Sangha

So, begin with the verse.

We gather in Sangha to practice and study the Dharma, to sustain ourselves spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.

Let us call to mind all those who are suffering in this world as we enjoy this moment of peace.

May our practice give us strength, compassion, and equanimity as we enact our Bodhisattva vows to free all beings.

And they can be anything that you want.

Vows, study.

And I think, you know, many of the, most of the people here have done that at least once, but it's a really valuable thing for a Sangha connection as well as, being more conscious of your vows, and

you feel a little uncomfortable.

I take refuge in the Dharma.

I take refuge in the Sangha.

And I think, like so many things in Buddhism, what it means to use the terms Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha are actually a little bit like riddles or koans or things that need to be investigated.

Their meaning isn't set or fixed.

At first, it might seem like the Buddha is this kind of religious figure or that we're supposed to bow down to.

Take refuge in the Buddha.

Take refuge in the Dharma.

Take refuge in the Sangha.

And Venerable Sariputta had met Venerable Asaji on alms round and been impressed with him and actually attained stream entry listening to a short teaching from Venerable Asaji.

So wherever he went after that Venerable Sariputta, before he lay down to sleep or rest, he would bow to Venerable Asaji as his teacher, the one who brought him to the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha.

And of course he'd have to work out where is Venerable Asaji.

So he'd work out perhaps, just roughly in his mind, I'm not sure how, how good he was with direction, navigation, stars, but they say he would bow in the direction of his teacher.

Wherever he thought his teacher was living and practicing, he would face that direction on that occasion when he was about to rest.

And he would bow, prostrate, make the five-point prostration to his teacher out of gratitude for bringing him to the Buddha Dhamma Sangha.

So if he was in the East, he would bow to the East, to the West.

For Venerable Sariputra, it actually became a problem.

I was at the All Day Sit on the 10th of October.

And at the Siddha I brought up the subject of Sangha harmony and a text from the Pali Canon.

And tonight I want to bring up another famous case.

This one is a case of disharmony.

One of the famous cases of disharmony in the Sangha.

The dispute at Kosambi.

And it's the subject of Majjhima Nikaya number 48. which is called the Kosambiya Sutta.

although they may be active in the various affairs of their companions in the holy life they still have a keen regard for training in virtue training in mind and training and discernment so what that's saying is that when you're well established in the way you realize that you're always practicing the practice never stops You don't get involved in things and leave your practice behind, forget about it because you're so absorbed and you're so involved.

Morning, dear Sangha.

Today is, uh, Thursday, the 14th of June, 2012.

We are in the Still Water Meditation Hall of Ha- Upper Hamlet.

And that is the ki- three kinds of energies that we generate during the practice.

And with these, uh, three, uh, uh, energies, you can easily [coughing] bring joy and peace into your daily, uh, life every moment.

And if together we practice like that, we will generate a collective energy of peace and joy and, uh, happiness that can help, uh, transform everyone in the Sangha.

So "Breathing in, I feel joy" is not, uh, a wishful, is not wishful thinking.

It's not autosuggestion.

So it's not like we just go out and do it.

It's like, what do we need first? And I'll just mention in our practice, the three refuges in Buddhism, Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha can be a resource for us.

So I'll just, Mention a little bit about those for those who don't know and also to kind of frame it as how we would do that, how we would take refuge to help us with belonging and bridging.

So the first refuge is taking refuge in the Buddha.

And then we have the third pure precept, which is a vow to free all beings.

And this is also, we chant this, we'll chant this at the end of the Dharma talk.

Then there's taking refuge in the Sangha.

So there is a few different ways to think about Sangha.