Householder (Buddhism)

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In English translations of Buddhist texts, householder
denotes a variety of terms. Most broadly, it refers to any layperson,
and most narrowly, to a wealthy and prestigious familial patriarch.^[1] In contemporary Buddhist communities, householder is often used synonymously with laity, or non-monastics.

The Buddhist notion of householder is often contrasted with that of wandering ascetics (Pāḷi: samaṇa; Sanskrit: śramaṇa) and monastics (bhikkhu and bhikkhuni),
who would not live (for extended periods) in a normal house and who
would pursue freedom from attachments to houses and families.

Upāsakas and upāsikās, also called śrāvakas and śrāvikās - are householders and other laypersons who take refuge in the Three Jewels (the Buddha, the teachings and the community) and practice the Five Precepts. In southeast Asian communities, lay disciples also give alms to monks on their daily rounds and observe weekly uposatha days. In Buddhist thought, the cultivation of ethical conduct and dāna
or “almsgiving” will themselves refine consciousness to such a level
that rebirth in one of the lower heavens is likely even if there is no
further Buddhist practice. This level of attainment is viewed as a
proper aim for laypersons.^[2]

In some traditional Buddhist societies, such as in Burma and Thailand, people transition between householder and monk and back to householder with regularity and celebration as in the practice of shinbyu among the Bamar.^[3]
One of the evolving features of Buddhism in the West is the increasing
dissolution of the traditional distinction between monastics and laity.

For
all the diversity of Buddhist practices in the West, general trends in
the recent transformations of Buddhist practice … can be identified.
These include an erosion of the distinction between professional and lay
Buddhists; a decentralization of doctrinal authority; a diminished role
for Buddhist monastics; an increasing spirit of egalitarianism; greater
leadership roles for women; greater social activism; and, in many
cases, an increasing emphasis on the psychological, as opposed to the
purely religious, nature of practice.^[4]

Theravada perspectives

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In the Pāli canon,
householders received diverse advice from the Buddha and his disciples.
Some householders who were also lay disciples were even identified as
having achieved nibbana.

Core householder practices include undertaking the Five Precepts
and taking refuge in the Three Jewels. In addition, the canon nurtures
the essential bond between householders and monastics still apparent
today in southeast Asian communities.

What is a householder?

In traditional Indian society, a householder (Sanskrit gṛhastin)
is typically a settled adult male with a family. In the Pali canon,
various Pali words have been translated into the English word
“householder”, including agārika, gahapati, gahattha and gihin.^[5]
Vocations most often associated with householders in the Pali canon are those of guild foreman, banker and merchant (Pali, seṭṭhi) but other vocations are mentioned such as farmer and carpenter.^[6]Gombrich (2002, pp. 56–7) states:

Who were these people in terms of class or profession? In
the Canon, most of them evidently own land, but they usually have
labourers to do the physical work. Sometimes they are also in business.
In fact, they illustrate how it is in the first instance wealth
derived from agriculture which provides business capital. The average gahapati
who gave material support to the Buddha and his Sangha thus seems to
have been something like a gentleman farmer, perhaps with a town house.
On the other hand, inscriptions in the western Deccan, where Buddhism
flourished in the early centuries CE, use the term gahapati to refer to urban merchants. We must distinguish between reference and meaning: the meaning of gahapati is simple and unvarying, but the reference shifts with the social context.

Other people in the canon who are sometimes identified as
“householders” in contemporary translations are simply those individuals
who dwelt in a home or who had not renounced “home life” (Pali, agārasmā) for “homelessness” (Pali, anagāriya).

Householder ethics

While there is no formal “householder discipline” in the vinaya or “code of ethics”, the Sigalovada Sutta (DN 31)^[7] has been referred to as “the Vinaya of the householder” (gihi-vinaya).^[8] This sutta includes:

• an enumeration of the Five Precepts
• an analysis of good-hearted (Pali: su-hada) friends
• a description of respectful actions for one’s parents, teachers, spouse, friends, workers and religious guides.

Similarly, in the “Dhammika Sutta” (Sn 2.14),^[9] the Buddha articulates the “layman’s rule of conduct” (Pali, gahatthavatta),^[10] as follows:

• the Five Precepts
• the Eight Precepts for Uposatha days
• support of one’s parents
• engaging in fair business.

The Mahanama sūtra has been called the “locus classicus on the definition of upāsaka.”^[11] This sutra is preserved in five versions (two in Pali, three in Chinese) representing two different recensions, one in the Samyuktagama/Samyuttanikaya, the other in the Anguttaranikaya and in the Samyuktagama and further developed in the Abhidharmaskandha, one of the canonical books of the Sarvastivadin Abhidharma.^[12] In this sutra the Buddha defines an upāsaka in terms of faith (śraddhā), morality (śīla), liberality (tyāga), and wisdom (prajñā), as follows:^[13]

• “One produces a deep thought of faith toward the Tathagata and
  is established in faith. He never lacks faith or is evil towards
  śramaṇas, brāhmaṇas, or deva, or māra, or brahmā. This is called the
  faith of an upāsaka.”
• “Not to kill, not to steal, not to seduce, not to lie, and not
  to drink liquor, etc. This is called the morality of an upāsaka”.
• “It is a rule (dharma) for an upāsaka that he should abandon
  stinginess. As for all living beings, without exception, stinginess, and
  envy are destroyed by him. Therefore, his mind should be devoid of
  stinginess and envy, and he should produce thoughts of liberality and
  personally donate, tirelessly. This is called ‘possessed of
  liberality.’”
• “An upāsaka knows suffering according to reality, knows the
  collection of suffering according to reality, knows the extinction of
  suffering according to reality, and knows the path to the extinction of
  suffering according to reality. He understands with certainty. This is
  called ‘possessed of wisdom.’”

Some early schools, particularly the Sautrāntika, allowed for aparipūrṇa-upāsaka (partial lay vow holders), who took anywhere from one to four of the śīla observances.^[14]

Other suttas in the canon likewise underline keeping the
precepts, maintaining virtuous friends, homage to one’s benefactors and
earning one’s wealth honestly.^[15]

Elsewhere in the Sutta Pitaka the Buddha provides moral instruction to householders and their family members^[16] on how to be good parents, spouses and children.^[17]

Buddha’s advice to Buddhist laywomen is contained mostly in the Anguttara Nikaya 8:49; IV 269-71. His advice was as follows:

• Be capable at one’s work
• Work with diligence and skill
• Manage domestic help skillfully (if relevant) and treat them fairly
• Perform household duties efficiently
• Be hospitable to one’s husband’s parents and friends
• Be faithful to one’s husband; protect and invest family earnings
• Discharge responsibilities lovingly and conscientiously;
  accomplish faith (faith in the possibility of enlightenment, and of the
  enlightenment of the Buddha.)
• Accomplish moral discipline (observe/practise the five precepts.)
• Practise generosity (cultivate a mind free from stinginess or avarice; delight in charity, giving and sharing.)
• Cultivate wisdom (Perceive the impermanence of all things.).

The Buddha also gave advice on householders’ financial matters. In
the Anguttara Nikaya (4.61; II 65-68) it is said that the Buddha stated
that there are four worthy ways in which to spend one’s wealth:

• On the everyday maintenance of the happiness of oneself and one’s family (as well as any employees, friends and co-workers);
• On providing insurance (against losses from fire, floods, unloved heirs and misfortune generally);
• By making offerings to relatives, guests, ancestors (
  offerings to ancestors are traditionally made, in a respectful Halloween
  type ritual, throughout Buddhist countries on Ullambana,
  in the eighth lunar month – around October. Food offerings and good
  deeds are done in order to relieve the sufferings of hungry ghosts and
  to help rescue one’s ancestors from the lower realms, to secure rebirth
  for them in higher realms. Many people visit cemeteries to make
  offerings to departed ancestors), the ruler and the devas (note that worshipping Devas will not bring you closer to enlightenment but it may give you some kind of material advantage);
• By providing alms to monks and nuns who are devoted to the
  attainment of nibbana. In the Digha Nikaya (III) the Buddha is said to
  have advised Sigala, a young man, that he should spend one fourth of his
  income on daily expenses, invest half in his business and put aside one
  fourth as insurance against an emergency.

Lay-monastic reciprocity

Some suttas suggest that Buddhist renunciates are best going it alone.^[18]
Many others celebrate and provide instruction for a vital reciprocity
between householders and monastics. For instance, in the Khuddaka Nikaya,^[19] the Buddha articulates that “brahmins and householders” (Pali, brāhmanagahapatikā) support monks by providing monks with robes, alms food, lodgings and medicine while monks teach brahmins and householders the Dhamma. In this sutta, the Buddha declares:

Householders & the homeless [monastics]

in mutual dependence

both reach the true Dhamma:

the unsurpassed safety from bondage.^[20]

Householders & future lives

In the Pali canon, the pursuit of Nibbana (Skt: Nirvana)
within this lifetime usually starts with giving up the householder life.
This is due to the householder life’s intrinsic attachments to a home,
a spouse, children and the associated wealth necessary for maintaining
the household.^[21]
Thus, instead of advising householders to relinquish these and all
attachments as a prerequisite for the complete liberation from samsara in this lifetime, the Buddha instructed householders on how to achieve “well-being and happiness” (hita-sukha) in this and future lives in a spiritually meaningful way.

In Buddhism, a householder’s spiritual path is often conceived of in terms of making merit (Pali: puñña). The primary bases for meritorious action in Buddhism are generosity (dāna), ethical conduct (sīla) and mental development (bhāvanā). Traditional Buddhist practices associated with such behaviors are summarized in the table below.

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Householders & Nibbana

The Anguttara Nikaya (AN 6.119 and AN 6.120)^[22] identifies 19 householders (gahapati)^[23] who have “attained perfection” or, according to an alternate translation, “attained to certainty” (niṭṭhamgata) and “seen deathlessness, seen deathlessness with their own eyes” (amataddaso, amataṃ sacchikata).^[24] These householders are endowed (samannāgato) with six things (chahi dhammehi):

• unwavering faith (aveccappasādena) in the Buddha
• unwavering faith in the Dhamma
• unwavering faith in the Sangha^[25]
• noble moral discipline (ariyena sīlena)
• noble knowledge or wisdom (ariyena ñānena)
• noble release (ariyāya vimuttiyā)

While some interpret this passage to indicate that these householders have attained arhatship, others interpret it to mean they have attained at least “stream entry” (sotāpanna) but not final release.^[26] The para-canonical Milinda Pañha adds:

“…[F]or a householder who has attained arahantship: either,
that very day, he goes forth into homelessness or he attains final
Nibbāna. That day is not able to pass without one or other of these
events taking place.” (Miln. VII, 2)^[27]

Attaining the state of anāgāmi or “non-returner” is portrayed in the early texts as the ideal goal for laity.^[28]

Prominent householders in the Pali canon

The following are examples of individuals who are explicitly identified as a “householder” in multiple suttas:

• Anathapindika, is referenced for instance in AN 1.14.249 as “the householder Sudatta, the foremost lay devotee.”^[29]
• Citta, referenced for instance in AN 1.14.250 as “the [foremost] householder for explaining the Teaching.”^[30] In SN 17.23, Citta is one of two male lay disciples identified for emulation by the Buddha.^[31]
• Nakulapita and Nakulamata, referenced for
  instance in AN 1.14.257 and AN 1.14.266, respectively, as “the best
  confident” and the foremost “for undivided pleasantness.”^[32]

Other individuals who are not explicitly identified in the suttas as
“householder” but who, by the aforementioned broader criteria, might be
considered a householder include:

• Ghatikara was a potter in the time of the Kassapa Buddha. He was an anāgāmi and his chief supporter. (MN 81).

Mahayana perspectives

The Sigalovada Sutta has a parallel Chinese text.^[33]
There are few differences between the Pali and Chinese versions.
Further discussion of householder duties is found in the fourteenth
chapter of the Sutra on Upasaka Precepts.^[34]

Dogen recommended that householders meditate at least five minutes each day.^[35]

In the Zen tradition, Vimalakīrti and Páng Yùn were prominent householders/laypersons who achieved enlightenment.

Vajrayana perspectives

The Vajrayana tradition has produced many prominent householders including Marpa Lotsawa, Dromtön, the heart son of Atiśa, and Padmasambhava. to mention a few.

The ngagpa (Tibetan. feminine ngagma,
Tibetan) is an ordained Tantric practitioner, sometimes a householder
with certain vows (dependent upon lama and lineage) that make them the
householder equivalent of a monk or nun. The path of a ngakpa is a
rigorous discipline whereby one “enjoys the sense-fields’ as a part of
one’s practice. A practitioner utilizes the whole of the phenomenal
world as one’s path. Marrying, raising children, working jobs, leisure,
art, play etc. are all means to realize the enlightened state or rigpa,
non-dual awareness. As such, we can see the prominence of householders
in the Vajrayana tradition. One can, however, be a householder without
taking the vows of a ngagpa. Simply holding the five precepts,
bodhisattva vows and the tantric vows while practising diligently can
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Contemporary Buddhist householder practices

Below common contemporary lay Buddhist practices are summarized.
Some of these practices — such as taking Refuge and meditating — are
common to all major schools. Other practices — such as taking the Eight
Precepts or the Bodhisattva Vows — are not pan-Buddhist.

Theravada practices

For Theravada Buddhists, the following are practiced on a daily and weekly basis:

Daily practice: prostrations to the Triple Gem, taking refuge in the Triple Gem, taking the Five Precepts, chanting other verses, meditating, giving and sharing (Pali: dana).

Special day practices (Uposatha): practicing the Eight Precepts, studying Buddhist scriptures,
visiting and supporting Buddhist monks, visiting and supporting Buddhist monasteries.

Other practices: undertaking a pilgrimage.

Mahayana practices

Daily practices: Prostrations to the Triple Gem, taking refuge
in the Triple Gem, taking the Five Precepts, chanting sutras and the
names of buddhas/bodhisattvas, meditating, cultivating compassion and bodhichitta, recitation of mantras.

Special day practices: Upholding the eight precepts,
listening to teachings, supporting Sangha, repentance, performing
offering ceremonies to sentient beings

Other practices: Bodhisattva vows, going on a retreat.

Vajrayana practices

Daily practices: Prostrations, refuge, cultivating compassion and bodhicitta, bodhisattva vows, tantric vows (if applicable), meditation in the form of Tantric sādhanās (if applicable), purification techniques, recitation of mantras

Special day practices: Eight precepts, listening to teachings, offering ceremonies.

Other practices: Studying texts, receiving initiations and personal practice instructions from the teacher.