Upāsaka (fem., upāsikā), Skt., Pali, lit. “one who sits close by”; Buddhist lay adherent who through the threefold refuge (trisharana, sambō) acknowledges himself as such and vows to observe the five shīlas.
According to the Hīnayāna view, laypersons are still far from the final goal ofliberation, since they are not ready to give up their worldly life and its pleasures. Still they can accumulate merit (punya), especially through the practice of generosity (dāna), and this enables them to be reborn as monks or nuns and still later as arhats. In this way they can advance on the way to nirvāna.
In the Hīnayāna, the lay adherents are the bearers of the Buddhist cult through making offerings of food, clothing, music, processions, and so on. The monastic community expects that the lay adherents will care for the material welfare of the monks and nuns.
In the Mahāyāna, lay followers are of greater importance, since the possibility of their attaining liberation is no longer discounted. The ideal figure of the Mahāyāna, the bodhisattva, is a layperson.
In China formal ordination oflay adherents, usually as part of a ceremony for ordaining monks, is common. Lay ordination consists of vowing to observe the five shīlas. In case for any reason one or more of these shīlas cannot be observed, it is possible to take on oneself only the remaining ones. As a sign of ordination, upāsakas are burned three or more times on the inside of the arm. Lay adherents usually go on to take the bodhisattva vow (pranidhāna) after lay ordination.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Upāsaka documents
Books on Upāsaka
External links