Communities of practice

It is Monday of Holy Week, so I’m still reading Living Buddha, Living Christ. Today's chapter was on communities of practice, comparing sometimes the monastic traditions of Christianity and Buddhism, and sometimes the sangha and the church. It covered a bunch of themes. For example it talked about how in both communities creating the monastery as a space of peace and reflection where lay people could come to be inspired for their life was important. It also talked about how in both cases, the gathering of people served as a body for the community. Jesus said, “wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there I am.” In Buddhism it takes at least four persons practicing to be called a sangha. It also talked about the need for both the church and the sangha to embody the spirit of their religion, to take Buddha and Jesus as the model of practice and to practice the true teachings. Basically, the overarching point was that churches need to embody the spirit of Jesus and the sangha needs to embody the spirit of Buddha.