first visit to a sangha

swanny84

Hi all, I was just wondering what I should expect from my first visit to my local sangha,the gentleman stated over the phone that they follow the teachings of Zen Buddhist Master, Thích Nhất Hạnh , and also if anyone would like to share there experiences on there first visit and how they felt before and afterwards would be very grateful.

thanks for you're time.

karasti

My experience will be a bit different than most, because I live in a very small community. We do no have any temples or monasteries or even Buddhist monks here. There is a monk who travels here to teach us several times a year, and communicates with us via phone and email the rest of the time, and he helps guide the man who leads our sangha to determine the right way to go and what to cover, etc. Mine is also Tibetan Buddhist, so there are differences there, too.

The first time I ever went, it was to a retreat with the monk. Our sangha did not start until then, it came about afterwards. So because I'd already been to the house and knew the people, the retreat was the most nervewracking to me because I'd never meditated and only knew some basic things from reading a book (One of Thich Nhat Hahn's, actually). Plus I'm pretty introverted and being in crowds of strangers having to socialize with them is a nightmare for me, lol. But everyone was super nice, and they are all now friends of mine. I was fascinated to find that these people shared our small community with us and I never knew any of them existed.

Now sangha is like my second home. While when I had to go to church, I could barely drag myself out of bed to suffer through it, now I jump out of bed glad to be able to meet with my Dharma family. I love to see them every week, and we do other things through the year. On New Years Day we are going to have a potluck and watch "When the Iron Bird Flies" which is a documentary I guess about Buddhism's spread to the west. Like I said though our group is small, so there are pros and cons to that. We have about 10-12 regular weekly attendees and the retreats we have here usually have about 40-50 people who come.

For me, it is a great blessing to have people to pose questions to, to say "I don't get this" or to talk about ways to bring Buddhism into our daily lives. I finally feel like, after 20+ years of searching, I found my spiritual home. I was so nervous the first retreat that I almost didn't go. I couldn't eat breakfast I was so worried about it. Worried about what, I don't know, lol. But I no longer worry. I attend retreats and meditation classes in different cities in our state as I can work it into my schedule, and I never worry. Because the people I meet are always really friendly and open and helpful. No one judges what you wear, how you talk, how you chant (if you do) how you sit, what type cushion you have. It's just nice.

Just be yourself and you'll know whether it's going to work for you pretty quickly I'd imagine.

DairyLama

swanny84 said:

Hi all, I was just wondering what I should expect from my first visit to my local sangha,the gentleman stated over the phone that they follow the teachings of Zen Buddhist Master, Thích Nhất Hạnh , and also if anyone would like to share there experiences on there first visit and how they felt before and afterwards would be very grateful.

I used to attend a Thich Nhat Hanh group, nice people, strong emphasis on mindfulness and ethics. Though I found their approach a bit woolly and meditation didn't seem to be their strong point.
Anyway, take it as it comes, I'm sure you'll be made very welcome.

lobster

I heard Thích Nhất Hạnh was giving a talk in my country on the morning of the talk. I immediately made plans to attend. Through a bizarre coincidence I got in free . . .
. . . but that is another posting . . .

For now I know the trepidation is there . . . What will happen? What will it be like? Will I be OK? I can assure you, everything is fine. You will be fine. The experience will be fine. You will be so glad you went. Promise. Have a great time.

Dakini

PedanticPorpoise said:

I used to attend a Thich Nhat Hanh group, nice people, strong emphasis on mindfulness and ethics. Though I found their approach a bit woolly and meditation didn't seem to be their strong point.
Anyway, take it as it comes, I'm sure you'll be made very welcome.

Some people really like Vietnamese Buddhism. I've heard the Vietnamese are a warm people, and that's reflected in their style of Buddhism. Zen, for example, is too austere for some. What was "wooly" about it, Porpoise? Just curious.

@swanny84 You'll probably be in a big room with a bunch of other people. Either no one will notice you, or they'll be friendly. You'll probably find the "Dharma talk" inspiring, and the atmosphere calming. Enjoy.

blu3ree

I first went to a zen monastery during gyollche didn't at first realize what it meant to sit for 2 hours and just focus on breathing in and out. So it was a massive transition from sitting 6 hours in a chair because no longer did I have a backrest I could count on to hold me up. Slouching every 10 minutes when I realized wow I'm pretty pathetic that I can't even hold myself up. the teacher said focus on breathing in and when u come to the top of breathing that is 1 then the bottom of the out breathe is 2 but when you get a thought run through your head it's time to reset it back to 0 and sure enough mindful practice is perfect practice.

Dakini

blu3ree said:

I first went to a zen monastery during gyollche didn't at first realize what it meant to sit for 2 hours and just focus on breathing in and out. So it was a massive transition from sitting 6 hours in a chair because no longer did I have a backrest I could count on to hold me up. Slouching every 10 minutes when I realized wow I'm pretty pathetic that I can't even hold myself up..

I cheat, when necessary, and sit at the back where the cushions are piled, and let the stack of cushions prop me up.

Brian

swanny84 said:

Hi all, I was just wondering what I should expect from my first visit to my local sangha,

Hi @Swanny84. Did you go? How was it?

swanny84

Hi all just back from my local sangha just a quick note to say that it went really well we did a sitting meditation,walking meditation and a few people spoke about what was going on in there life. really enjoyed it and will b back next week.

thanks for you support and advice everyone.