white-robed laymen ［白衣］ ( avadāta-vasana;  byakue): Ordinary persons, Buddhist practitioners who did not take the vows of monks. Laypersons. Since ordinary people wore white robes in Shakyamuni’s time in India, the term white robe came to indicate laypersons in the Buddhist sutras. In contrast, the term black robe indicated Buddhist monks, who usually wore dark robes.