Seung Sahn sunim (Korean Master) said,

“Practicing alone? Practice no bad - no good, better than nothing. But if you practice alone your practice does not grow. If you practice with other people, you will see your karma. Only if you see your karma can you make it disappear."

When we take refuge in the Sangha we are at once acknowledging an "I" and a "we". We are stepping into a group, relinquishing our self, and discovering our interdependence. Sangha is nothing more than a support along the way to discovering when we look at the faces of others, truly and deeply, that we are looking essentially at ourselves. And in this process, we notice "ourselves" is just another word. Flesh is just flesh. Breath comes, breath goes.

Sangha is the community. In the community you have teachers, monks, nuns, and lay people. It is called the four-fold Sangha, and they are there to look after a practice centre, so that the people practicing there are solid, and it is the safest place for us to come to.

We can be protected there, because everyone there is practicing mindfulness, breathing mindfully, eating mindfully, working mindfully; therefore the energy of the Sangha will look after us and protect us.

If you feel to be in harmony with these words, visit the site of the Plum Village Monastery

Plum Village