Read Part ONE and TWO of Against The Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries here.

In the first two parts of the book, we looked at the philosophies and practices underlying the inner revolution and then the outer revolution of Buddhism. Now we turn to the practical issues of community, sex, money, and freedom from addiction.

Community

Against The Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries

Both inner and outer spiritual rebellion are relational experiences

The revolution cannot take place in isolation. Finding a community to practice with is important on several levels: we need like-minded people to inspire us, to support us, and to challenge us when we get stuck. The Buddha felt that community was so important that he included it in the traditional ritual of “taking refuge,” or committing to the path of freedom. Committing to that path, dedicating our life to going against the stream, consists of committing to awakening (Buddha), finding out the truth about reality (dharma), and participating in community (sangha).

From the perspective of inner rebellion and personal freedom, we need to form communities that include spiritual revolutionaries of both more and less wisdom and compassion than ourselves. Those with more understanding become our teachers in what the Buddha referred to as “spiritual friendships,” showing us the path to freedom and inspiring us to do the hard work of understanding the truth of reality and responding with compassion to confusing and painful experiences. The more understanding those spiritual friends have, the more compassion and kindness they show to us and  others.

In addition to helping us understand reality and respond with compassion, the wise beings who are our teachers urge  us to continue the revolution when it gets difficult and we feel like giving up. This support for awakening in a world that conspires to keep us asleep is an invaluable aspect of any sincere spiritual aspiration. The community also serves as a teacher by challenging us in the places where we get stuck— that is, when we become attached or aversive— and it acts as a testing ground for any insights that occur.

Those members of the community with less wisdom than we have can be our teachers too, as can those who are difficult: we see clearly where we are on the path through our ability to respond with understanding and friendliness to those  who need us or who push our buttons. Difficult personalities are a mirror for the places where we get stuck in judgment, fear, and confusion.

Since the freedom we seek is a relational freedom, freedom from suffering that is not dependent on isolation or silent meditation experiences, community allows us to put into practice wisdom and compassion toward all beings—even the annoying members of the revolution.

For an outer revolution to take place, the spiritual communities will need to unite. Positive change in society can never be facilitated by one person alone, or even by a small community; it will take the support of many, many people in a given society—at least a large community of vocal and engaged spiritual revolutionaries. The Buddha founded a spiritual revolution 2,500 years ago that was facilitated by the communities that practiced the path of kindness. The awakened hearts of the people spread the revolution to every corner of the earth, bringing about positive change in every society that encountered these revolutionary teachings and in some cases ushering in long periods of relative peace. In both India and Tibet, for example, the compassionate teachings of the Buddha facilitated a transformation from a warrior-based society to a society founded on the principles of nonviolence and generosity.

Positive change in society rarely takes place in one generation; the communities that we found and sustain are the legacy we leave for our children, and our children’s children. One of the most inspiring things I’ve ever read was  an interview with the Buddhist scholar and social activist professor Robert Thurman. Professor Thurman has been involved in Buddhism in the West for more than forty years. In the sixties, he was the first American to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk, and since then he has done an incredible amount of social activism. In addition to being a leading voice in the free-Tibet movement, Professor Thurman has taught Indo-Tibetan Buddhist studies at Columbia University in New York City for almost twenty years, inspiring thousands of young minds to awaken and to engage in positive change in the world. He has authored several books and is an international force of Buddhist awareness, largely influencing the popularization of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the West. Among all of these personal, political, and spiritual accomplishments, what does he think is the most important? The interview I read recorded his response as “raising wise children.” This struck me as incredibly wise, because it recognizes and respects the role of community in the Buddhist revolution. No matter how much positive change we create in our lifetime, what is most important is the legacy we leave behind. For the bigger picture, it is important to create sustainable spiritual communities that the next generation can relate to and thrive within.

Buddhist communities have brought about positive change in Asia for centuries, transforming violence and negativity into compassion and altruistic intentions. If positive change is possible in the face of the violent Hindu, Muslim, and native Asian religious traditions, it is also possible here in the West, even in the midst of our media-driven, capitalist, oppressive, Judeo-Christian culture.

The outer revolution will take place when the inner revolution has been won by several generations of antiestablishment spiritual rebels.

Noah Levine Dharma Talk: Community | Sangha

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