What is Sangha?

NamelessRiver

So I was looking for some people to practice and exchange ideas here in my city and the only place I could find was actually a meditation center (as in people sit and do Zazen for a long time and then leave without barely speaking to each other).

That kind of got me frustrated because I thought that meditation is not something that should comprise the entire time of such a reunion, and that the role of a community of religious people should include exchange of ideas, examples, experience, information, study the suttas and things like that.

Of course that one might say that if there is a more experienced person watching you meditate he can help you correct your posture and something on those lines but I feel that something is missing.

That got me pondering on what constitutes a Sangha and if I could consider my online friends (you guuuuys xD) a Sangha. In other words, what is the difference between a meditation center and a Sangha? The answer I found on access to insight surprised me:

The Pali word "sangha" literally means "group" or "congregation," but when it is used in the suttas, the word usually refers to one of two very specific kinds of groups: either the community of Buddhist monastics (bhikkhus and bhikkhunis), or the community of people who have attained at least the first stage of Awakening. (...)
[...]
In taking refuge in the Sangha, we set our inner sights on the ideal community of Noble Ones (ariya-sangha) — those monks, nuns, laywomen, and laymen who, throughout history, have by their own diligent efforts successfully carried out the Buddha's instructions and gained at least a glimpse of the supreme happiness of nibbana. (...)
[...]
But going for refuge doesn't stop there. We are also asked to turn to the monastic community (bhikkhu-sangha) for refuge, for it is thanks to the unbroken lineage of this 2,600-year-old institution that we are fortunate enough today to be able to hear the teachings. (...) In reality, of course, not every monk or nun necessarily lives up to the Buddha's high standards of conduct. For this reason it is to the institution of the Sangha that we turn to refuge, not to the individual members themselves.(...)
[...]
So it is these exceptional groups of people — the ariya-sangha and the bhikkhu-sangha — that define the Third Gem and Refuge; it is to these groups that we are asked to turn for refuge, not to some vaguely defined community of like-minded Dhamma friends and fellow meditators. (...)

Well this is a bit different of what I expected but it makes sense. It also means I am sorta Sangha-less Guess I have to review what it means to take refuge in the triple gem.

Brigid

Thank you, NR. I've never read that part of Access to Insight before and you've taught me something quite important. A little sad perhaps, but important. I'll still consider my sisters and brothers in the Dhamma here on NewBuddhist as my Buddhist community but I guess I won't call them my 'sangha' anymore. To me a rose by a different name still smells as sweet.

kaya

NamelessRiver,
This article may be of interest:
http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma2/bds.html

Tokyo_Rose

NamelessRiver wrote: »

It also means I am sorta Sangha-less

It means that i am sangha-less too :sadc:

blueface

i don't buy it ...this is what a sangha means to me - friends on the path...simple as that. I believe we are to question all things that do not ring true even if spoken by the Buddha. An exclusive definition of Sangha relegating the important community of a site like this to the sidelines seems wrong. I can understand including the monastic groups and full lineages but not excluding friends on the path. I'm a beginner but i trust that what i say rings true:tonguec:

federica

Hang on a minute - hold your horses...
Read the first (unbolded, and quickly glossed-over) line again:

The Pali word "sangha" literally means "group" or "congregation," but when it is used in the suttas, the word usually refers to one of two very specific kinds of groups:

'The Pali word Sangha literally means Group or congregation'.

Which is precisely what we are.
A group.

It's only when it's used in the suttas that it has a direct reference to a more precise compact definition.
Honey, we ain't in a sutta.
we're on a website.
Together.
as a group.

We dear all - are a Sangha.

kaya

Did you read the article in my post? (it's not long!)

blueface

:cheer: