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42-498: By the mid-18th century, upasampada – higher ordination as a bhikkhu (monk), as distinct from sāmaṇera or novitiate ordination – had become extinct in Sri Lanka. The Buddhist order had become extinct thrice during the preceding five hundred years and was reestablished during the reigns of Vimaladharmasuriya I of Kandy (1591–1604) and Vimaladharmasuriya II of Kandy (1687–1707). These reestablishments were short lived. This

84-500: A Buddhist temple , the uposatha is an opportunity for them to visit it, make offerings , listen to sermons by monks and participate in meditation sessions. For lay practitioners unable to participate in the events of a local monastery, the uposatha is a time to intensify one's own meditation and Dhamma practice, for instance, meditating an extra session or for a longer time, reading or chanting special Buddhist texts , recollecting or giving in some special way. Presently,

126-631: A udakhupkhepa sima (a flotilla of boats moved together to form a platform on the water) at the Maduganga River , Balapitiya and, under the most senior Burmese bhikkhus who accompanied them, held an upasampada ceremony on the Uposatha of Vesak . The new fraternity came to be known as the Amarapura Nikaya after the capital city of King Bodawpaya. Several subsequent trips to Burma by Karava and Durava monks as well, created by 1810

168-435: A candidate, if deemed acceptable, enters the community as upasampadān (ordained) and is authorised to undertake ascetic life. According to Buddhist monastic codes ( Vinaya ), a person must be 20 years old in order to become a monk or nun. A person under the age of 20 years cannot undertake upasampadā (i.e., become a monk ( bhikkhu ) or nun ( bhikkhuni )), but can become a novice (m. samanera , f. samaneri ). After

210-476: A chief monk of Amarapura sect is credited for establishing first Buddhist school in Sri Lanka in 1869. He is also credited for popularizing the 'Poruwa' ceremony at Buddhist weddings in Sri Lanka. Piyaratana Tissa Thero is one of the few monks who exchanged correspondence with Colonel Henry Steel Olcott several years before Olcott arrived in Sri Lanka. Arrival of Colonel Olcott lead to a significant revival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka later. The Amaprapura nikaya which

252-532: A core group of ordained monks and provided the required quorum for higher ordination of Amarapura Nikaya monks in Sri Lanka. The higher ordination denied to them in 1764 by the Govigama conspirators had been regained and they were soon granted recognition by the colonial British government. However, the radical change of ordination rules by the Siam Nikaya in 1764 and its continuance despite it being contrary to

294-480: A mat on the floor. Though not specified in the precepts themselves, in Thailand and China, people observing the precepts usually stay in the temple overnight. This is to prevent temptations at home which break the eight precepts, and helps foster the community effort in upholding the precepts. On the new-moon and full-moon uposatha, in monasteries where there are four or more bhikkhus , the local Sangha will recite

336-617: A month; on the 8th, 14th, 15th, 23rd and final two days of each lunar month. In Japan, these six days are known as the roku sainichi ( 六斎日 , Six Days of Fasting ) . The Pali names of the uposatha days are based on the Sanskrit names of the nakśatra (Pali: nakkhatta ), the constellations or lunar mansions through which the moon passes within a lunar month. (ပြာသို) (တပို့တွဲ) (တပေါင်း) (တန်ခူး) (ကဆုန်) (နယုန်) (ဝါဆို) (ဝါခေါင်) (တော်သလင်း) (သီတင်းကျွတ်) (တန်ဆောင်မုန်း) (နတ်တော်) The word " Uposatha " derives from

378-547: A year or at the age of 20, a novice will be considered for upasampadā. Traditionally, the upasampadā ritual is performed within a well-demarcated and consecrated area called sima ( sima malaka ) and needs to be attended by a specified number of monks: "ten or even five in a remoter area". Customs regarding upasampada vary between regional traditions. In the Theravada tradition, monastics typically undertake higher ordination as soon as they are eligible. In East Asia, it

420-576: Is a Buddhist day of observance, in existence since the Buddha's time (600 BCE), and still being kept today by Buddhist practitioners. The Buddha taught that the Uposatha day is for "the cleansing of the defiled mind," resulting in inner calm and joy. On this day, both lay and ordained members of the sangha intensify their practice, deepen their knowledge and express communal commitment through millennia-old acts of lay-monastic reciprocity. On these days,

462-612: Is a Sangha Sabha of nearly 1000 monks called " Mahamevnawa Maha Sangha Sabha " in the Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monasteries reserve belonging to the Amarapura Sri Kalayaniwansa sect. [REDACTED] Sri Lanka portal Upasampada Upasampadā ( Pali ) literally denotes "approaching or nearing the ascetic tradition." In more common parlance it specifically refers to the rite and ritual of ascetic vetting (ordination) by which

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504-406: Is different from the five in that they are less moral in nature, but more focused on developing meditative concentration , and preventing distractions. Among the eight precepts, the third precept is about maintaining chastity. Buddhist tradition therefore requires lay people to be chaste on observance days, which is similar to the historical Indian tradition of being chaste on parvan days. As for

546-567: Is more typical for monastics to defer or avoid upasampada ordination entirely, remaining novices ( samanera ) for most or all of their monastic careers. This difference may originate from the historical shortage of temples in East Asia able to provide higher ordination according to the Vinaya . This Buddhism -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Uposatha An Uposatha ( Sanskrit : Upavasatha ) day

588-464: Is usual for lay people to go to the local monastery and to spend all day and night there.... [In monasteries where] there is more study, [lay people] will hear as many as three or four discourses on Dhamma delivered by senior bhikkhus and they will have books to read and perhaps classes on Abhidhamma to attend.... In a meditation monastery ..., most of their time will be spent mindfully employed – walking and seated meditation with some time given to helping

630-456: The Karava , Durava and Salagama from South India. The establishment of the Amarapura Nikaya was significant because it signaled a change in the social dynamic of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. For the first time, a monastic lineage had been created not through royal patronage of a Buddhist king, but through the collective action of a dedicated group of Buddhist laymen. The Amarapura Nikaya

672-667: The Muluposatha Sutta (AN 3.70), in which a lay woman named Visakha , visited the Lord Buddha and says she is observing the Uposatha day. The Lord Buddha replies that there are different Uposatha days, then proceeds to tell her the correct version of the Uposatha day, the Uposatha of the Noble Disciples . On each uposatha day, devout Upāsaka and Upāsikā practice the Eight Precepts , perhaps echoing

714-616: The Patimokkha . Before the recitation starts, the monks will confess any violations of the disciplinary rules to another monk or to the Sangha . Depending on the speed of the Patimokkha chanter (one of the monks), the recitation may take from 30 minutes to over an hour. Depending on the monastery, lay people may or may not be allowed to attend. Describing his experience of Uposatha days in Thailand, Khantipalo (1982a) writes: Early in

756-520: The Vinaya rules. King Rajadhi Rajasinghe (1782–1798) had made an order restricting the right of obtaining higher ordination to the members of a particular caste. As a consequence of this 'exclusively Govigama' policy adopted in 1764 by the Siyam Nikaya, the Buddhists in the maritime provinces were denied access to a valid ordination lineage. Hoping to rectify this situation, wealthy laymen from

798-508: The new moon , the full moon , and the two quarter moons in between. In some communities, such as in Sri Lanka, only the new moon and full moon are observed as uposatha days. In Burmese Buddhism , Uposatha (called ဥပုသ်နေ့ ubot nei ) is observed by more pious Buddhists on the following days: waxing moon ( လဆန်း la hsan ), full moon ( လပြည့်နေ့ la pyei nei ), waning moon ( လဆုတ် la hsote ), and new moon ( လကွယ်နေ့ la kwe nei ). The most common days of observance are

840-518: The uposatha vows are mostly associated with Theravāda Buddhism in South and Southeast Asia, but it was a widespread practice in China as well, and is still practiced. The eight precepts are meant to give lay people an impression of what it means to live as a monastic, and the precepts "may function as the thin end of a wedge for attracting some to monastic life." The objective of the eight precepts

882-415: The Buddha's teaching that laypeople should "imitate" arhats on Uposatha days. The first five of the eight precepts are similar to the five precepts , that is, to refrain from killing living beings, stealing, wrong speech and to abstain from intoxicating drink or drugs, but the third precept is abstinence of all sexual activity instead of refraining from sexual offenses. The eight precepts are similar to

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924-661: The Buddhist order in Sri Lanka in 1753. It was called the Siam Nikaya after a name for Thailand . However, in 1764, merely a decade after the reestablishment of the Buddhist order in Sri Lanka by reverend Upali, a group within the newly created Siam Nikaya succeeded in restricting upasampada only to the Govigama caste. It was a period when the traditional nobility of the Kingdom of Kandy was decimated by continuous wars with

966-561: The Dutch rulers of the maritime provinces. In the maritime provinces too, a new order was replacing the old. Mandarampura Puvata, a text from the Kandyan period, narrates the above radical changes to the monastic order and shows that it was not a unanimous decision by the body of the sangha. It says that thirty-two 'senior' members of the Sangha who opposed this change were banished to Jaffna by

1008-440: The bhikkhus with their daily duties. So the whole of this day and night (and enthusiastic lay people restrict their sleep) is given over to Dhamma. In Thailand five full-moon Uposatha days are of special significance and are called puja : In Sri Lanka, three full moon Uposatha or Poya days are of special significance. In Tibet and Bhutan, there are four full moon Uposatha days that are of importance In China, Japan, Korea,

1050-481: The eight precepts as including vegetarianism. The seventh precept is sometimes also interpreted to mean not wearing colorful clothes, which has led to a tradition for people to wear plain white when observing the eight precepts. This does not necessarily mean, however, that a Buddhist devotee dressed in white is observing the eight precepts all the time. As for the eighth precept, not sitting or sleeping on luxurious seats or beds, this usually comes down to sleeping on

1092-433: The full moon and the new moon. In precolonial Burma, Uposatha was a legal holiday that was observed primarily in urban areas, where secular activities like business transactions came to a halt. However, since colonial rule, Sunday has replaced Uposatha as the legal day of rest. All major Burmese Buddhist holidays occur on Uposathas, namely Thingyan , the beginning of Vassa (beginning in the full moon of Waso, around July, to

1134-591: The full moon of Thadingyut, around October). During this period, Uposatha is more commonly observed by Buddhists than during the rest of the year. During Uposatha days, Buddhist monks at each monastery assemble and recite the Patimokkha , a concise compilation of the Vinaya . In Mahayana countries that use the Chinese calendar , the Uposatha days are observed ten times a month, on the 1st, 8th, 14th, 15th, 18th, 23rd, 24th and final three days of each lunar month. Alternatively, one can only observe Uposatha days six times

1176-485: The lay followers make a conscious effort to keep the Five Precepts or (as the tradition suggests) the ten precepts. It is a day for practicing the Buddha's teachings and meditation. Depending on the culture and time period, uposatha days have been observed from two to six days each lunar month. In general, Uposatha is observed about once a week in Theravada countries in accordance with the four lunar phases :

1218-532: The leaders of the reform. The Govigama exclusivity of the Sangha thus secured in 1764 was almost immediately challenged by other castes who without the patronage of the King of Kandy or of the British , held their own upasampada ceremony at Totagamuwa Vihara in 1772. Another was held at Tangalle in 1798. Neither of these ceremonies were approved by the Siam Nikaya which claimed that these were not in accordance with

1260-458: The maritime provinces financed an expedition to Siam to found a new monastic lineage. In 1799, Walitota Sri Gnanawimalatisssa a monk from the Salagama caste , from Balapitiya on the south western coast of Sri Lanka, departed for Siam with a group of novices to seek a new succession of Higher ordination. Two Sahabandu Mudaliyars and the other prominent dayakayas undertook to bear the expenses of

1302-619: The mission and make the necessary arrangements for the journey. But during the trip, they had an incident where the ship suddenly stopped moving. Once it was able to move again, the Dutch-national captain of the ship suggested that Buddhism was in a more flourishing condition in Amarapura, Burma, than in Siam. The monk agreed to the suggestion of the captain and the latter, through the Dutch consul at Hanthawaddy (now Bago, Burma), obtained

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1344-478: The morning lay people give almsfood to the bhikkhus who may be walking on almsround, invited to a layman's house, or the lay people may take the food to the monastery. Usually lay people do not eat before serving their food to the bhikkhus and they may eat only once that day.... Before the meal the laity request the Eight Precepts [from the bhikkhus] ..., which they promise to undertake for a day and night. It

1386-578: The necessary introductions to the religious and administrative authorities in Amarapura. The first bhikkhu was ordained in Burma in 1800 by the Sangharaja of Burma, his party having been welcomed to Burma by King Bodawpaya . The members of the mission studied under the Sangharaja for two years. The initial mission returned to Sri Lanka in 1803. Soon after their return to the island they established

1428-420: The sixth rule, this means not having food after midday, in imitation of a nearly identical rule for monks. Fluids are allowed. Taiwanese physician Ming-Jun Hung and his co-authors have analyzed early and medieval Chinese Buddhist Texts and argue that the main purposes of the half-day fast is to lessen desire, improve fitness and strength, and decrease sleepiness. Historically, Chinese Buddhists have interpreted

1470-663: The teachings of the Gautama Buddha , plagues the Sri Lankan Buddhist Sangha, which remains divided on caste lines. This division maybe justified from a certain perspective given the Dravidian origins of the Karava , Durava and Salagama peoples. It maybe further justified by the fact that the Govigama were the earlier inhabitants of the Sinhalese ethnicity before the arrival and integration of

1512-644: The ten precepts observed by novice monks , except that the seventh and eighth precepts for the novices are combined, the ninth novice precept becomes the eighth, and the tenth novice precept (non-acceptance of gold and silver, use of money) is excluded as being impracticable for a lay person. Thus, the final three precepts are to abstain from eating at the wrong time (after midday); to abstain from entertainment such as dancing, singing, music, watching shows, as well as to abstain from wearing garlands, perfumes, cosmetics, and personal adornments; and to abstain from luxurious seats and beds. For lay practitioners who live near

1554-528: Was a period when the Vinaya had been virtually abandoned and some members of the Sangha in the Kingdom of Kandy privately held land, had wives and children, resided in the private homes and were called Ganinnanses . On the initiative of Weliwita Sri Saranankara Thero (1698–1778) the Thai monk Upali Thera visited Kandy during the reign of Kirti Sri Rajasinha of Kandy (1747–1782) and once again reestablished

1596-641: Was appointed as the first president of Amarapura Mahasangha Sabha. On 16 August 2019, the Amarapura and Ramanna Nikaya were unified as the Amarapaura-Ramanna Samagri Maha Sangha Sabha, making it the largest Buddhist fraternity in Sri Lanka. The following is a list of Supreme mahanayaka theros of the Amarapura Nikaya. Right before its unification into the Amarapura–Rāmañña Nikāya , the Amarapura Nikāya

1638-484: Was divided in to several sub nikayas (sub-orders) in the past was united on the initiatives taken by Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero and Madihe Pannaseeha Thero in the late 1960s. 'Sri Lanka Amarapura Mahasangha Sabha' was formed and a common higher ordination ceremony for all Amarapura nikaya was performed at the Uposathagharaya situated at Siri Vajiranana Dharmayatanaya, Maharagama on July 13, 1969. The event

1680-1042: Was divided into no less than 21 sub-orders. These sub orders are believed to have been formed along caste divisions and regional differences. 1.Amarapura Mulawamsika Nikaya 2.Udarata Amarapura Nikaya 3.Amarapura Sirisaddhammawansa Maha Nikaya 4.Amarapura Sabaragamu Saddhamma Nikaya 5.Saddhamma Yutthika (Matara) Nikaya 6.Dadalu Paramparayatta Amarapura Nikaya 7.Amarapura Mrammawansabhidhaja 8.Amarapura Vajirawansa Nikaya 9.Kalyanavansika Sri Dharmarama Saddhamma Yuttika Nikaya 10.Sri Lanka Svejin Maha Nikaya 11.Sabaragamu Saddhammawansa Nikaya 12.Amarapura Ariyavansa Saddhamma Yuttika Nikaya 13.Amarapuara Chulagandhi Nikaya 14.Udarata Amarapura Samagri Sangha Sabhawa 15.Uva Amarapura Nikaya 16.Amarapura Sri Dhammarakshita Nikaya 17.Udukinda Amarapura Nikaya 18.Sambuddha Sasanodaya Sangha Sabhawa 19.Amarapura Maha Nikaya 20.Amarapura Chapter of Amarapura Nikaya 21.Amarapura Sri Kalyaniwansa Nikaya In addition to this, there

1722-504: Was graced by William Gopallawa , the governor-general of Ceylon. A supreme Mahanayaka position for the Sri Lanka Amarapura Mahasangha Sabha was created with this initiative and Madihe Pannaseeha thero was appointed as the first monk to hold the prestigious title. In addition to the supreme Mahanayaka position a post for the president of the Amarapura Nikaya was created and Balangoda Ananda Maitreya thero

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1764-540: Was thus both independent of government and royal power, and more closely tied to its patrons in the growing middle class. This presaged both the growing power of the middle class in Sri Lanka during the 19th and 18th centuries, and the rise of so-called Protestant Buddhism among the Sinhalese middle class- a modernized form of Buddhism in which increasing power and authority were vested in the laity, rather than monastic authorities. Sri Piyaratana Tissa Mahanayake Thero ,

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