The Kokikai Sangha

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At the start of Kokikai Winter Camp some years ago I greeted David Nachman Sensei. I told him I was becoming more dedicated to Buddhist meditation, but I was having difficulty with the lack of a sangha. "This is your sangha!" he answered, gesturing to the 200+ people beginning to fill the gym.


This reminded me of a time I was asked to deliver a copy of a group photo to Maruyama Sensei. The photo had been taken at the previous winter's Kokikai Aikido camp. There were about 230 people in the photo, all sitting formally in lines, arranged with Sensei in the center. He zeroed in on their faces, all smiling, relaxed, happy. "If you didn't know," he said, "what kind of group would you say this is?"


I wasn't expecting the question and had no idea how to reply. "What kind of group?" he persisted, "College reunion?" 


We both agreed, no. "Family?" "No." "Religion?" Even religion, no. It was impossible for me to place my finger on the relationship between the people in the picture and compare it to another group. It was only later that I was introduced to the concept of sangha.  


A sangha describes this group perfectly.

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