The Buddha’s beloved student Ananda asked, it seems good friends are perhaps half of the path? And the Buddha responded, No, Ananda. Good friends are the whole path.Is conscious community a preference, or a necessity? How do we develop powerful spiritual communities that bring us forward in a meaningful way? In this modern course we will explore just this, looking at the power of sangha and group guru.

There is interplay between the collective and the individual when it comes to liberation. Let’s explore it here, together.

We each get trapped in our own bias. Our lineage Teacher the Venerable Namgyal Rinpoche said it is hard for Westerners to awaken because the self, the great individual, is such an important part of the game. In the West, we tend to avoid community, avoid surrendering to collective needs, or mistrust that we will be subsumed by ignorant ‘group think’.

And yet, sangha is something that nature knows intimately. Community is at the root of the great flourishings of humanity. Spiritual communities in the East have worked in community in the monastery setting; community is a hallmark of all time-tested spiritual tradition and practice. Today’s question is, how do we also honor the role and uniqueness of the individual, within a collective approach to awakening and healing?