In the two previous articles, we unravelled Buddha and Dhamma – the first two of the Noble Triple Gems we are only too familiar with from our lifelong chants, taking refuge in them as Buddhists. Stretching beyond their conventionally established purports, identifying the Supreme Buddha and His sublime teachings, respectively, we discovered that a more profound essence conveyed by these terms could be surfaced by distinguishing the Buddha as the Ultimate Destination, and the Dhamma as the Ultimate Path to that destination. It follows from this metaphor that a journey must be made along that path to get to the said destination. Today, let’s explore and delve into what this journey is. It is Sangha - the Ultimate Journey.

Naturally, when a majority of our readers hear the word “Sangha”, their minds may be cast to a bald man, clad in a robe, residing in a temple or monastery, practising meditation and studying the teachings of the Buddha, wandering rural streets, with a humble downward gaze only a few steps ahead, holding an alms bowl in his hands in an endeavour to find daily sustenance from generous village folk. Alternatively, perhaps it is a more contemporary image of a monk engaged in social welfare, such as presiding at a religious or cultural event, or maybe even passionately addressing an audience on a subject of national importance on a political stage. It is also possible that upon hearing the word Sangha, you recall the epic narratives of popular disciples of the Buddha, such as the great Elders Sariputta and Mahā Moggallana. So, which is it for you? 

Whatever mental image “Sangha” conjures up in your mind, it is quite likely that if you consider carefully, you will notice you are associating a person or group of persons with the term Sangha. Whilst this visceral response seems natural and instinctive, with the best of intentions, I wish to point out a hidden peril in the personification of Sangha, one which can potentially have tragic consequences. If one associates Sangha with a person or a group, inevitably, the respect and reverence one has toward Sangha is dependent on how favourably they regard that particular person or group and their actions. The upside of this tendency is that if in your opinion the person is of good conduct, virtuous and disciplined, the gracefulness of their behaviour is ascribed to Sangha, and Sangha is regarded with utmost respect and reverence. However, on the flip side, if in your opinion the person or group is of poor conduct, immoral and unrestrained, then such behaviour may also be imputed to Sangha. As discussed in the first article, many people associate Buddha with a person, and, therefore, think of the Gautama Buddha when they speak of Buddha. Although this attribution also carries the above inherent risk, it is highly unlikely to harm, for two main reasons. He is the Perfect One. Just as one who might wish to count up numbers in the hope of reaching the final number can keep counting forever but will never reach an end, one who wishes to seek flaws in the Buddha’s character can keep scrutinising it their whole life, it will be to no avail. The Buddha was, in every possible way, the epitome of perfection. Secondly, the Buddha is no longer among us, and in this Buddha Sasana, there was only one of Him. So, a flaw that was not found before His passing away will never be found again. However, if you associate Sangha with a person or group, the same cannot be said about Sangha. This is because neither of the above statements can be made about such a person who lives among us today. At this point, I wish to make a distinction which might seem pedantic, but, will be most helpful to our readers to understand this abstract concept. It is simply the distinction between “The Sangha” and “Sangha”. The former is the Order; the community of men (Bhikkhus) and women (Bhikkhunis) established by the Gautama Buddha at His will and by His decree has, to this day, remained an unbroken lineage from teacher to student. When the last Bhikkhu and Bhikkhuni pass away without having conferred this status in accordance with the monastic code of conduct, although an unfathomable loss for all mankind that defies description, at that very point, The Sangha of the Gautama Buddha will have become extinct. It will only be upon the advent of His successor, the Maitri Supreme Buddha, that the Order of the Sangha will be reinstated. This is the conventional Sangha. Just as the Buddha passes away, the conventional Sangha will someday perish, spelling the end of the conventional Buddha Sasana.

So, if it is remiss of us to think of Sangha as a person, what is it? Just as Buddha (Nibbana), a timeless phenomenon, will forever remain a destination awaiting to be reached by the competent wayfarer – competent in knowledge of the path, “Sangha”, also a timeless phenomenon, will forever prevail as the skilful journey required to be made along that path to that destination. Naturally, a journeyer must become suitably skilled to make any journey. What, then, are these skills that one must acquire, practice and instil to make a successful journey? Herein lies the answer to the above question. Sangha is the journey of acquiring, practising and instilling the very skills that move one along the path of Dhamma toward the destination of Nibbana. And what are these skills?

Let us consider for a moment what it is that we find attractive, endearing and remarkable in the great Elders of the past, as well as in exemplary members of the monastic order of the present day. What do you remember them for? When you speak of them, what do you speak about? What is it that has earned them a special place in your heart? Why do we idolise them? For a people who had not a dime to their name, nothing more than their robes and a begging bowl as their personal possessions, what is their claim to fame? Their wealth is to be measured not by their material possessions, for they are scanty, but in the majesty of their virtues, for they are aplenty. Profound wisdom, unwavering kindness, lavish generosity, limitless compassion, selfless benevolence, gentle forbearance, and sublime magnanimity towards all beings are what we know them for. These are but only a handful of the virtues and noble qualities which embellish their character and resonate their holiness in our hearts and minds. These and similar are the skills one must acquire, practise and instil to navigate the noble path.

The qualities of the Sangha are infinite, and our entire lifetime is too brief to describe, let alone embed within ourselves all of these qualities in full. Only a Supreme Buddha fully comprehends them. The Buddha employed His infinite wisdom and condensed these into the following nine. Namely, Supatipanna, Ujupatipanna, Nayapatipanna, Samichipatipanna, Ahuneyya, Pahuneyya, Dakkhineyya, Anjalikaraneyya, and Anuttaran Punnakkhettan Lokassa. Dissecting the meaning of some of these virtues will help our readers get a more in-depth idea of what Sangha is, and we will discuss some of these qualities in future articles. 

An apt analogy would be using water to extinguish fire. Fire results from combining heat, fuel, and oxygen (fire triangle). Although we often use water to put out a fire, its absence is not a cause of a fire. So how, then, does water extinguish a fire? This is achieved because water has the desired qualities, such as the ability to absorb heat, and the fluidity required to reach all areas of the object aflame, both of which help extinguish the fire. Therefore, although we use water to extinguish a fire, it is not the water we need, but rather, the aforementioned qualities. So why do we use water for this purpose? It is because water is one of the tangible forms that embody these properties; it is an embodiment of the qualities required for the said purpose. In this analogy, the fire can be seen as suffering and its extinguishment, Nibbana. The properties of heat absorption and fluidity are qualities collectively referred to as Sangha. Finally, water is the embodiment of these qualities in the form of any one of the eightfold persons referred to in the popular verse “Atta purisa puggala – esa bhagavato savaka sangho.”

The embodiment and thus demonstration of the aforementioned qualities can be seen when monks, committed and somewhat contractually obligated to the welfare of all sentient beings, engage in acts of service and compassion. Their selfless acts of charity and humanitarianism are a testament to the transformative power of compassion and the boundless capacity of the human heart. They inspire many men, women, and children to strive for goodness and greatness, and it’s most likely our readers have witnessed and personally experienced such acts.

The Buddha indicates that anyone with these qualities, even for a split second or single thought-moment, can be considered an embodiment of Sangha, and developing these qualities is the Ultimate Journey. It is wise for our readers to bear the term Sangha as one which encapsulates and encompasses the noble qualities. This is the final journey one would ever have to make, where the destination will restore the mind to its default state, free from ignorance and attachment, granting freedom from suffering permanently. The suffering referred to here is not the “felt suffering” but rather the suffering that needs to be seen from the eye of wisdom. Buddhist philosophy refers to this as Jathi. We will explore this concept in more detail in a subsequent article. Our readers should aspire to acquire, practice and instil these qualities into their lives, transforming themselves into an embodiment of these virtues. 

A climber at the foot of a mountain would look up at the summit and determine that as the destination. He would see a path to get to the top and will need to make the journey to the summit. To accomplish this task, he will require skills such as stamina, endurance, strength, energy, determination, and courage. The climber who is about to embark on this journey can be seen as a putujjana or a worldly being. Here, the summit is Buddha, which is Nibbana. the path uphill is Dhamma, the noble path. The journey, which can only be completed once those skills are applied correctly, is Sangha, the noble journey. The path and the journey go hand in hand, where the journey without a path is impossible, and the path without a journey is pointless. And without a destination, there is neither a path nor a journey. Upon completion of this journey, the putujjana will have transformed into an Arahant, the embodiment of Buddha.

Before we conclude, I refer our readers back to the first article, in which we raised the question of “becoming.” All types of becoming are conditional. Every becoming has its causes, and the combination of these causes in the right order gives rise to, or results in, the becoming of a certain effect. In the second article, our readers were briefly introduced to the law of Dependent Origination, from the perspective that whatever it is that becoming refers to, the Dhamma delineates its dependent origination. Let’s pick up from there and assume this effect, or this becoming, is suffering or Jathi. Technically, the Pali term Jathi does not mean the felt suffering, but given that we are still in the early episodes, let us proceed with this translation. We will delve deeper into this topic in a future article. The becoming, then, of suffering is caused by attachment, which is rooted in ignorance. By substituting ignorance with wisdom, we can eradicate attachment, and in turn, will result in the cessation of the becoming of suffering, resulting ultimately in the cessation of suffering.

The Buddha summed this up rather eloquently in the Dhammapada. 
Yathapi mule anupaddave dalhe - Chinnopi rukkho punareva ruhati
Evampi tanhanusaye anuhate - Nibbattati dukkhamidam punappunam.
Meaning, just as a tree with roots undamaged and firm grows again even though cut down, so also, if latent craving is not rooted out, this dukkha (suffering) becomes again and again.

Finally, I believe our readers aspiring to Nibbana, one day, someday, are left with one question. If Sangha is the journey of acquiring, practising and instilling the noble values to get across the path of Dhamma to the destination of Buddha, how does one embark on that journey?

The greatest hindrance to mentally embodying the virtues we discussed above is suffering itself. So, if suffering can be eradicated, the noble virtues can begin to take root and flourish in the mind. The Dependent Origination process lays down attachment as the cause of suffering and ignorance as its root. Literally, Sangha means shaking off ignorance and attachment. An analogy to this would be shaking off a doormat to remove the dust in it. Once done, the dust will have fallen off, and the doormat will be clean. Shaking off or eradicating ignorance and attachment, therefore, leads to the eradication of suffering. Following the noble path in order to eradicate mental suffering spurs through the assimilation of Dhamma.

Henceforth, I hope our readers will be adept at reflecting on the profoundness of those words when they chant Buddhan Saranan Gaccámi, Dhamman Saranan Gaccámi, Sanghan Saranan Gaccámi. Remarkable is it not that a mere 9 words can embody such depth? Such is the sublimeness of the Sambuddha Sasana! However, I must emphasise that the mere utterance of this verse yields nothing of value. But by contemplating its meaning and enacting its essence, which the Great Teacher would have wished to convey to us, we can all achieve the fruits of eternal bliss. May all beings who aspire to Buddha, learn and contemplate the Dhamma, strive to develop the noble values, virtues, and qualities of Sangha within themselves, and achieve the pinnacle of their endeavours – the Ultimate Bliss of Nibbana!