Sangha

In Buddhist practice, the "three jewels" represent the foundation of practice. These three jewels are the Buddha (or teacher), the dharma (the teaching), and the sangha (the community of practice). It's interesting that not only the teacher and the teaching, but the people around you are considered not just important but essential!

This community of practice might also be described as "spiritual friends," or people who share the same goals of practice. If we look around, we can see that, whether they call it by this name or not, many groups understand the importance of "sangha" in supporting others along a particular path, particularly a difficult one: AA, mental health professionals, even Jenny Craig!

Here's a quote from the Upaddha Sutra:
Venerable Ananda said to the Blessed One, "This is half of the holy life, Lord, admirable friendship." The Buddha replied, "Admirable friendship is actually the whole of the holy life. When a monk [or anyone else] has admirable people as friends...[s]he can be expected to develop and pursue the Noble Eightfold Path.
We tend to focus on individuals when thinking about the people with whom we practice, rather than thinking of them (and ourselves) as a community. It's good to remember that these "admirable people," whatever their foibles and individual character traits, are nevertheless engaged on the same journey. As the Buddha said, their very presence supports us on the path.


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