Sangha

In all my journeys there seems to be a place or two that offers rest and recuperation to the weary traveler. As you plod along, a vista or a cafe or a comfortable inn seems to rise magically from the road that you’ve chosen. On the spiritual path the sangha delivers this type of relief and restorative energy. In simple terms, sangha means community and the sangha can be found in many unlikely places.

For Buddhists the sangha is one of the three forms of refuge equal to the dharma and the Buddha. We often think of the Buddhist sangha as a collection of monks, nuns and seekers engaged in marathon meditation but the sangha can be found in the baseball dugout, on the street and in the neighborhood. It is the comfort of the like minded and like intentioned. The sangha members pass on wisdom, clarify intentions, affirm agreed upon dogma and share knowledge …they are the highest form of unity. They give us peace on the journey.

Mother Teresa once said, “if we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. ” The sangha is the belonging.

As you form your personal community it is important to remember that you have responsibilities to the sangha in proportion to the comfort they have provided you. The sangha requires you to be aware, open and free of expectation and that can be hard. In these times, we gather our dear ones to us and we receive and we give. The awareness of your place on the spiritual road comes from your spiritual GPS.

What have we done for our community today?

I hope you have your sangha beside you, and if you don’t, I hope it is around the next bend on your long road. The good news is that we are programmed as humans to find our fellow travelers. That amazing old Roman, Cicero put it well a couple of thousand ears ago: we were born to unite with our fellow men and to form in community with the human race. ”

Find your tribe.