Friday, April 24, 2009

Spirituality in the 21st Century: Part 3

"We suffered tremendously during the twentieth century. Individualism prevailed. Families were broken up, society was deeply divided. That is why if the twenty-first century is to be a spiritual century, it should be built by the spirit of togetherness, where we do things together, we do everything together. When you live in a community, you learn how to see the Sangha body, the Sanghakaya, as your own body.

Whether we live in Amsterdam, London, Munich or New York, it is our role to build a Sangha. We need each other to practice solidity, freedom, and compassion, and with our practice we can remind people in our society that there is always hope, the blue sky is always there, the Kingdom of Heaven is always at hand. We should walk and breathe in such a way that the Kingdom of Heaven, the Pure Land of the Buddha, is available in every step, in every breath. This is what we should do."

(From transcriptions of talks given by TNH in Plum Village, December 2001.)

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