The Community

The Amaravati Community consists of Bhikkhu*, Siladharã*, Samanera*, Anagarika* and lay residents.

The monks and nuns live as alms mendicants, following a discipline that emphasises personal integrity, thus encouraging direct experience of religious truth.

Members of the Sangha* shave their heads and wear simple robes of the Theravada tradition; ochre in colour for the Bhikkhu and Samanera; dark brown for the Siladhara and white for the Anagarika.

These forms of dress and the shaven head are customary in Buddhism for those who have relinquished worldly values and ambitions, in order to commit themselves fully to the spiritual life.