Sangha

Does it matter?

Excerpt: These characteristics have had a profound influence on mainstream religion in the West and have already started to alter the shape of Buddhist spirituality. The four are:

(1) The "leveling of distinctions" so that the sharp distinctions between the ordained religious person and the lay person are being blurred or even abolished.

(2) The rise of "secular spirituality" or "spiritual secularity" marked by a shift in the orientation of religion away from the quest for some transcendent state, a dimension beyond life in the world, towards a deep, enriching experience of the human condition and a transformative way of living within the world.

(3) The conviction that the mark of authentic religious faith is a readiness to engage in compassionate action, especially to challenge social and political structures that sustain injustice, inequality, violence, and environmental despoliation.

(4) Religious pluralism: abandoning the claim to exclusive religious truth and adopting a pluralistic outlook that can allow the possibility of complementary, mutually illuminating perspectives on religious truth and practice. This applies both to the relations of Buddhists with followers of other religions, and to the internal relations between followers of different Buddhist schools and traditions.
www.urbandharma.org/udharma13/challenge.html

Muslims, Scientologists and Wiccas all feel that way about their belief systems as well. Are we supposed to be out trying to convert people? I guess I'm not doing my job then.

Hi Bristollad,
I actually think this is a very good question. Obviously not easy to answer.
Just a few thoughts from my experience in Tibetan Buddhism - and I suspect it may not be all that different in the other traditions perhaps.
- The idea of supporting monastics in a way as in Asia is simply not part of our culture. For Tibetans, it seems extremely obvious to donate a large part of their income for the Sangha and this may be true in China and the Theravada countries as well. In the west probably many people struggle with the idea of having to financially take care of an adult in a monastery - perhaps we are still too selfish, or we set other priorities?
- being Sangha as a westerner can be very difficult: it is like falling inbetween two cultures, starting to learn about Buddhism when already an adult rather then as a young child, possibly needing to learn a different language to be able to converse well with a teacher in his/her own language, different cultural customs that are alien to us etc.

But, I agree with you that sangha is very important; if you compare the Dharma with medicine, the doctor with the Buddha, you still need Sanga (nurses) to run a hospital and cure people. Tibetans often refer to monasteries as the powerhouses of the Dharma, and I can relate to that, because they have a very important function of passing on the teachings, combined with the experience of the practice itself. Chances are that without a living and organised Sangha, the Dharma would long ago have turned into nothing but an 'interesting old collection of texts'.
So, I think maintaining a Sangha is probably quite essential for the future, to prevent that the Dharma and the practice of Dharma are lost.
But how to change our attitute to the Sangha? Whether we want to sponsor monks and nuns remains an individual decision. To change the world, we need to start with ourselves and see if we ourselves are prepared to help them....

Does the sangha only refer to monastics, or is it all people who have taken refuge? I think that Buddhism has merged with whatever culture it has encountered and has taken on unique characteristics in each location. You can see the blend of Hinduism/Yoga and Buddhism in the Tibetan tradition, as well as the merging of Taoism and Buddhism in China. However, in those cultures, the monastic tradition is still one that is valued. In the United States, we are not as familiar with that concept and our Buddhism is expressed in different ways. While there are numerous Buddhist monasteries in the United States, I think most American Buddhists see the teachings as a way to increase happiness in their daily lives. I doubt very many American Buddhists have aspirations of completely renouncing Samsara, as they have been so conditioned to pursue pleasure in this world. I don't really see this as a problem, and I don't see why monastic life or true renunciation has to go hand in hand with enlightenment. The only true temple is the mind, no? Can't we still enjoy the beauty of this world without attaching to it? I was listening to a talk by Ven. Thubten Chodron last night (who started an abbey in Washington state), who was saying that life is essentially suffering and pain. She very much wanted to get this message across in her talk. While I respect her as much as any other teacher I've come across, I just can't agree with this perspective. I think there are two sides of the coin, pleasure and pain. While pleasure often leads to pain, we can still pursue it and enjoy it without attachment. I am never going to truly renounce samsara or seek the monastic life, because I will just never view it the way many Buddhists do. I imagine my feelings are shared by many who study Buddhism in the United States, and that's why I think the monastic life is not well supported here. However, I do not see this as necessarily a bad thing. Those who are called to monasticism still have more than enough opportunities to do so in other locations. If we're out trying to build temples and spread religion, I think we are truly missing the point of all that the Buddha taught.


Edit: Just to add to that... What is so great about monastic life, anyways? I'd argue that removing one's self from society to study and meditate for one's self is rather selfish. If the aim is to benefit all sentient beings, what good is anyone doing living in a temple? I bet I've volunteered more of my time helping others than many who have gone off and lived in monasteries.

Having said that, I think there is something not-Buddhist about worrying about the evolution of the Sangha. If we were fully enlightened we might see it is perfect the way it is happening. I agree with Jeff, that it is our actions, including practice, and our motivations, that matter. Then again, that is my answer to everything... lol