Monks Robes and Robe Colors

You may have noticed that some Buddhist monks wear red robes and some wear saffron colored robes. The saffron robes are worn by Theravada Buddhist monks, like those in Thailand. They are a different tradition of Buddhism from Tibetan monks, who wear the red robes are follow Mahayana Buddhism. Zen Buddhism is also a different branch of Buddhism and they wear brown or black robes.  

The Tibetan monks who wear the red robes follow the Mahayana Tradition. They wear red because a long time ago red was a cheap and easy color to dye cloth and fabric. Red also symbolizes deflecting attention from yourself and allows you to focus on compassion and kindness towards others. The simplicity of wearing a simple robe symbolizes the vow the monks have taken to lead a simple life. The shaving of the monks heads symbolizes them over coming their vanity and allows them to continue on their path to enlightenment. 

The saffron yellow robes are worn by monks in Thailand, Hindu ascetics and also Chinese monks of Shao Lin. Yellow is the color of gold and stands for great wealth and is the color of nobility and this is how the monks see Buddha's teachings. In many places in Asia the soil is a yellow color. The color of the robes symbolizes the foundation and the start. Since yellow is also the color of dead leaves the color of the robe also symbolizes death and dying. 

There are different schools and paths of Buddhism and this can be seen by the colors of their robes. The Gelugpa is known as the Yellow School. The Nyingma is known as the Red School.  The Sakya are the Multi colored School, not because of their robes but because of the colorful stripes that border the outer wall of the main Sakya Monastery. The Kagyu are known as the White School because of the white clothing of the founders.  

These are a couple of photos I took the last time I was at the temple in Shang ri-la. It is amazing just to watch the daily life in the temple. Since the temple is active and there are many monks that live there, taking a few moments to put down your travel guide and camera and just watch- is amazing!