Taking Refuge in the Sangha
Thay explores how the practice of mindfulness, concentration, and insight is crucial to produce the element of holiness in a Sangha. If we cultivate these three qualities within us, we will be able to touch the element of holiness that is present in each and everyone of us. Thay further elaborates that the Sangha is composed of four pairs and eight kinds of holy people that collectively nurture mindfulness, concentration, and insight. Practicing mindfulness transforms our suffering, supported by the Sangha’s collective energy.
Thay comments that at the moment humanity is not a Sangha yet because we don’t have enough mindfulness, concentration, and insight. We are too dispersed and therefore we are not able to embrace and transform the suffering of the world. People are concerned with their own interests, their own cravings, and pay little attention to the suffering of the Middle East, for example. Thay ends by exploring Chapter 15 and Chapter 24 of the Lotus Sutra, which can help us realize that we are all in a family—we are all children of the Earth and we should take care of each other and our environment, concluding that this is possible with a Sangha that practices the six togetherness. This is the way to preserve the Earth and our happiness.
This is the fifth talk in a series of thirteen given during The Hands of the Buddha, twenty-one-day retreat in the year 2002. Thay offered this talk at the New Hamlet, Plum Village, France.