four kinds of believers ［四衆］ ( shi-shu): Also, four kinds of Buddhists, four categories of Buddhists, four categories of believers, four types of Buddhist believers, or four kinds of people. (1) Four categories of people who believe in Buddhism—monks ( bhikshu), nuns (bhikshunī), laymen (upāsaka), and laywomen (upāsikā). (2) Four kinds of people in the assembly where Shakyamuni Buddha preaches: those who ask the Buddha to expound the teaching; those who praise it; those who, having attained sufficient maturity, listen to the Buddha’s teaching and immediately benefit from it; and those who attain no immediate benefit, but nevertheless form a bond with the Buddha’s teaching and benefit from it at a later time.