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Going Forth Wholeheartedly, The Miracle of the Sangha
Ordination is to invest 100% of your life in the Three Jewels – the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha – not only for yourself, but also for your family, ancestors, lineage, and country. When you have a heart that is 100% committed and an attitude of complete surrender, a miraculous energy arises that connects you with the Sangha, creating the miracle of the Sangha: even if your personal experience is still young and immature, if the connection is strong, you can accomplish things that even long-time practitioners cannot do. Connection is the very ideal of ordination, it is the bodhicitta that draws all our diverse forms into one circle A, where
we share the Dharma in order to learn and practice
we transform body and mind into Dharma instruments to help the world
* we receive and generate collective energy to nourish every member
In circle A, the garbage (afflictions, habit energies) and the flowers (virtues) inter-are. The Sangha must have a policy to take care of the garbage so it can be transformed into flowers, and at the same time preserve the flowers so they do not turn into garbage. Every monastery needs a vegetable garden and a way to handle garbage; similarly, the Sangha needs:
1. Consciousness food – spiritual nourishment from the common ideal, collective consciousness
2. Sense impression food – choosing nourishing images and sounds instead of toxic ones
3. Edible food – eating vegetarian, reducing the suffering of living beings, protecting the planet according to the Five Contemplations
This is expressed through the Six Harmonies: harmony in dwelling together, harmony in sharing benefits, harmony in speech without conflict, harmony in thinking together, harmony in understanding, and harmony in observing the precepts together. The resident Sangha who practices diligently together – eating together, living together, practicing together – is the soul of the practice center. That energy of harmony is the true strength, creating miracles and leading others on the path of awakening.
