Sangha: The Treasure that is US!
I TAKE REFUGE IN SANGHA.
Together with all beings, may we become united as the Great Assembly, being free of all bondage.
A few weeks ago, something wonderful happened at my Betsuin in Los Angeles. As a Shin Buddhist, I personally do not believe in magic. If I did, however, I would dare to say that what happened was indeed and truly “magical”. After three years of virtual and remote observances, Los Angeles Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple celebrated Obon with an in-person event. There was food, games, and, of course, Bon Odori. Perhaps most importantly, there were people. Lots of people. Familiar faces, new faces, old and young – they came by the hundreds! While our temple has been open for many months now and is slowly seeing an uptick in those coming in for services, the response to in-person Obon was beyond anything I had expected.
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is a lesson in two parts. First, there is virtually nothing short of life’s own impermanence that can prevent us from sharing and hearing the Dharma. Where there is a will, there is a way. Bombu ingenuity is a force with which to be reckoned! But just as importantly, we also learned that despite the seemingly endless wonders of technology to connect us, there is no complete replacement for the coming together of our Jodo Shinshu communities. Sangha still feels best when there are hands to clasp, shoulders to squeeze, and smiling faces just feet away. The feeling that swelled during each of the Odori, as folks crammed into the circles to dance and sing, defies my own humble explanation. Outside of just saying the Nembutsu itself, I simply do not have the words.
I opened this post with an excerpt from the Three Treasures. In it, we elevate the importance of Sangha to the same level as the Tathagata and his Teachings. Many smarter than me – even Shakyamuni himself – argue that Sangha is peerhaps the most important of the Three – greater than the Buddha and greater than his teachings. In the Samyutta Nikaya, we are told of an exchange between Buddha and his disciple Ananda. Ananda asks whether having and being with good friends is the half-way point on the “Holy Path”. The Tathagata answers that having and being with good friends is actually the very WHOLE of the Path. As Dr. Nobuo Haneda-sensei has noted in his own writings Shakyamuni is essentially saying that having these good friends and spending time with them is EVERYTHING in Buddhism. It is the “be all, end all” of our practice. If I may quote him, Sensei says that it “is liberation itself; apart from it, there is no liberation.” He also says, that “Sangha is not a means; it is the goal”.
In Dr. Haneda’s words, not only do we hear echoes of Shakyamuni’s teaching on Sangha, but those of Master Rennyo as well. In the Goichidaiki Kikigaki, we are told that he urged us to get to know fellow-believers and teachers. He said, “You should by all means make Buddhist friends” (GK 150). One of my favorite sayings of Master Rennyo is that “[e]ven if they do strange things or crack jokes, they have the Buddha-Dharma deep in their hearts; in befriending them, you will gain much benefit” (GK 299).
To many who attended our Obon celebration, the sounds, sights, tastes, and smells were probably strange indeed. But there is no denying that the Buddha-Dharma was truly deep in our hearts as we danced, ate, laughed, embraced, and heard the Teachings together. Shakyamuni Buddha, we are told, once said that the only hope for the Dharma to carry on was with the Sangha. Well, we certainly carried it in our steps and our songs and with every “hello”, “welcome”, and “I’ve missed you” that was shared at Obon.
COVID has not gone away, but neither has the Dharma nor the Sangha that sustains it. If we wish it to endure, then it is up to us to keep this Treasure alive and well, and to carry it forward. This thing that we call Sangha is the Treasure that is US and, for most of us, there is no greater gift we can give and no gift for which we can be more thankful.
Namu Amida Butsu!
