The Church the fruit of Christianity, the Sangha the root out of which
Buddhism sprang—The Sangha not a Church but an Order—Different from the
many Orders then existing, yet with a likeness to them which it never
lost—Renunciation of secular life an indispensable qualification for
membership—Analogous to yet essentially different from Monachism in
Christianity, and in utter contrast to the idea and reality of the
Christian Church—The Sangha as theoretically open to all, and
propagandist in its purpose, a precursor of the Church—Actual
disqualifications for membership—Ceremonial of admission—The “outgoing”
from the world—Ceremonial of Confirmation—The “arrival”—The novitiate or
tutelage—The rule of the Sangha—No vows of obedience to
superiors—Stringent vows of poverty and chastity—Difference between a
Buddhist Vihara and a Christian monastery—Favourable features of
Buddhist monastic life—The Uposatha gathering—The Pâtimokkha
catechising—The Pavârâna invitation—Relation of women to the
Sangha—Institution of Order of Bikkhuni—The relation of the laity to the
Sangha—The Buddhist layman’s only possible “merit,” and his only hope,
_Pages 253-313_