male and female lay Buddhist practitioners.

(Skt.): Litterally 'attendant'. Buddhist lay-person (taken REFUGE in the BUDDHA, DHARMA, SANGHA) and holder of the 5 LAY PRECEPTS. Upasaka is the male form, Upasika is the female form.

a disciple or chela, a devoted servant and follower of the Higher Laws of Life, or of a spiritual teacher

Followers of Buddhism that believed in Buddha's teachings, but did not follow the strict rule of the Sangha.

(Pali) A Buddhist lay disciple. Feminine form: Upasika.

(Skt.): Buddhist lay-person holding 8 PRECEPTS.

Lay disciple (male), who formally receives the five precepts or rules of conduct for the laity.

(Skt); dge bsnyen (Tib). One who has taken one or all of the Five Precepts for a period longer than 24 hours, up to the duration of this life.

Upāsaka उपासक (masculine) or Upāsikā उपासिका (feminine) (Chinese 優婆塞 yōupósāi) are from the Sanskrit and Pāli words for "attendant". This is the title of followers of Buddhism (Gautama Buddha) who are not monks, nuns or novices in a Buddhist order. The terms are usually translated as "lay follower" or "lay devotee".http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.0:1:3992.pali Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 150.