The uses of an internet sangha
I was just reflecting on the pro’s and cons of internet Buddhism, which is Buddhism practiced through the internet, and it occurred to me that it might be worth exploring what an internet Sangha like this forum actually does for us.
In a way it is a discussion group, where you can bring up any kind of topic and take advantage of the wisdom of the group. It is also a study group, where we can study books or sutras together. But in what ways does it differ from a real-life Sangha? This is a question I’d put to you, what do you get out of a real-life Sangha that you don’t from an internet one?
Certainly one thing I have noticed is that you get only as much out of an internet Sangha as you put into it. If you don’t come forward with your questions you will get little input into your situation from the Sangha members.
Comments
I have belonged to a local sangha for 19 years. We do not discuss the dharma between us. We rely on our teacher for direction and understanding. Among ourselves, when we are NOT in the shrine room, we chat like any non-sangha person would (how are your kids? etc).
We support a Tibetan lama (requested from the Dalai Lama's monastery, Namgyal, and this lama has been a monk since the age of 13 about 50 years ago and has a Geshe degree). He and any visiting monks are our sources for clarification. Although MUCH understanding comes ONLY from our practice and mindfulness. And no words, not even from the teacher, can help us grasp it until our practice brings it to light.
I remember once, taking a teaching from Gangkar Tulku Rimpoche, during the Q/A period after class, one of the students spent 45 minutes trying to get clarification on what emptiness is and whether or not he had experienced it. Over and over, Rimpoche tried to explain it, and over and over the student didn't understand (nor did I, for that matter). Finally the student gave up. During that entire 45 minutes, Rimpoche never showed any impatience of exasperation ... he remained gentle, patient, serene and his eyes shown with compassion. All of us students were rolling our eyes ... we are not high lamas.
Words just cannot convey most of the Buddhist teachings, so if we don't understand something, we just need to keep on doing our practice.
The trap with over-intellectualizing dharma, or talking about ourselves, is that it strengthens our attachment to ego, which is counter-productive to our spiritual development.
So we take the teachings, we do the pujas, we listen to our teacher. And when we have questions, we go to the teachers.
The answers are pretty standard: do your practice more, develop compassion more, don't try to intellectually figure things out but to instead rely on your mindfulness which you are developing through meditation.
Oh, there are specific pieces of advice, depending on the situation you are seeking help with. But in the end, each of us is our own teacher.
The advantage of a teacher .. .a qualified teacher?
They teach you in ways that go beyond words; the most obvious of which is the way they respond to situations and handle things, being a role-model and example of where YOU are heading. Others are subtler and harder to detect. Some may be nothing more than our own subconscious pre-conditioning/pre-expectations. Others just cannot be explained.
For those who do not have access to a qualified teacher ... I recommend lectures by Pema Chodron. I used to listen to her CD's on my daily long commute to/from work, and she has a way of putting things that even my dense mind can grasp. She's a Westerner and a former school teacher, so she knows how we think and what gets through to us. Her teachings don't discuss theory so much as how to handle daily living in a Buddhist way.
Well, two cents worth:
this forum works with a qualified teacher as moderator, tho he rarely steps in. I am not he, and she also is very good.
Visual cues .... If we take into account the amount of times words on the screen have been taken out of context, because the readers couldn't see facial expressions or body language....
That's a bit cryptic, even for me....
Sanghas provide Dharma, and practice practice.
Right... Ok, yes, much clearer....
Thanks for the long piece about real life sangha’s @foiblefull, it’s much appreciated.
That’s interesting. So do you think that an Internet forum, because it’s very nature is discussion, would fall into this trap of over-intellectualising dharma? I think NewBuddhist does a pretty good job of mixing things up, using humour, examples from everyday life, and so on. Perhaps the focus on practice could be stronger.
In a way that’s true on the internet as well, except that we don’t have a knowledgeable guide. One of the things I noticed when doing my course on Buddhism basics in the Tibetan temple in the next town was that a directed course of study gives you more in-context information, and the ability to ask questions, to see if you were understanding things correctly.
It is important to know where you are going. One of the things that I learnt from reading Ajahn Brahm’s book on meditation, Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond, is that learning the signs of the various stages of meditation can give you helpful guidance on how to prolong and move from one stage to the next. I’m sure that with role-models there are similar signs.
Although of course not everybody wants to become a teacher...
Exactly so.
Role-model and ideally directing you where you need to be, often despite you feeling and 'knowing' where you need to be.
Pah!
Most of us think our spiritual unfolding is because of our efforts. Sometimes we are not aware of our pseudo-seeker nature. In this sense becoming a real person with genuine integrity requires more than career teachers. It can as @FoibleFull mentions be subtle.
AND we can learn from the hypocrites, pseudo gurus, lamentable lamer lamas and internet armchair philosophers ...
and now back to internet sangria
I think internet Buddhism has little value in developing spiritually . In fact maybe its a drawback as people read so much that they may start to think they know it all . Its why I rarely log in . Just occasionally for entertainment and relaxation time .
If we want to develop our practice we should shut the internet off and sit on our cushions more .
Wrong view is just as bad as having no view of the dharma. I commend this site for providing a resource for new lay people and others to ask questions. You can sit on the cushion all you want but until your know the direction you want to take your mind , your practice and mindstream go nowhere.
I didn’t know what Lamrim practice was until I found an internet group. I think it only fruitful if you have a open mind to learn and share. Know that you do not know everything and the things you do know will evolve. Be humble then when that does not work for you , be humble again.
Hi @bravehawk ... Yes for an internet community to flourish it is all about the people, the sharing of knowledge and questions around the dharma comes naturally out of the group of individuals. It has often given me new points of reading, led me to become acquainted with the various Buddhist internet magazines, and it has rounded out my knowledge in a good way.
So I’d say, be humble, but not so humble that you don’t ask questions. Unless you arrive at a silent period of course.