Why sangha?

I started teaching meditation classes 21 years ago, when my mentor Hob Hoblitzelle turned over to me his class at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education in Massachusetts. With a few breaks here and there I've continued to teach ever since. Over the years I've had many students take the same classes over and over again. They probably got something different from each round of classes – we don't put our foot in the river in the same place twice – but that wasn't the only reason they repeated the class, and maybe not the primary reason. What I heard from just about all of them was that they wanted the support of the group. The vast majority felt that their meditation practice was stronger and more steady, and went deeper, when they were in the group than when they were on their own.

We humans have a lot in common with wolves in this respect. Wolves survive because of the pack. A single wolf will have a hard time getting enough food. A pack of wolves has more safety, and more food, than a single one. The lone wolf may be a romantic ideal but it's not a practical solution.

Likewise, we humans need each other and meditation is no different than other social occasions. Yes, there is a place for solo practice, even for periods of time extending up to three years. We can learn about who we are in solitude and allow the mind to reveal more of its deepest subtleties. The group pushes us in a different direction, that of learning who we are in relationship with other humans. This is at least as important as knowing who we are in relationship to ourselves, even if the distinction between “me” and “you” is only an artifact of the illusion of duality. Illusion or no, different aspects of mind get revealed.

The group also builds the energy of practice exponentially. A group doing meditation practice together creates a group energy which is greater than the combination of all the individual energies. Each person builds off the energy of the others. And I suspect this is the primary reason why those who've taken classes with me repeat the class.

A sangha performs the same function. It provides a container for practice, a place where mutual support becomes a reality. It also pushes all our buttons about relationships. Both Thich Nhat Hanh and Zen Master Seung Sahn emphasized the importance of sangha as an essential element of practice, and I found for the first several years that all my old junior high school behavior patterns gave me a wonderful and painful opportunity to experience them again. That's what I mean about learning about ourselves in relationship. Whatever insecurities, misunderstandings and wacked-out delusions we have about ourselves will be there, and as vivid as they were years back.

At the same time as we experience those old discomforts, we also get the benefit of other people's support. We can feel their commitment to practice as though it were our own. We may even find ourselves more inclined to sit or walk longer, and not just because of peer pressure. We may feel more still and more open. We will likely find practice easier. We may even find it more pleasant.

Those of us who started the Open Path Sangha of Raleigh did so because this support in practice matters to us. Please join us, even if you're convinced you're doing just fine practicing on your own. You may be pleasantly surprised.