Reflections of Sangha and Spirit

I’m in a beautiful Sunday meditation circle called “Sit to Connect.”  It’s a Zoom group started by Alison Cohen, a mentor in my Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Program.  She’s very bright, articulate, and wise. I’ve grown to love sitting with her and other meditators from all over the world.  Our time together is forty-five minutes each Sunday evening.   The structure of the session is the same each week.  We check in.  We stretch.  Alison offers us an informal practice and then she shares thoughts and reflections before leading us in a fifteen-minute guided meditation.  We finish our time with questions or a closing thought.  It’s a beautiful practice.  It has become my Sangha. 

“Sangha” is a Sanskrit word meaning “collection” or “assemblage.” It’s acommunity who follow the teachings of the Buddha. Thich Nhat Hanh says the individual practitioner is the rock and the boat is the Sangha.  “When we throw a rock into a river the rock will sink. But if we have a boat, the boat can carry hundreds of pounds of rocks and it will not sink.”  In other words, together, we are stronger.  Community matters.

This past week, Alison’s topic was prayer.  Ann Lamott, writer and all-around-amazing human says, “prayer means that, in some unique way, we believe we're invited into a relationship with someone who hears us when we speak in silence.”  Prayer hooks us into something greater than just us alone.

I was raised with a more narrow understanding of prayer.  I thought of prayer as a noun rather  than a verb.  I was taught to say my prayers before bed.  Kneeling at the side of my bed with my palms touching at the center of my chest , I recited the Lord’s Prayer.   We attended Mass every Sunday at a beautiful church in town.   That foundation  of religion and prayer served and comforted me over the years. I felt supported in my struggles and have always felt a spirit.

However, over time, my understanding of God has shifted. I grew up believing in a Judeo-Christian God – an old white man with long hair wearing robes –   I now connect with more of a spiritual energy that I find everywhere, especially in Nature.  When I walk in the woods, ski at Alta, or sit by the ocean, I access a source larger than me.

I feel the presence of this Spirit in a birth room. There is a Holiness in the moment a baby is born. Every birth I witness, I whisper a prayer of thanksgiving for the new life. I believe in the power of that prayer. I am learning through my Mindfulness training the power of the Metta practice - LovingKindness.

I started sharing Metta at the end of each yoga class I teach. I have my students repeat after me:“May I be safe. May I be free from danger. May I be free from emotional and physical pain. May I be free from fear and anxiety. May I be free from judgement. May I be comfortable in the discomfort. May I be filled with peace. And May I be filled with lovingkindness.”

And I’ve started springing Metta on stangers. My teacher Howie Coen told about story of moving to San Francisco from New York in the ‘70s.  When he arrived, he felt like an outsider and didn’t find people very friendly.  So he made a conscious decision to practice what he called “Jedi Metta.” Everyone he encountered, he wished them well. “May you have peace. May you have ease”

My town has experienced an influx of population in the pandemic. If you can work from anywhere, why not live in beautiful Park City? When I sit in traffic, or circle the grocery store parking lot looking for a space, I can feel agitated. I practice Metta: for both myself and others. These people are just like me. We love the proximity to the mountains. We love the ease of a small town. We all need groceries. I whisper silently: “May you be well.  May you have peace.”  It’s a practice which helps me soften.

I believe in the power of prayer, spirit and community. I rely on my family and friends to share and witness what the Buddhists call the ten thousand joys and ten thousands sorrows of Life. I am growing to love my Sangha. I am not hung up on how we pray - if at all. As Ann Lamott says, “You can pray to God, to the Good, to the Universe, to an abounding energy of your own definition, to Life or Love. “Nothing could matter less than what we call this force.” Creating space to recognize sprirt is the practice.

May you be well. May you be filled with peace. May you be filled with LovingKindness.