Sangha/Community

“The sangha is an island of peace.” Thich Nhat Hanh

“Everyone is in my sangha. I don’t know if that’s the proper definition, but that’s the way I’m going to hold it in my mind.” Jeff Bridges

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Traditionally sangha refers to a yoga or meditation community. My yoga students depend on their sangha to listen to, support, and accompany them as they walk the path of self-realization. I am writing today about a larger sangha in my life: My writing community of Substack friends, my writer’s group, those who read my weekly emails and substack essays, and those who will be reading my book(s). I depend upon my readers/writers to more than simply consume my words. I want my sentences to call upon their body/minds to follow my thoughts into a place of wonder about the world. I write not to inform especially, but to provide a place where their soul engages with curiosity and confirmation.

How many times have you read something that caused you to nod your head, slap your thigh while saying, “Yes!” and feel that glorious sense of belonging? That’s why I write for my community. And almost weekly I hear from a reader who has felt that sense of resonance in her heart. I feel blessed when that happens.

I want readers to feel validated for their choices. I want them to feel encouraged to try something new or something they never thought they could do. I want them to know they are not alone in this world, when they haven’t experienced understanding from others and may in fact have felt judged or marginalized for their opinions. Sangha is how I refer to this not only in yoga class but everywhere because life is yoga. We come to know ourselves through relationships, to our bodies, minds, spirits, our friends, our acquaintances, through relating to our fears, accomplishments, failures, through reading about others’ lives, and bringing those experiences into our awareness so they inform our decisions about the next steps in our lives.

“No man is an island.” John Donne

Thrilling, confounding, uplifting, agitating, however these relationships exist, they are sangha, our community of teachers of the heart, and we are their students. The teacher has arrived and I am ready.

(Written as part of The Essay Festival conducted by Beth Kempton . This week’s word is ‘community’.)