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The Sangha and Love in Mindfulness
During the winter retreat at New Hamlet, the person serving as the y chi su (spiritual mentor) takes the initiative to care for their second body throughout the three months of the rains retreat, not merely practicing in form but deeply attending to the progress in practice and study of the three, four, or five people who have taken refuge with them. Every two to three weeks, they report to the teacher to prevent the practice from becoming empty of true substance, retaining only its name. Living in the Sangha is like being a drop of water in a river, carried and guided by the collective strength, rubbing against each other like two chopsticks polishing each other, helping to cleanse, nourish the energy of mindfulness, and support each individual to move forward instead of remaining stagnant.
Practicing mindfulness in daily activities—sitting meditation, walking meditation, eating meditation, working meditation—helps us maintain sovereignty over “the present moment” and creates a deeper freedom, not just the freedom to do as we wish, but freedom from laziness and selfishness. Listening to the Dharma is like allowing the “Dharma rain” to soak into the seed of insight already present in our consciousness, not taking notes, not absorbing knowledge as in school, but enjoying and allowing understanding to bloom. Eating and working with the Sangha not only nourishes the body but also nourishes the mind through edible food and the food of volition, each complete moment contributing to the building of a joyful and harmonious Sangha.
Principles for nourishing the Sangha through interdependent relationships:
- Father or teacher is the root connecting to the past, disciples are the bridge to the future;
- With a co-teacher or co-mother, elder brothers and sisters share the responsibility of nurturing the younger siblings;
- The image of the banana tree or the oak tree symbolizes the continuous nourishment between generations;
- Brotherhood and sisterhood are cultivated even without blood ties;
- Skillfully generating the energy of mindfulness in each activity helps happiness to blossom and the Sangha to become strong.