[leflyCode]

Dear friends,

I was looking at a short article by Ajahn Brahm "The Meaning of Sangha" and I'd be interested in reading your comments.

http://www.dhammaloka.org.au/article...of-sangha.html

This part of the article also caught my attention:

..."many young lay Buddhist groups in Australia, Europe and the Americas are calling themselves Sangha, going for refuge to themselves, even worshipping themselves, and presuming this is Buddhism! This is sad, misleading and produces no progress on the Path.

It is far better to go for refuge to the Monastic Sangha and give respect to that Sangha, especially those within the monastic Sangha with attainment on the Path. Why? Because the monastic Sangha is also the physical expression of the Lord Buddha's Middle Way, it is the only authoritative Buddhist teaching organization and, thirdly, it is the flag of Buddhism capable of giving inspiration in the villages and cities of our world."