that one takes refuge in the Triple Gem. Asked how one is a "virtuous lay follower" (upāsako sīlavā), the Buddha replies that one undertakes the Five Precepts. Asked how one practices being a lay follower "both for his own benefit & the benefit of others," the Buddha states that one is consummate oneself in and encourages others in the consummation of: conviction (saddhā); virtue (sīla); generosity (cāga); visiting monks; and, hearing, remembering, analyzing, understanding and practicing the Dhamma. See also Three Refuges Five Precepts Eight Precepts Dhammika Sutta (Sn 2.14) Dighajanu Sutta (AN 8.54) Sigalovada Sutta (DN 31) Householder (Buddhism) Sravaka - Buddhist "disciple" (includes both monastic and lay followers) Anagarika- a title which describes a midway status between a monk and a layperson Ngagpa - non-monastic Tibetan Buddhism practitioners Notes Bibliography Bluck, Robert (2002). The Path of the Householder: Buddhist Lay Discipline in the Pali Canon, Buddhist Studies Review 19 (1), 1-18 Encyclopædia Britannica (2007). "Upasaka." Retrieved 2007-10-24 from "Encyclopædia Britannica Online" at https://web.archive.org/web/20060621163706/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9074383. Harvey, Peter (1990). An introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, history and practices (1st ed.), Cambridge University Press. . Kariyawasam, A.G.S. (1995). Buddhist Ceremonies and Rituals of Sri Lanka (The Wheel Publication No. 402/404). Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. Retrieved 2007-10-22 from "Access to Insight" (1996 transcription) at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/kariyawasam/wheel402.html. Mendis, N.K.G. (2001). The Questions of King Milinda: An Abridgement of the Milindapañha. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society. Nattier, Jan (2003). A Few Good Men: The Bodhisattva Path according to The Inquiry of Ugra (). Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. . Rhys Davids, T.W. & William Stede (eds.) (1921-5). The Pali Text Society’s Pali–English dictionary. Chipstead: Pali Text Society. A general on-line search engine for the PED is available at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/. Retrieved on 2006-12-26. External links Theravada resources for Upasakas Sri Lanka Buddha Jayanti Tipitaka Series [SLTP] (undated). Gahapativaggo [in Pali] (AN 8). Available on-line at http://metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/4Anguttara-Nikaya/Anguttara5/8-atthakanipata/003-gahapativaggo-p.html. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997). Jivaka Sutta: To Jivaka (On Being a Lay Follower) (AN 8.26). Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an08/an08.026.than.html. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. Buddhist monasticism Buddhist titles Buddhist oaths