śramana. 桑門; 娑門; 喪門; 沙門那; 舍羅磨拏; 沙迦懣曩; 室摩那拏 (1) Ascetics of all kinds; 'the Sarmanai, or Samanaioi, or Germanai of the Greeks, perhaps identical also with the Tungusian Saman or Shaman.' Eitel. (2) Buddhist monks 'who 'have left their families and quitted the passions', the Semnoi of the Greeks'. Eitel. Explained by 功勞 toilful achievement, 勤息 diligent quieting (of the mind and the passions), 淨志 purity of mind, 貧道 poverty. 'He must keep well the Truth, guard well every uprising (of desire), be uncontaminated by outward attractions, be merciful to all and impure to none, be not elated to joy nor harrowed by distress, and able to bear whatever may come.' The Sanskrit root is śram, to make effort; exert oneself, do austerities.

A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms, William Edward Soothill and Lewis Hodous

沙門  A transcription of the Pali samaṇa and the Sanskrit śramaṇa.

動息  A Chinese translation of the Pali samaṇa and the Sanskrit śramaṇa. See shamen 沙門.

息

息心

śramaṇa

(Sanskrit, striver; Pāli, samaṇa). One who exerts himself in the quest for religious knowledge, typically as a mendicant or homeless wanderer. Somewhat before the time of the Buddha such individuals constituted a movement of religious seekers who rejected the orthodox teachings of Brahmanism and typically formed themselves into small groups around a particular teacher or leader. It is out of this amorphous community that groups like the Jains (see Jainism), Ājivakas, and Buddhists subsequently emerged. In the Pāli Canon the Buddha is frequently referred to as ‘the samaṇa Gotama’ and the Indian religious community is summed up in the phrase ‘Samaṇas and Brāhmaṇas’, referring to unorthodox and the orthodox religious practitioners respectively.

A Dictionary of Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 2003, 2004 (which is available in electronic version from answer.com)