The Practice of Sangha

 

10.15.2021 THE PRACTICE OF SANGHA The Fall 2021 issue of Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Guide explores the question, “What is the future of sangha?” Inside, you’ll find a wealth of teachings on the meaning of community in the modern Buddhist world, and why we must embrace its evolution. A sangha is a community that practices the dharma together. It’s one of the Three Jewels in which Buddhists take refuge, along with the Buddha and the dharma. Below you’ll find three teachings from the Buddhadharma archives that show us that sangha is more than community. It’s a deep spiritual practice, a place to seek refuge from loneliness, and a wealth of inspiration. May they each provide you with a sense of belonging this weekend. —Lilly Greenblatt, Digital Editor, Lion’s Roar

Building Blocks of Belonging According to Willa Blythe Baker, making a strong, healthy community starts with understanding how it is constructed. These sources of refuge — buddha, dharma, and sangha — are likened to three jewels. The teacher, the teachings, and the community of practitioners are jewel-like in the sense of being valuable and magnetic sources of safety and support. They are jewel-like in that they refract the light of truth into a thousand colors. In buddha, we seek refuge from instability. In dharma, we seek refuge from ignorance. In sangha, we seek refuge from fear and loneliness; we discover that no matter who we are, no matter what we have done, we can find belonging. Roy Baumeister and Mark Leary, social scientists who do research on the psychology and behaviors of groups, have concluded that humans share a need to belong, “a pervasive drive to form and maintain at least a minimum quantity of lasting, positive, and impactful interpersonal relationships.” Put another way, we need one another in order to thrive and grow. We are safer and happier when we bond together.

What is Sangha? Thich Nhat Hanh explains that sangha is more than a community, it’s a deep spiritual practice. Our civilization, our culture, has been characterized by individualism. The individual wants to be free from the society, from the family. The individual does not think he or she needs to take refuge in the family or in the society, and thinks that he or she can be happy without a sangha. That is why we do not have solidity, we do not have harmony, we do not have the communication that we so need. The practice is, therefore, to grow some roots. The sangha is not a place to hide in order to avoid your responsibilities. The sangha is a place to practice for the transformation and the healing of self and society.

Extending Out View of Sangha Gaylon Ferguson on the importance of sangha communities in the Buddhist tradition. In the various Buddhist traditions, “sangha” sometimes means, primarily, the community of nuns and monks walking the path, but more generally it includes all those committed to waking up. So we could extend this view of practicing in community: let us receive inspiration from the examples of basic goodness we encounter around us, from the people who are manifesting bravery and compassion in everyday life. Whether they are religiously affiliated or not, surely these are spiritual warriors, and our own commitment to cultivating fearlessness is strengthened by their shining examples. When we appreciate the kindness of a co-worker or the thoughtfulness of a neighbor, we enter a virtuous gathering — whether we are in a zendo, temple, or meditation center at that moment or not.

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