Week 11

The Sangha

The spiritual community and ‘mutual support’

  • What is Sangha
    • Development of the individual, through mutual support, within a Buddhist spiritual community
    • The thing about Sangha is It doesn’t work like other human groups or communities.
    • When it’s working, It’s is essentially other regarding. 
    • It’s about everyone involved, to the extent they are able in setting up, sustaining and creating the conditions to enable the community to practice Buddhism.
    • It’s about making and sustaining conditions that enhance mutual awareness and support individual and collective practice.
    • Developing the individual through giving (and taking) (especially time) to the Sangha.
  • Early and Traditional (ethnic) buddhist Sangha. Traditionally composed of four groups: monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen.
  • Modern Buddhist Sanghas
    • Less monastic based. Concerned with creating the environment and opportunity to practice and develop and move the  constraints of modern life. More secular based sanghas.
  • The Triratna Community: founded as the FWBO on 8th April 1967.
    • Initially a coming together of  Sangharakshita’s clear dharma driven momentum and a few interested in Buddhism, coming from the height of the late 60’s mysticism and hedonism.
  • Triratna has grown creatively since its inception.
    • Kusaladana first became aware of FWBO  about 1971, as a meditating 17 year old in Glasgow. Too far culturly from FWBO  to connect.   Fourteen years later driven by some internal need to seek inner meaning and meditating regularly conclude and eventually acted on a needed for sangha. I and the FWBO had changed enough for me to  feel on the right track.  Since then the Order and Sangha have developed, true to the principles and practice of Buddhism while becoming more accessible and meaningful to the world and I have been more at home.
  • The Triratna Community; The 3 Strands (Order, College, Movement)
  • Contributing to and supporting our spiritual family
  • What does means to be a Mitra ?

Discussion: What led us to the Centre and what are our expectations of ourselves and the Sangha.

Meditation: Mindfulness of Breathing

References