May all beings be happy and free from suffering!
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May all beings be happy and free from suffering!
Occasionally, the Ch’an Records indicate that monastics on occasion learned from enlightened members of the lay community. Never take on airs and graces, because a vagrant living under a bridge might well be another Vimalakirti.
Indeed, in the Vinaya Discipline, a member of the Sangha is defined as someone who has left the life of a householder and taken the all the monastic vows as decreed within the Vinaya Discipline. The breaking of these vows either attracts reforming behaviour, or expulsion from the order. However, the Vinaya Discipline also defines a ‘member of the Sangha’ as someone who has ‘realised emptiness’ irrespective as to whether they have renounced the lay-life.