STUDENT:

As a lay practitioner, I don't feel like a true Buddhist I feel that only monks and nuns are truly Buddhists.

SHIH-FU:

You shouldn't feel that way. You shouldn't think that left-home practitioners are true Buddhists and that you are a pseudo-Buddhist. You are all true Buddhists. In Sakyamuni's time, there were many left-home disciples, but there were many more lay practitioners. The same is true today.

In the Hinayana tradition, there are four levels of attainment. Lay practitioners can reach three of those levels. After attaining the third level, they will naturally lose their worldly desires, become monks or nuns, and strive for arhatship. In the Mahayana tradition, bodhisattvas may manifest as monks, nuns, or lay practitioners, and there have been many famous lay Buddhists in that tradition.

I think I know why you are puzzled. If both left-home practitioners and lay practitioners are true Buddhists, then what is the need for monks and nuns? It is a matter of commitment. Lay practitioners have the extra responsibility of a family to support. They are susceptible to all the distractions and problems that a family and society create. They are not able to devote their full energy and strength to the practice. A monk or nun, on the other hand, can concentrate fully on the practice, and also in spreading the Dharma.

STUDENT: