "Nirvana and Buddhist Laymen" in the Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Vol. 14, 1932-1933, pp. 80-86. Available on-line at: http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-ENG/lawn.htm.
Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu (trans.) & Bhikkhu Bodhi (ed.) (2001). The Middle-Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-072-X.
Nattier, Jan (2003). A Few Good Men: The Bodhisattva Path according to The Inquiry of Ugra (Ugraparpṛcchā). Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 0-8248-2607-8.
Relevant quality search results and fast easy navigation throughout the
different sections of the site, make Americola.com
a great entertainment
search engine offering
celebrity biographies, high resolution
celebrity photos, videos and more.
