Traditionally, Nyingmapa practice was advanced orally among a loose network of lay practitioners.

In Mahayana schools a lay practitioner who has taken the precepts is called an upasaka.

Rinzai temples, as well as practice groups led by lay practitioners, may now be found in many nations.

School chaplaincy, on the other hand, is largely split between lay, religious and clerical practitioners, depending on the area in question.

After that his efforts were directed primarily toward the training of lay practitioners.

At age 22, he spent six months there as a lay practitioner.

He also studied with doctors while in Liberia and became a lay medical practitioner.

Unlike in many temples found in Asia, no incense is ever offered personally by any of the lay practitioners and guests.

It is also sometimes used to refer to a meeting of lay practitioners who practice together regularly without a resident teacher.

Members of the monastic order, like Buddhist monks, do not constitute a priestly class and have no control over the lay practitioners.