The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1568 page)

is three strips of yellow, brown, or orange cloth, normally cotton, wound around the body so as to cover it for reasons of modesty and protection against the weather. The upper toga-like robe (P
li,
c
vara
) has a patchwork pattern which is a formalization of the primitive piecing-together of rags. Monastic buildings were at first simple shelters for the retreat (P
li,
vassa
) conducted during the monsoon, and have developed into elaborate centres of culture. Generally, monasticism is more central to Buddhism than it is to Christianity, and there is often a lively spirit of co-operation between monks and laypeople, which is the social dynamic of many Buddhist communities.
Because of the general resemblances of community and at least partial separation from society, the term ‘monk’ is widely used in English with reference to Buddhism. In its purest form, ‘monk’ refers to one who has taken the full vows of a bhikkhu or
bhik
u
, and ‘nun’ to a bhikkhun
or bhik
u
. But given the many other forms, it would be better to abandon the English term monk and use terms such as bhikkhu,
lama
,
sensei
, and
r
shi
as appropriate.

 
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(Jap.; Chin.,
wen-ta
). ‘Question and answer’, the exchange between teacher and pupil in Zen Buddhism, which evokes from a pupil, not so much an answer as an expression of the pupil's deepest disposition (
kokoro
). Many mond
s were recorded later as
k
ans
. See also
HOSSEN
.