In Buddhism, the word sangha means "assembly" or "community." For Buddhists, there are two sanghas that are very important:

  1. the community of Buddhist monks and nuns
  2. the community of noble disciples

In Buddhism, there are three things that a Buddhist shows the greatest respect: the Buddha, the Dharma (the Buddha's teaching), and the Sangha (the Buddha's community). So, for example, when the sangha is talked about in very old Buddhist books, the following words are often used: