Being a Community and the Six Togethernesses

June 5, 2023 by Colin_Cordner

Saka Dawa — Nalanda Monastery

Dear all,

In the wake of our lovely retreat in recollection of the Buddha’s parinirvana, I thought that it would be a fine thing to share with you an apropos dharma talk by the late Vietnamese Zen master, Thich Nhat Hanh  The talk was given in the year 2000 as part of a 21-day retreat, and the subject was on sangha-karman (or roughly “the activity of being together in community”) and what Master Hanh termed “The Six Togethernesses”.
For this teaching  Master Hanh drew upon his monastic lineage’s centuries of trial-and-error experience, the vinaya and sutras, as well as his own direct experience as both a monastic, a community builder and an activist. “The Six Togethernesses” :

 

• Body. Being physically present in one place. (“You cannot be a sangha over e-mail.”)
• The 5 Mindfulness Trainings (Acting, speaking, loving mindfully, etc.)
• Sharing. Dharma discussion. Nonverbal action. Presence. (View, insight, understanding, wisdom)
• Speech. Loving speech. Calm and gentle.
• Material resources are shared equally
• Happy and joyful. Synthesis of all ideas.

 

…thus boil down what goes into a-free and inter-responsible community that has committed itself to being the living inheritors of the Dharma and the vehicle’s of the Buddha’s (or Buddhas’) unceasing activity in the world.
I found this to be a very interesting talk. I’ve already listened to it twice, and expect that I will be listening several more times as a radically rethink what a community is, and what it means to actually commune with others in the spirit of Buddha or Great Eastern Sun vision. Frankly, I think that sangha-karman is probably our most important practice, and the one that we in the West hate to do the most – way more than a nice shamatha-vipashyana during one’s lunch break!
That strong habit of avoiding sangha-karman and our general neglect of teachings related to relating and relationships is probably a good sign that they are what our cocoons are most in need of.
May you all have had a joyful Saka Dawa! If you’d like to try out sangha-karman a small bit, and examine where it rubs your cocoon, you’re eternally welcome to jump into one of the Centre’s practices.  Remember to challenge yourself with kindness, curiosity, and a sense of humour!
With Kindness and Steady Efforts at Mindfulness,
Colin Cordner
Director
Ottawa Shambhala Centre 

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“In the sky without beginning or end,
The sun of basic goodness shines peacefully,
Illuminating the world,
In this I take the Shambhala Vow of goodness.”
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“With the warriors’ cry of fearlessness,
I courageously dedicate my life to the welfare of others,
May the vast multitude of beings who suffer in this dark age be liberated into a perfect state of goodness,
In this I take the warriors’ vow of enlightened society.”
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