介绍:
101 The Sangha
TAKING REFUGE in the sangha—other people on the path of the bodhisattva-warrior—doesn’t mean that we join a club where we’re all good friends, talk about basic goodness together, nod sagely, and criticize the people who don’t believe the way we do. Taking refuge in the sangha means taking refuge in the brotherhood and sisterhood of people who are committed to taking off their armor.
If we live in a family where all the members are committed to taking off their armor, then one of the most powerful vehicles for learning how to do it is the feedback that we give one another, the kindness that we show to one another. Normally when somebody is feeling sorry for herself and beginning to wallow in it, people pat her on the back and say, “Oh, you poor thing,” or, “For Pete’s sake, get over it.” But if you yourself are committed to taking off your armor and you know that the other person is too, there is a way that you can actually give her the gift of dharma. With great kindness and love, out of your own experience of what’s possible, you give her the wisdom that somebody else probably gave you the day before when you were miserable. You encourage her not to buy into her self-pity but to realize that it’s an opportunity to grow, and that everybody goes through this experience.
In other words, the sangha are people committed to helping one another to take off their armor by not encouraging one another’s weaknesses or tendencies to keep their armor on. When we see each other collapsing or stubbornly saying, “No, I like this armor,” there’s an opportunity to say something about the fact that underneath all that armor are a lot of festering sores, and a little bit of sunlight wouldn’t hurt a bit. That’s the notion of taking refuge in the sangha.
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