The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2125 page)

) of Buddhism.
The rules governing the life and organization of the sa
gha (in the restricted sense) are found in
Vinayapi
aka.
The sa
gha is basically mendicant, and it has no hierarchical organization (apart from a senior monk, Skt.,
sthavira
; P
li,
thera
). The development of
Mah
y
na
did not diminish the importance of the sa
gha, even though routes to enlightenment/salvation were opened up outside the sa
gha. The vinaya traditions persisted, and only in Japan did the organization of schools diminish the importance of the monastic sa
gha. In 1966, the World Buddhist Sa
gha Council was established.

 
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see
PILGRIMAGE
(Jain).

 
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