What are the characteristics of a sangha that supports its members? How is trust built such that the hard work of the Dharma can be done in community? In this way seeking talk, I draw on my experiences firefighting and in incarcerated Buddhist communities to explore what it means to feel safe in a sangha, despite external circumstances.
A talk shared with Insight Meditation San Jose on January 15, 2025.
This is not your average sobriety story. Matthew Hahn was a meth-addicted burglar who thought he’d just pulled off the heist of his life. Then he cracked open a safe and found a memory card.
Loosely, the goal was to offer a practice guide framed around the triple gem – the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha – using language that more closely aligned with familiar understandings of the Buddhadharma.
Pain, in its myriad forms, is often the entry point for practice. Tragedy and heartbreak, discontent and unease, something among these inspires us toward something different. The Buddhist path offers a path out of the pain by transforming our relationship to it.
Defensiveness often arises when identity is challenged – when information about ourselves and the world runs counter to the way we view them, hold them, and maybe even cling to them.
Matthew draws on experiences firefighting and in incarcerated Buddhist communities to explore what it means to feel safe in a sangha, despite external circumstances.
There was a time in my life when I actively felt aversion for entire people, for everything about them, and I felt justified in doing so.