In the context of the Buddha’s teachings, sangha or community is known as one of the three jewels and we’re invited to “take refuge” in sangha as an aspect of the path to freedom. This talk will offer some reflections on what this might mean, and explore what conditions support the establishing and maintaining of healthy practice communities.
The Buddha taught that we are all spinning due to our habits of greed, hatred, and delusion, long enough to have become wise and dispassionate about how we keep getting hooked into these stressful cycles. What is it that we are not seeing clearly enough that keeps this spin spinning? The Buddha’s teachings encourage us to stabilize present-moment awareness so that we can begin to see how impersonal and lawful all this inner and outer activity actually is. Understanding the river of experience in this way leads to a natural letting go and a releasing of attachment.
