Some lay people or bhikkhus choose to become Buddhist yogis or ascetics. They wear robes of other colors to distinguish them from the bhikkhus. They have bowls and they live on alms and offerings given to them by people. Their code of conduct is Dasa Sīla(10 precepts). Some of them practice the dhutaṅgas. They let their hair grow or they shave their heads. They choose to live this way because the life of a bhikkhu has a lot of constraints (227 rules) and the life of a layman with 5 or 8 precepts is not enough for them. The creator of the site Dhammadana.org (my teacher) is this type of person. He was initially a bhikkhu but decided to leave the sangha to adopt this lifestyle. Nowadays, they are found more in Thailand and Burma.
- In Sri Lanka, there are also the Dasa Sīla Mata (Sinhala: දස සිල් මාතා ) who follow the 10 precepts. In other Theravada countries, they have other names.