Having the name Sangha Jewel Zen Center gives us a continuous koan to live into and work with. We take refuge in Sangha. The sangha of all beings is a shining jewel with infinite facets, asking us continually to look into the conditions in the world that most challenge us. We have a collective responsibility to do so. We don’t say, “I take refuge in the sangha that I like and refuse the members of the sangha that I don’t like.” As long as anyone is cast out of our house, we are in trouble. Because the truth is that we are all in this together, whether we like it or not.Right now, there’s so much turmoil about how to deal with white supremacist groups. My comments here do not recommend subscribing to the hate and violence that they represent, nor to their ignorance of our common humanity. But I do think they are part of this koan, and as part of our work we would do well to look into our own shadow and the haunting of our collective karma. Bringing compassion and clear seeing to these movements and attitudes is essential if we are to find our way forward without adding to the dangerous violence and division.
Monks who were imprisoned and tortured in Tibet have spoken about the deep compassion they felt for their torturers. They understand the immediate hell realm that such mind states are, and also the long-term harm that acting from those mind states bring to those individuals who act them out and to our world.
Our practice, our vow, is to engage the tools of the Buddha Way in order to calm ourselves and to look deeply into what is fueling such hatred. With the world on fire, we don’t know what will come next. This is our current situation. So, what best self do you want to contribute to it? Are you willing to really take Refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, or do you jettison it when you are afraid, stirred up, outraged?
This is difficult. Are you willing to hold steady, the way you have learned to do on the cushion during zazen? To bring this steadiness into action, determined action, takes a calm center and a dignified mind.
There is no single answer contained in my words here, but just a deep wish for us all to safeguard the precious Treasure of Sangha by responding with care and great determination as we confront these dangers, as people who are deeply awake to the sources of suffering and the medicine of Dharma.
❤️ Mushin