Community of All Creation

Posted by admin on August 31, 2009

Sangha, a Buddhist term that means community of all creation, is a word I learned one day from a friend and client. He noticed my loneliness, my feeling of aloneness without a sense of belonging or community at that time in my life. He, a faithfully practicing meditator in the Buddhist tradition, said to me, “One day Leela, you will find your sangha”

What I have since learned is that the sense of community I longed for really isn’t a thing at all. Community rather is a state of being.

Many of us feel estranged from community because we have a chronic feeing of not really belonging, anywhere. Now I know that community is ever present, ever available. It’s simply a matter of acknowledging the essence of connection inherent in the web that is life and harnessing that web energy. That web is everywhere, inter-weaving both the animate and inanimate in a spectacular community that truly does include all of creation.

As such I now recognize the many communities I am and have been part of that exist in a myriad of shapes and sizes. Some have lasted minutes, others years. What all these experiences of community have in common though is a sense of connectedness that brought and still brings meaning to my life. Sometimes brief but always profound, my experiences of community string together my existence across time and space that I know as my life tapestry.

The sangha concept of community that includes the natural world of the elements and more than human beings lends community a more vast and colorful weave and texture. With the endless index that accompanies this version of community, I savor now that I’m truly never alone, always in the act of community, the weaving of my sangha!

Leela Francis is the founder of VividExistence and Vividly Woman. She weaves together communities globally through dance, nature re-connection, and spiritual activism. www.vividexistence.com, www.vividlywoman.com

To read more of Leela’s writings access the FREE eBook, Overcoming Adversity with Grace at http://www.overcomersbook.com/grace

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