Sangha Chapter 2 Summary

The three gems discussed in chapter 2 are Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. If the goal is to bring meaning to these terms that were previously meaningless to someone on the street, it is essential that you introduce them in a way that one can relate to. I accomplish this through presenting situations that occur everyday. Buddha is referred to as the awakened one. A Buddha is a person who wakes up and understands, someone who is enlightened. Only when you are enlightened will you be able to understand and love. You may not like your boss because he puts a lot of pressure on you, but if you are able to put yourself in his shoes and understand that he is dealing with responsibilities far more stressful that yours, you will be enlightened and understand

Although the circumstances have not changed, his perspective has. Sangha is a community that lives in harmony and awareness. In order for a community to be stable and exist peacefully, each individual that exists within it must love understand each other. If you are part of a sports team in which the players do not get along, a cohesive community will never exist. However, if all individuals that make up the team are able to understand each other and communicate well, the team will function successfully. As you can see, each of the three gems must coexist and revolve around each other. One cannot exist without the other two. We must be enlightened in order to understand and love, and each individual must look through each other’s eyes in order to exist in harmony. In chapter 3, Hanh discusses the five aggregates, and he states that in order for us to comprehend each other, we must become one. He uses a grain of salt to display this important idea, saying that "If a grain of salt would like to measure the degree of saltiness of the ocean, to have a perception of the saltiness of the ocean, it drops itself into the ocean and becomes one with it, and the perception is perfect" (Hanh