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**retTreftowhexm** · 03-16-2011, 12:03 PM

A Sangha can be very helpful, especially a teacher. Teachers recognize the common mistakes that people make along the path, the common wrong views and "traps" they can get stuck in, and steer us back onto the Middle Path. I think it would be very rare for a lay Buddhist to find their way all the way to full enlightenment without a Sangha, without a teacher. Possible though, I'm sure!

As for forums like this one being a kind of Sangha, well sure. However, though there are plenty of knowledgeable people to learn from, forums don't have "teachers" per se. You never really know just how true someone's words are, how right their thinking is, and this can be difficult for a beginner that isn't sure what to think.

03-16-2011, 12:03 PM	#9
retTreftowhexm Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 386 Senior Member	A Sangha can be very helpful, especially a teacher. Teachers recognize the common mistakes that people make along the path, the common wrong views and "traps" they can get stuck in, and steer us back onto the Middle Path. I think it would be very rare for a lay Buddhist to find their way all the way to full enlightenment without a Sangha, without a teacher. Possible though, I'm sure! As for forums like this one being a kind of Sangha, well sure. However, though there are plenty of knowledgeable people to learn from, forums don't have "teachers" per se. You never really know just how true someone's words are, how right their thinking is, and this can be difficult for a beginner that isn't sure what to think.
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