Householder (Buddhism)

Householder in Buddhism refers to a class of people who did not "renounce the world." Householders thus often have possession of a house in which they live with their family.

While the Buddha frequently directly addressses monastics (bhikkhus) in the suttas, one of the evolving features of Buddhism in the West is the increasing dissolution of the traditional distinction between monastics and laity.^[1]

Theravada perspectives

In traditional Indian society, a householder (Sanskrit, grihastha) is typically a settled adult male with a family.

In English translations of the Pali canon, a variety of words and phrases have been translated as "householder" including gahatta and gahapti. The PTS Pali-English Dictionary defines gahattha as "a householder, one who leads the life of a layman" while gahapati is defined as "the possessor of a house, the head of the household, pater familias," often with a social status similar to high-ranking personages (Pali, khattiyā) and brahmins.^[2]

In addition, by today's standards, there are a number of other people mentioned in the Pali canon who modern readers might consider to be a "householder." These are people, for instance, who ply a variety of trades or who identify with sensual pleasures or who might simply dwell in a home or who have not renounced "home life" (Pali, agārasmā) for "homelessness" (Pali, anagāriya).

In the Pali canon, householders received diverse advice from the Buddha and his disciples. Some householders were even identified as having acheived nibbana. Core practices include undertaking the Five Precepts and taking refuge in the Triple Gem.

<font=large>Peoples of the Pali canon
Pali word	English translation
bhikkhu, bhikkhuni	monastic
samana	ascetic
brāhmana	brahmin
upasaka	lay devotee
gahattha, gahapati	householder

Householder Vinaya

While there is no formal "householder discipline" in the Vinaya, Buddhaghosa has referred to the "Sigalovada Sutta" (DN 31)^[3] as "the Vinaya of the householder."^[4] This sutta includes an enumeration of the Five Precepts, an analysis of good-hearted (Pali: su-hada) friends, and a description of respectful actions for ones parents, teachers, spouse, friends, workers and religious guides. Also see the "Dhammika Sutta" (Sn 393)^[5] for the "layman's rule of conduct" (Pali, gahavatta).^[6]

Elsewhere in the Sutta Pitaka the Buddha provides moral instruction to householders and their family members^[7] on how to be good parents, spouses and children.^[8]

Householders & Nibbana

The Anguttara Nikaya (AN 6.119 and AN 6.120^[9]) identifies 19 householders (gahapati)^[10] who have "seen deathlessness" (Pali, amata) and "realized the highest" (Pali, niṭṭhamgata) through their "unwavering faith" (Pali, aveccappasādena) in six things:

The Buddha
the Teaching (Pali, Dhamma)
the Community of bhikkhus (Pali, Sangha)^[11]
noble discipline (Pali, ariyena sīlena)
noble knowledge (Pali, ariyena ñānena)
noble release (Pali, ariyāya vimuttiyā)

Canonical householder sections

Within the Pali canon, there is a "Householder section" (Gahapativagga) in the following nikayas:

the Majjhima Nikaya (MN 51 to MN 60)^[12]
the Samyutta Nikaya (SN 12.41 to SN 12.50)^[13]
the Anguttara Nikaya (AN 8.3).^[14]

Prominent householders in the Pali canon

The following are examples of individuals who are explicitly identified as a "householder" (Pali, gahapati) in multiple suttas:

Anathapindika, is referenced for instance in AN 1.14.249 as "the householder Sudatta, the foremost lay devotee."^[15]
Citta, referenced for instance in AN 1.14.250 as "the [foremost] householder for explaining the Teaching."^[16]
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."^[17]

Other individuals who are not explicitly identified in the suttas as "householder" but who, by contemporary standards, might be considered a householder include:

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

Mahayana perspectives

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

Dogen recommended that householders meditate five minutes each day.^{[citation needed]}

Notes

^ See, for instance, Wallace (2002), p. 35, who writes:
"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."
^ PTS (1921-25), pp. 247, 248, entries gaha-ttha and gahapati.
^ DN 31 is translated in Narada (1996).
^ Buddhaghosa's epithet is recorded in Narada (1995) and referenced in Law (1932-33), p. 85, n. 1, and Bodhi (2005), p. 109.
^ Ireland (1983).
^ PTS, p. 247, under the entry for "gaha (1)"
^ For example, in DN 31, the Buddha addresses "Sigalaka the householder's son" (Bodhi, 2005, pp. 116-8).
^ See, for instance, additional examples in Narada (1995) and in Bodhi (2005)'s chapter, "The Happiness Visible in this Present Life," pp. 107-142.
^ In an on-line English-language Sinhalese Tipitaka, these suttas are identified as AN 6.12.3 and 6.12.4 respectively, and are available at http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/4Anguttara-Nikaya/Anguttara4/6-chakkanipata/012-samannavaggo-e.html. An on-line Pali-language version of these Sinhalese suttas, identified as AN 6.2.17 through 6.2.34 (with a separate verse for each gahapati), are available at http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/4Anguttara-Nikaya/Anguttara4/6-chakkanipata/012-samannavaggo-p.html.
^ Nyanaponika & Hecker (2003), p. 365, state that AN 6.120 refers to 21 "eminent lay disciples." A close reading of the actual text identifies 18 gahapati and three upasaka.
^ These first three objects of faith -- the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha -- are known in Buddhism as the Triple Gem.
^ See Nanamoli & Bodhi (2001), pp. 441-519.
^ See Bodhi (2000), pp. 578-86, and, in the Sinhalese Tipitaka, http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/3Samyutta-Nikaya/Samyutta2/12-Abhisamaya-Samyutta/05-Gahapativaggo-e.html.
^ See, in the Sinhalese Tipitaka, http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/4Anguttara-Nikaya/Anguttara5/8-atthakanipata/003-gahapativaggo-e.html.
^ In an on-line English-language Sinhalese Tipitaka, see http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/4Anguttara-Nikaya/Anguttara1/1-ekanipata/014-Etadaggapali-e.html. Also see, Nyanaponika & Hecker (2003), pp. 337-62.
^ In an on-line English-language Sinhalese Tipitaka, see http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/4Anguttara-Nikaya/Anguttara1/1-ekanipata/014-Etadaggapali-e.html. Also see, Nyanaponika & Hecker (2003), pp. 365-72.
^ Also see AN 4.55 in Bodhi (2005), pp. 121-2, 433 n. 3. Note that, technically, Nakulapita is identified as the "householder" and, his spouse, Nakulamata as the "householder's wife."

References

Bodhi, Bhikkhu (trans.) (2000). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-331-1.
Bodhi,Bhikkhu (ed.) (2005), In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-491-1.
Ireland,John D. (trans.) (1983). Sn 2.14, Dhammika Sutta: Dhammika (excerpt). Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.2.14.irel.html.
Law, Bimala Churn (1932-33), "Nirvana and Buddhist Laymen" in the Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Vol. 14, 1932-1933, pp. 80-86. Available on-line at: http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-ENG/lawn.htm.
Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu (trans.) & Bhikkhu Bodhi (ed.) (2001). The Middle-Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-072-X.
Narada Thera (1995). Everyman's Ethics: Four Discourses of the Buddha. Available on-line at: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/narada/wheel014.html.
Narada Thera (trans.) (1996). DN 31, Sigalovada Sutta: The Discourse to Sigala, The Layperson's Code of Discipline. Available on-line at: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.31.0.nara.html.
Nyanaponika Thera & Hellmuth Hecker, Bhikkhu Bodhi (ed.) (2003). Great Disciples of the Buddha: Their Lives, their Works, their Legacy. Somerville, MA:Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-381-8.
Pali Text Society (PTS) (1921-1925). The Pali Text Society's Pali-English dictionary. London: Chipstead. Available on-line at: http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/.
Wallace,Alan (2002). "The Spectrum of Buddhist Practice in the West" in Charles Prebish & Martin Baumann (eds.), Westward Dharma: Buddhism Beyond Asia. Berkeley:University of California Press. ISBN 0-52022-625-9. Also available on-line at: http://www.alanwallace.org/The%20Spectrum%20of%20Buddhist%20Practice.pdf.

External links

"Gahapati" and "Gaha-ttha" - two PTS Pali-English Dictionary (PED) entries related to "householder."
"The Eightfold Path for the Householder", by Jack Kornfield
"How would Buddha handle your kids?", by John Bullitt (The Buddhist Channel, April 14, 2005)
"A Seamless Process: Practice On and Off the Cushion", an IMS interview with Kamala Masters & Steve Armstrong.

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[1] See, for instance, Wallace (2002), p. 35, who writes:
"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."

[2] PTS (1921-25), pp. 247, 248, entries gaha-ttha and gahapati.

[3] DN 31 is translated in Narada (1996).

[4] Buddhaghosa's epithet is recorded in Narada (1995) and referenced in Law (1932-33), p. 85, n. 1, and Bodhi (2005), p. 109.

[5] Ireland (1983).

[6] PTS, p. 247, under the entry for "gaha (1)"

[7] For example, in DN 31, the Buddha addresses "Sigalaka the householder's son" (Bodhi, 2005, pp. 116-8).

[8] See, for instance, additional examples in Narada (1995) and in Bodhi (2005)'s chapter, "The Happiness Visible in this Present Life," pp. 107-142.

[9] In an on-line English-language Sinhalese Tipitaka, these suttas are identified as AN 6.12.3 and 6.12.4 respectively, and are available at http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/4Anguttara-Nikaya/Anguttara4/6-chakkanipata/012-samannavaggo-e.html. An on-line Pali-language version of these Sinhalese suttas, identified as AN 6.2.17 through 6.2.34 (with a separate verse for each gahapati), are available at http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/4Anguttara-Nikaya/Anguttara4/6-chakkanipata/012-samannavaggo-p.html.

[10] Nyanaponika & Hecker (2003), p. 365, state that AN 6.120 refers to 21 "eminent lay disciples." A close reading of the actual text identifies 18 gahapati and three upasaka.

[11] These first three objects of faith -- the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha -- are known in Buddhism as the Triple Gem.

[12] See Nanamoli & Bodhi (2001), pp. 441-519.

[13] See Bodhi (2000), pp. 578-86, and, in the Sinhalese Tipitaka, http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/3Samyutta-Nikaya/Samyutta2/12-Abhisamaya-Samyutta/05-Gahapativaggo-e.html.

[14] See, in the Sinhalese Tipitaka, http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/4Anguttara-Nikaya/Anguttara5/8-atthakanipata/003-gahapativaggo-e.html.

[15] In an on-line English-language Sinhalese Tipitaka, see http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/4Anguttara-Nikaya/Anguttara1/1-ekanipata/014-Etadaggapali-e.html. Also see, Nyanaponika & Hecker (2003), pp. 337-62.

[16] In an on-line English-language Sinhalese Tipitaka, see http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/4Anguttara-Nikaya/Anguttara1/1-ekanipata/014-Etadaggapali-e.html. Also see, Nyanaponika & Hecker (2003), pp. 365-72.

[17] Also see AN 4.55 in Bodhi (2005), pp. 121-2, 433 n. 3. Note that, technically, Nakulapita is identified as the "householder" and, his spouse, Nakulamata as the "householder's wife."

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