A Place Where Everybody Knows Your Name: Sangha as Community (2 of 2)
3/31/202621 min
In Buddhism, we have three treasures: Buddha, teachers or our own awakened nature; Dharma, the teachings or the truth itself, and Sangha, the community of people who practice and maintain the tradition together. From the beginning of Buddhism, then, community has been considered essential – but in what sense? We may think of Sangha primarily as an impersonal institution providing access to Buddhist teachings and practice. It certainly fulfills that function, but I believe it's equally important that our Sanghas be welcoming, loving, joyful, mature communities: A place where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came.
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsDomyo Burk· Host0:00
[on-hold music] Welcome to the Zen Studies Podcast. I'm Domyo Burk. This is part two of my discussion of Sangha as community. Please be sure to listen to part one for my introduction to this topic and my thoughts on why people need community and the various ways Sanghas can provide a third place. Is it the role of Sanghas to provide community? Hmm, maybe, maybe not. Some Dharma centers, depending on their Buddhist lineage tradition, their guiding teachers, and the views of their senior Sangha members, choose to prioritize traditional study and practice and are likely to see community as a nice byproduct of their efforts. Some places will intuitively and naturally facilitate the creation of community without identifying it as a core part of their mission. I would love to see more Dharma centers and temples consciously