Ever felt a little confused about how to greet monastic members in Buddhism?

We get it—it can be a tad tricky with the different salutations floating around. With terms from various languages and Buddhist traditions, it’s easy to feel unsure about the right way to address these esteemed individuals. But fret not! We’ve got you covered. 

In this article, we’ll walk you through a list of common salutations in a conversational style, making it easier for you to greet and show respect to monastic members. So, let’s dive in and unravel the fascinating world of Buddhist salutations together!

Note: The list is not in alphabetical order. If you’re viewing this article on mobile, you may scroll right to see more information listed in the following table. Let’s go!

Tradition	Salutation	Character	Language	Meaning	Explanation	Example
Mahayana Chinese	Shī fù	师父	Chinese	“Master” or “Teacher”	Use to a skillful person or a master.	[Name] Shī fù
Mahayana Chinese	Fǎ Shī	法师	Chinese	“Dharma Master”	Commonly used to address a monastic member who is a Dharma teacher. Note: This term can be used on non-monks too. Master who is proficient in scriptures is called Dharma master. It is also said that only those who teach themselves with the Dharma and teach others with the Dharma can be called Dharma masters. There are four categories of Dharma masters (see the following rows)	Hsing Yun Fa Shi
Mahayana Chinese	Wén huì fǎ shī	闻慧法师	Chinese	闻 (wén) = “to hear” or “to listen. 慧 (huì)= meaning “wisdom” or “insight”	Used to refer to those who hear the scriptures and teach the words to get their meaning, and turn to others to preach	[Name] Wén huì fǎ shī
Mahayana Chinese	Sī huì fǎ shī	思慧法师	Chinese	思 (sī) = “thought” or “contemplation” 慧 (huì) = “wisdom” or “insight	Used to refer to those who studies the scriptures and teachings with positive thinking, and have gained experience, and then pass it on to the public.	[Name] Sī huì fǎ shī
Mahayana Chinese	Shí xiū fǎ shī	实修法师	Chinese	“实修” (Shí xiū) = “actual cultivation” or “practical practice” The term means practising Dharma Masters	Used to refer to those who dissociate from the mind and act, and who can use all kinds of legal nature to benefit the group.	[Name] Shí xiū fǎ shī
Mahayana Chinese	Shí zhèng fǎ shī	实证法师	Chinese	实证 (shí zhèng) = “actual realization” or “direct experience,”	Refers to those who have achieved direct experiential realization of the Dharma.	[Name] Shí zhèng fǎ shī
Mahayana Chinese	Hé shàng	和尚	Chinese	“Monk” or “Senior Monk”	Used to address a senior monastic member.	Usually not used as a salutation
Mahayana Chinese	Lún shī	论师	Chinese	It combines the characters for “ethics” and “teacher.”	This term is reserved for individuals who are proficient in the collection or interpretation of Buddhist scriptures (Abhidharma).	[Name] Lún shī
Mahayana Chinese	Jīng shī	经师	Chinese	Literally translates as Sutra master or teacher of scriptures	Commonly used to address scholars or individuals who possess deep knowledge of Buddhist scriptures and teachings.	[Name] Jīng shī
Mahayana Chinese	Lǜ shī	律师	Chinese	Literally translates as legal master	Used to address a person who learns and keeps the precepts, and is good at answering various questions in the precepts	[Name] Lǜ shī
Theravada	Bhante	Bhante	Pali	“Venerable Sir” or “Reverend”	A general term used to address a male monastic member.	Bhante Gunaratana
Theravada	Ayya	Ayya	Pali	“honourable” or “worthy”	Used to address a female monastic member.	Ayya Tathālokā
Theravada	Bhikkhu	Bhikkhu	Pali	“Mendicant” or “Monk”	Used to address a male monastic member who has taken full ordination (typically in the Theravada tradition).	Bhikkhu Bodhi
Theravada	Bhikkhuni	Bhikkhuni	Pali	“Nun”	Used to address a fully ordained female monastic member (typically in the Theravada tradition).	Bhikkhuni Tathālokā
Theravada	Thera	Thera	Pali	“Elder” or “Senior”	Used to address a senior male monastic member.	Upali Thera
Theravada	Theri	Theri	Pali	“Elder” or “Senior”	Used to address a senior female monastic member.	Khema Theri
Theravada	Mahathera	Maha Thera	Pali	“Great Elder”	Used to address a senior male monastic member who has been ordained for at least 20 years.	Narada Maha Thera
Theravada	Samanera	Sāmaṇera	Pali	“Novice Monk” or “Novice”	Used to address a male monastic member in the early stage of ordination.	Sāmaṇera [name]
Theravada	Samaneri	Sāmaneri	Pali	“Novice Nun” or “Novice”	Used to address a female monastic member in the early stage of ordination.	Sāmaṇeri [name]
Theravada	Anagarika	Anagārika	Pali	“homeless one”	Used to address a person who has given up most or all of their worldly possessions and responsibilities to commit full-time to Buddhist practice. Usually used to address a white-robed student waiting to be fully ordained.	Anagārika Dharmapāla
Theravada	Ashin	အရှင်	Burmese	“Venerable” or “Bhikkhu”	Used to address a fully ordained male monastic member.	Ashin [name]
Theravada	Sayadaw	ဆရာတော်	Burmese	“Royal Teacher” or “Master”	Used to address a monastic member who is a teacher or master.	Mahāsī Sayādaw
Theravada	Sayalay	ဆရာလေ	Burmese	“Venerable Teacher”	Used as a respectful and honorific term used to address female monastic members.	Sayalay Dῑpaṅkarā
Theravada	Thilashin	သီလရှင်	Burmese	“possessor of morality”, “keepers of moral virtue”	Used to address Burmese Theravada Buddhist nun. Thilashins are addressed with the honorifics Sayalay and Daw.  Tilashins take 10 precepts instead of the 311 precepts.	Usually not used as a salutation.
Theravada	Ajahn/Ajarn/Ajaan	อาจารย์	Thai	“Teacher” or “Mentor”	Northern dialect traditionally refers to a senior monk such as an abbot who is over 50 years old. Sometimes this is used together with Ajahn. E.g. Kruba Ajahn.	Ajahn Jayasaro
Theravada	Chao Khun	เจ้าคุณ	Thai	“Your Highness”	Title of recognition given to senior monks for their past acts of service. The Thai Sangha authorities will make careful selection of these monks and the king bestows the title personally.	Chao Khun Keng
Theravada	Kruba/ Khruu Baa	ครูบา	Thai	“Teacher”	Northern dialect (Isaan) traditionally refers to a senior monk such as an abbot who is over 50 years old. Sometimes this is used together with Ajahn. E.g. Kruba Ajahn.	Kruba Siwichai
Theravada	Luang Por	หลวงพ่อ	Thai	“Venerable Father” or “Respected Monk”	Used to address a senior male monastic member in Thai tradition (usually 60 years of age or above).	Luang Por Chah
Theravada	Luang Pu	หลวงปู่	Thai	“Venerable Grandfather” or “Grand Old Monk”	Used to address a senior male monastic member in Thai tradition and typically used to refer to someone who is of an older age.	Luang Pu Thuat
Theravada	Luang Ta	หลวงตา	Thai	“Venerable Grandfather” or “Grand Old Monk”	Used to address a senior male monastic member in Thai tradition. Typically used to refer to someone who is of an older age.	Luang Ta Maha Boowah
Theravada	Mae Chee/Maechi	แม่ชี	Thai	“Sister”‘Mae’ means mother.	Used to address a white-robed nun who is taking the Eight or Ten Precepts.	Mae Chee Kaew
Theravada	Phra	พระ	Thai	“Venerable” or “Reverend”	Used to address any male monastic member in Thai tradition.	Phra Goh
Theravada	Tan/Tahn	ท่าน	Thai	“Respected” or “Reverend”	An honorific title to address to refer to junior monks (less than 10 years) or whose seniority is unknown. It’s akin to “mister” but only used for monks.  Usually used with “Ajahn”.	Tahn Ajahn [name]
Vajrayana	Ani	ཨ་ནི་	Tibetan	“Nun” or “Sister”	Used to address a female monastic member who has taken the vows of a Buddhist nun.	Ani Choying Drolma
Vajrayana	Geshe	དགེ་བཤེས།	Tibetan	“Learned Scholar” or “Doctor”	Used to address a monastic member who is a learned scholar or doctor.	Geshe Lakdor
Vajrayana	Lama	བླ་མ།	Tibetan	“Guru” or “Teacher” or “Superior one”	Used to address a spiritual teacher or guru.	Dalai Lama
Vajrayana	Khenchen	མཁན་ཆེན།	Tibetan	“Great Abbot” or “Head of Monastery”	Used to address a monastic member who is the head of a monastery or who has achieved a high level of spiritual attainment. Usually used with Rinpoche.	Khenchen [name] Rinpoche
Vajrayana	Rinpoche	རིན་པོ་ཆེ།	Tibetan	“Precious One” or “Precious Jewel”	Used to address a monastic member who is recognised as a reincarnated lama or a highly respected teacher.	Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Vajrayana	Thubten	ཐུབ་བསྟན།	Tibetan	“Perseverance” or “Steadfastness”	Note: This is more of a name that’s inherited from one’s ordination teacher rather than a salutation. Other common names are Tenzin and Lobsang.	Thubten Chodron
Vajrayana	Tulku	སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་	Tibetan	“an incarnation” and literally means “magically emanated body”	Used to address the reincarnation of a great master of the past and typically used with the term “Rinpoche”.	Tulku lobsang rinpoche
Zen	Zenji	禅師 (ぜんじ)	Japanese	Zen Master/Monk/priest	Used to refer to a high-ranking Zen monk honoured by the imperial court	Dogen Zenji
Zen	Sensei	先生 ( せんせい)	Japanese	Teacher/Master	Typically used to refer to ordained teachers below the rank of rōshi. However, there are exceptions. See here for more.	[Name] Sensei
Zen	Rōshi	老師 ( ろうし)	Japanese	Literally translates as Old Teacher	An honorific title used for a highly venerated senior teacher in Zen Buddhism. Note: Usage might be different in different sect. See more here	[name] Roshi
Seon (Korean name for Chan Buddhism)	Soen Sa Nim	선사님	Korean	“Zen Master” or “Honorable Zen Teacher”	Used to address a Zen master of high esteem and authority.	Dae Soen Sa Nim
Soen(Korean name for Chan Buddhism)	Ji Do Poep Sa (JDPS)	지도법사	Korean	“Dharma Master” or “Dharma Teacher”	Used to address a Zen monastic who has completed intensive training and received Dharma transmission.	[Name] JDPS
Soen(Korean name for Chan Buddhism)	Sunim/Seunim	스님	Korean	A Buddhist monk or nun.	Used to address a Buddhist monk or Buddhist nun.  Note: It is considered respectful to refer to senior monks or nuns in Korea as Kun seunim (taken from Wiki)	Haemin Sunim
Thiền	Thay	Thầy	Vietnamese	“Master” or “Teacher”	Used as a term of respect and endearment.	Usually not used as a salutation

Phew! We’ve covered quite a list of salutations, haven’t we?

Do note that the use of terms might differ in various contexts. If you find yourself uncertain about which one to use in a particular situation, here’s a handy rule of thumb: follow the lead of regular temple goers in greeting the monastics. They often have an intuitive sense of the appropriate salutation. And if you’re still unsure, there’s always the catch-all term ‘venerable’ that can be used as a respectful and inclusive way to address monastic members. Remember, the most important thing is to approach them with sincerity and reverence.

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Special thanks to the following subscribers who offered inputs to polish this list together 😀🙏

Tiong Han Toh, Kai Wei, Loh Wei, YC, Ezra, Venerable You Guang, Phra Goh, Ryan Wee, members from Gaden Shartse Dro-Phen Ling.