Sangha (Buddhism) in the context of "Mahasanghika"

Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka (/əˈʃoʊkə/ ə-SHOH-kə; Sanskrit: [ɐˈɕoːkɐ], IAST: Aśoka; c. 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was Emperor of Magadha from c. 268 BCE until his death, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynasty. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, stretching from present-day Afghanistan in the west to present-day Bangladesh in the east, with its capital at Pataliputra. A patron of Buddhism, he is credited with an important role in the spread of Buddhism across ancient Asia.

The Edicts of Ashoka state that during his eighth regnal year (c. 260 BCE), he conquered Kalinga after a brutal war. Ashoka subsequently devoted himself to the propagation of "dhamma" or righteous conduct, the major theme of the edicts. Ashoka's edicts suggest that a few years after the Kalinga War, he was gradually drawn towards Buddhism. The Buddhist legends credit Ashoka with establishing a large number of stupas, patronising the Third Buddhist council, supporting Buddhist missionaries, and making generous donations to the sangha.

The Three Treasures or Three Jewels (Chinese: 三寶; pinyin: sānbǎo; Wade–Giles: san-pao) are basic virtues in Taoism. Although the Tao Te Ching originally used sanbao to mean "compassion", "frugality", and "humility", the term was later used to translate the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha) in Chinese Buddhism, and to mean the Three Treasures (jing, qi, and shen) in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The Theragāthā (Verses of the Elder Monks) is a Buddhist text, a collection of short poems in Pali attributed to members of the early Buddhist sangha. It is classified as part of the Khuddaka Nikaya, the collection of minor books in the Sutta Pitaka. A similar text, the Therigatha, contains verses attributed to early Buddhist nuns.

The Vinaya (Pali and Sanskrit: विनय) refers to numerous monastic rules and ethical precepts for fully ordained monks and nuns of Buddhist Sanghas (community of like-minded sramanas). These sets of ethical rules and guidelines developed over time during the Buddha's life. More broadly, the term also refers to the tradition of Buddhist ethical conduct. The term "Vinaya" also refers to a genre of Buddhist texts which contain these precepts and rules and discuss their application, along with various stories of how the rules arose and how they are to be applied. Various lists and sets of Vinaya precepts were codified and compiled after the Buddha's death in different Vinaya texts.

As one of the main components of the canonical Buddhist canons (Tripiṭakas), alongside the Sūtra and Abhidharma (Pāli: Abhidhamma), the Vinaya Piṭakas contains detailed prescriptions governing the behavior, conduct, and communal procedures of monks (bhikṣu) and nuns (bhikṣuṇī). These include rules of individual discipline (prātimokṣa), protocols for communal harmony, and guidelines for handling transgressions.

Buddhism (Burmese: ဗုဒ္ဓဘာသာ), specifically Theravada branch (Burmese: ထေရဝါဒဗုဒ္ဓဘာသာ), is the official and state religion of Myanmar since 1961, and practiced by nearly 87% of the population. It is the most religious Buddhist country in terms of the proportion of monks in the population and proportion of income spent on religion. With approximately 48 million Buddhists, Myanmar has the third largest Buddhist population in the world, after Thailand and China. Adherents are most likely found among the Bamar, Shan, Rakhine, Mon, Karen, and Chinese who are well integrated into Burmese society. Monks, collectively known as the sangha (community), are venerated members of Burmese society. Among many ethnic groups in Myanmar, including the Bamar and Shan, Theravada Buddhism is practiced in conjunction with the worship of nats, which are spirits who can intercede in worldly affairs. Buddhists in Myanmar are governed by Burmese customary law.

Regarding the practice of Buddhism, two popular practices stand out: merit-making and vipassanā meditation. There is also the less popular weizza path. Merit-making is the most common path undertaken by Burmese Buddhists. This path involves the observance of the Five precepts and accumulation of good merit through charity (dana, often to monks) and good deeds to obtain a favorable rebirth. The meditation path, which has gained ground since the early 20th century, is a form of Buddhist meditation which is seen as leading to awakening and can involve intense meditation retreats. The weizza path is an esoteric system of occult practices (such as recitation of spells, samatha and alchemy) believed to lead to life as a weizza (Burmese: ဝိဇ္ဇာ Pali: vijjā), a semi-immortal and supernatural being who awaits the appearance of the future Buddha, Maitreya (Burmese: အရိမေ‌တ္တေယျ Pali: Arimetteyya).

The Pratimokṣa (Sanskrit: प्रातिमोक्ष, romanized: prātimokṣa) is a list of rules (contained within the vinaya) governing the behaviour of Buddhist monastics (monks or bhikṣus and nuns or bhikṣuṇīs). Prati means "towards" and mokṣa means "liberation" from cyclic existence (saṃsāra).

It became customary to recite these rules once a fortnight at a meeting of the sangha during which confession would traditionally take place. A number of prātimokṣa codes are extant, including those contained in the Theravāda, Mahāsāṃghika, Mahīśāsaka, Dharmaguptaka, Sarvāstivāda and Mūlasarvāstivāda vinayas. Pratimokṣa texts may also circulate in separate pratimokṣa sūtras, which are extracts from their respective vinayas.