I love the sangha

[Fuken]

A friend of a friend of a friend of mine once said that a sangha is like a rock tumbler. You throw a group of people together and by nature of friction they begin to polish each other.

Now some of us have been around this place for a while and some new stones are being thrown in.
Of course they have not been in this rock-tumbler before so some of us who thought we were getting polished might get scratched.
Pleas be patient and don't get out of the tumbler. You will end up not having that scratch polished away. Stick around, those that may have scratched you will also polish you. Unless they are pumice. Pumice just dose not polish well, but it is fragile and will grind to dust under the friction of all the other stones.

Please honor the sangha, and remember the one rule: be kind to each other.

Gassho,
Jordan

[louis]

Re: I love the sangha

I love the sangha, me! I remember a similar sentiment expressed by seung sahn.
He likened the frictions to washing potatoes by rubbing them together.

When I lived in my frat house I had an epiphany. :shock: The people who annoyed me most had traits that I shared and loathed. I learned alot about sharing, compassion and forgiveness of others and myself.

Big cheers to all of you who can't help themselves and keep coming back.

best to you all,
L

[Fuken]

Re: I love the sangha

:wink:

[Kanno]

Re: I love the sangha

Agreed.

As with any group of people, there are those here who I do not agree with. These are the same people who tend to really make me think. That's why I don't like them... :wink:

In all seriousness, "Chat about (Almost) anything. The only rule is to be kind to each other." You can disagree with what someone says. Just be kind.

One of my teachers had a simple rule. "In any argument, if one party begins yelling, they have lost." I suppose that translates to angry words on the internet, since outside of using all caps, volume is nonexistent. Although an argument may be valid, angry speech makes it harder for others to listen to your message.

Gassho,

-Kanno

[will]

Re: I love the sangha

The mind and ego is tricky. One day we might feel that every post is humorous or a breath of fresh air. Other days it feels like everyone is full of s**t. And also everyone is against us.

Ahhhh...monkey mind. When will you learn?

Gassho

[disastermouse]

Re: I love the sangha

Agreed.

As with any group of people, there are those here who I do not agree with. These are the same people who tend to really make me think. That's why I don't like them... :wink:

In all seriousness, "Chat about (Almost) anything. The only rule is to be kind to each other." You can disagree with what someone says. Just be kind.

One of my teachers had a simple rule. "In any argument, if one party begins yelling, they have lost." I suppose that translates to angry words on the internet, since outside of using all caps, volume is nonexistent. Although an argument may be valid, angry speech makes it harder for others to listen to your message.

Gassho,

-Kanno

I think she borrowed this, but Byron Katie says 'Defense is the first act of war.'

[will]

Re: I love the sangha

Unity
So I can be with you guys but dont see me shaving my head soon and blanking out my personality or my uniquensess.. My fingerprints are different . im surely not gonna make them like someone elses.. om.....

I recommend reading the Twelve-Fold Chain of Dependant Origination one more time. Then do Zazen, then dance to flamenco music, loud heavy metal, new age, or whatever gets your fancy. Do the laundry, go to the store, play nintendo. You have many choices open, but the precepts are good guidline when you are Unity Spirit.

Gassho (Not Unity spirit)

[torotech]

Re: I love the sangha

A friend of a friend of a friend of mine once said that a sangha is like a rock tumbler. You throw a group of people together and by nature of friction they begin to polish each other.

Now some of us have been around this place for a while and some new stones are being thrown in.
Of course they have not been in this rock-tumbler before so some of us who thought we were getting polished might get scratched.
Pleas be patient and don't get out of the tumbler. You will end up not having that scratch polished away. Stick around, those that may have scratched you will also polish you. Unless they are pumice. Pumice just dose not polish well, but it is fragile and will grind to dust under the friction of all the other stones.

Please honor the sangha, and remember the one rule: be kind to each other.

Gassho,
Jordan

Very nicely put Jordan.

I'm new to this tumbler...and well very new to Zen Buddhism too. I've been taking some time and reading the posts and watching the video's at Jundo's blog. I'd like to participate more, but at time's I just feel a bit overwhelmed, speechless, at the level of discussions, both intellectually and emotionally, that go on here. It does make for good reading though. I really enjoy coming to this Sangha. I'm especially enjoying learning about Soto Zen Buddhism. To this point I've only studied Tibetan and Theravada Buddhism. Studying and practicing Zen Buddhism, and Soto Zen in particular, has proved to be far more interesting, but that could just be because I'm older now.

Now if only my hips were as flexible as my mind...

Kind Regards,
Brian

[Jundo]

Re: I love the sangha

Actually, you only need to read the stuff I write and you can skip all the rest. :wink:

Gassho, Jundo

[Gregor]

Re: I love the sangha

I love the Sangha myself even if I've been posting much less than I used to do. Lots of content on here nowadays, maybe to much for me to keep up with, but glad to see we're still all tumbling away here . . . I think we'll be just fine.

[chessie]

Re: I love the sangha

I also truly love the sangha. This is the most inspiring, interesting, invigorating group of folks I've ever known. Thanks so much for allowing me to be a small part. Deep Gassho in all (ten?) directions to each of you. Ann