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Voices from three traditions: Thick Nhat Hanh, Ajahn Brahm and Rev. Marvin Harada
Dharmakāya is the Sanskrit word for “truth body” or “reality body.” Thick Nhat Hanh used the word Sanghakāya to describe Sangha. He explains sangha is more than a community. He considers it a deep spiritual practice. 1
Cleveland Buddhist Temple meets the 3rd Sunday of each month and begins with Zen Shin Sangha meditation of sitting/chanting to prepare to hear the Buddha Dharma in our Shin Buddhist service that follows. At the end of Zen Shin a question is sometimes asked: “how is sitting with a Sangha different from sitting alone?” The answers are the same - more powerful, easier, the energy in the hondō encourages me or I can focus more easily, even with outside sounds come in.
The Sangha was originally monks and nuns who gathered and stayed together to hear the teachings of Buddha. Today, the CBT Sangha is a collective of people who gather once a month to hear the teachings and then meet over coffee to share time and support one another on our path.
Ajahn Brahm, a Theravada Buddhist monk trained in the Thai Forest Tradition shares his understanding and the importance of Sangha. 2 This understanding goes to the root of Buddhism, one that we, as Mahayana lay Buddhists of the Jodo Shinshu tradition experience as CBT Sangha.
Sangha Is More than a Community
“As a Buddhist, no matter what tradition we take refuge, refuge was always in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. It was never in Buddha, Dharma and Ajahn Brahm. It was never in your guru, teacher or organizational hierarchy.
Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
The problem comes when we take refuge in a person, not the institution of Sangha. When we have a person who is given power [and we know power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely] so we try to get Buddhist institutions with no one as a leader.
Before the Buddha passes away [we find] in the Mahaparanirvana Sutra, they asked him “Who will take over the Sangha, Buddhism, once you’ve passed away?” And the Buddha replies “No one will take over. The teachings, the training that will be your teacher from now on.”
And sometimes, we forget that. We install people in positions of power. Rather than installing the teachings and the training in position of power. We often tell university students that the longest sustaining democracy in the world is the Buddhist Sangha. Our constitution is fully democratic: one monk, one nun, one vote. We don’t have a leader as such. And that’s the motto which I have in the monastery where I am. I often get outvoted by my Sangha. And I’m proud of that. If they gave me that power, even with the best intentions in the world, I’ll abuse it. So let the community, the Democracy, have that power, not the person.”
Buddhist Churches of America Bishop Marvin Harada wrote 3 “In Shin Buddhism, Sangha is virtually everything. We listen to the Dharma together. We discuss the Dharma together. We have coffee and potlucks together. We work together at the bazaars and the fundraisers. We encourage each other; we support each other on the path. The new people learn from the wisdom and experience of the longtime members. The longtime members learn from the questions and freshness of the newcomers.
We are all on the path together, no better or no worse than one another. We come from all backgrounds, all ethnicities, all socio-economic classes, all genders, all sexual orientations, all ages. As adults, we enjoy the children’s Dharma messages. As children, we learn the depth of the Nembutsu from grandpa or grandma.
Without a Sangha, we cannot experience that.
That is the great benefit of being a part of a Sangha.”
1 https://www.lionsroar.com/sang...
2 Why the Buddhist Sangha is the World's Oldest Democracy YouTube · Lion’s Roar · Dec 14, 2017
3 The Benefit of Being Part of a Sangha, April 7, 2023. https://www.buddhistchurchesof....
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