MONKS

A monk (bhikkhu) is a man who has renounced ordinary society to live a celibate monastic life. The Buddha founded an order of monks and nuns called the Saṅgha, to provide the optimal environment to practice the Dhamma and also to have a body of specialists who could transmit that Dhamma. Monks are expected to have eight simple requisites and to live by the 227 rules of the Vinaya. Someone can become a novice (sāmaṇera) while still a boy but must be 20 years old or over to be a fully ordained monk (upasampadā). If he loses interest in the monastic life, a monk can leave at any time. The most characteristic features of Buddhist monks are their yellow robes, their shaven heads and their calm, smiling demeanour. See Ordination.