RSS Subscribe What is Community?
by Geri Amori
Early in our time on the path, we get introduced to the idea of the Three Jewels as the pillars for progress on the path. The three jewels are the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. The Buddha as teacher is fairly obvious. Here is a guy who left his family and his kingdom to figure out enlightenment. When he did, he made the generous decision to share what he had spent years figuring out with others so that they could share in this wonderful understanding. It’s pretty clear this is a treasure.
Then there is the notion of the dharma, or truth, as a jewel. This is the stuff the Buddha figured out. Thank goodness he spent his life doing it and all I have to do is to get it….really get it….in every fiber of my being get it. Ok, that may take many lifetimes, but at least he gave us all a shot at it.
The third jewel is the one called sangha, or community. This is the confusing one. Which community? Who’s in the community? Why do we need the community?
Some people say that it’s a practical thing. The sangha is the community of fellow travelers who understand what you are doing because they are doing the same thing. They are important because they can help you see your blind spots and support you in your efforts.
But who are they? Are they all the Shambhalians in the world, or mostly the folks locally? What are they supposed to do to help me? What am I supposed to do to help them?
Some people come to our center and they really want to be left alone to do their own thing. “I just want to come meditate and maybe take a class or two, but don’t demand anything of me.” Others are disappointed that we don’t ask them to do things or try to connect with them personally.
Who do you consider the sangha? Please respond to this blog and pipe in. Together perhaps we can figure it out.
August 14th, 2011 at 9:23 am
I really look forward to figuring out how we at the Burlington Shambhala Center will help to create Enlightened Society. This sounds REALLY BIG! I read the Sakyong’s letters with great interest and cheer inwardly when he invites us to explore our potential as Shambhalians to be of “direct and immediate benefit to our planet and all beings”. He talks about “the underlying uncertainty now of the human heart” that leads to our abusing each other and our environment. He invites us to “show tangible signs of kindness and bravery”. For me, it is daunting to think about creating Enlightened Society and makes me run back to the cushion for more practice – seldom feeling quite confident enough that actions I may take in the world are “right action”. How do I know? Geri asks a very good question in her writings here. She points to this “underlying uncertainty” that I feel. But, then I ask myself, what is the right balance between sitting practice and training and work in the world – doing things that are of direct and immediate benefit to others. It is all practice really. I would like to do some things with my sangha family out in the world to try and be of direct and immediate benefit to others. This is trickier than it seems, however. What do we do? How do we know it is the “right” thing to be doing? How can we do it mindfully and with a sense that this too is practice? How can we share with humility our fits and starts in reaching out to others with all of pitfalls it brings? Can we hold both uncertainty, and the risk of getting it wrong sometimes, together with bravery and a sense of warriorship? If I wait until I am certain about things, I may never get started. Confidence doesn’t mean thinking I will always get it right. I think that working together with the sangha can help us all to feel more confident in our stepping out and off the cushion. In light of what we know to be true based on our own practice and experience, AND what the Sakyong is inviting us to do, how can we NOT step out?