Reflections on My Vision for the Future of the Sangha in the West.
When people gather with the shared intention to awaken, something extraordinary begins to unfold. Through meditation and intention to awaken, a collective field of awareness forms, both holding and amplifying each individual’s practice. Within this shared presence what we in Zen call Buddha Nature – awakens as a lived, moment-to-moment reality that arises within the group itself. This is the living Buddha Dharma, expressed not just individually but communally. The inseparability of the two is called Sangha.
In the tradition of Zen Buddhism, we call it the Three Treasures – Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha – which are often spoken of as three, but they are truly one integrated whole. The Buddha represents our awakened nature. The Dharma is the living truth, revealed moment by moment. The Sangha is the community that walks this path together, embodying and sustaining the Buddha Dharma in real time.
However, Sangha is not always soft or soothing. It is also challenging. When we commit to showing up together – sitting Zazen, working in silence, chanting, cooking, cleaning – we inevitably stir the depths of our being. What is unconscious begins to surface. Our wounds, our reactivity, our fears and unresolved pain – these too are part of the field.
The clarity of practice shines a light on all of it.
And this is not a mistake. This is the way.
Traditionally, we meet this with silence. We sit. We do not move or flinch. No commentary. No avoidance. Just presence. Just Zazen. A stillness that welcomes everything. And in that sitting, reality shows its true face – realizing the empty nature of it all.
But, today, we also live in a world where there is a deepening awareness of emotional life – of trauma, of attachment wounds, of the patterns that shape our reactions. There is an opportunity now to invite psychological insight and emotional maturity into our Zen training – not as a replacement, but as a complementary expansion. We can meet what arises not only with inner stillness but with compassion and relational care and curiosity. The Sangha becomes not only a mirror for awakening but a field for transformation and integration of our shadows.
The Sangha Treasure is most alive when we come together not only to meditate, but to live the Dharma in everything we do – from morning to night. In shared silence, shared meals, shared labor, a different kind of clarity emerges: one that reveals both our brilliance and our struggle. And when we meet it honestly with each other, something very beautiful happens.
We transform – not alone, but together.
This is the living field of Buddha Dharma and Sangha Treasure.