The meaning of Arya Sangha in Jodo Shinshu

- last revised February 27, 2017 - 

read this article first:
- The Three Refuges in Jodo Shinshu Buddhism - 

Question:

When you say the Three Refuges and take refuge in the Sangha, do you take refuge in ordinary unenlightened people or in the Arya Sangha, like other Buddhist schools do?

Answer:

In Mahayana Buddhism, the term Arya[1] Sangha represents the sangha at the ideal level, that is, all of the Buddha’s followers, lay or ordained, who have at least attained the first level of the ten bodhisattva stages (ten bhumis)[2]. This is to separate it from the sangha in its conventional level which means all Buddhist monks and nuns.