Sangha Day Festival: one

Sangha Day Festival: one

What is our theme today?
Becoming more aware is the growing point of the spiritual life.
When we become more aware we enter a higher state of consciousness.
Dharma has a lot to say about higher states of consciousness.

We enter higher states of consciousness when we enter dhyana.
Dhyana - states of meditative concentration.

I’ll give a quick summary to give an overview to the spiritual path.

There are four dhyanas of the world of form.
I’ll say four images that express these dhyanas.
1/ Soap powder perfectly mixed with water.
2/ a lake with an underground spring.
3/ A lotus flower submerged in a lake.
4/ a freshly bathed man covered head to toe in a white sheet.
Each higher dhyana corresponds to a higher state of consciousness.
Although don’t take them too literally.
They are not like separate steps on a staircase.

The the arupa dhyana, of the formless world.
1/ sphere of infinite space.
2/ sphere of infinite consciousness.
3/ no-thing-ness.
4/ neither perception nor none perception.

After this comes insight or penetration
We change from the mundane path to the transcendental path
We see things as they really are
It has a massive effect on us
A turning about in the deepest seat of consciousness.
We enter the stream leading to enlightenment
We enter the tigers cave
After we enter we never come out.
Once we enter the stream we can’t fall back
We become destined to enlightenment

Here there are stages as well
The stages correspond to states of consciousness
Where the intensity of insight or penetration gets progressively stronger
1/ the stream entrant gains enlightenment within seven lifetimes
2/ the once returner gains enlightenment in this life or the next
3/ the non returner gains enlightenment in this life or in a heavenly state after death.
The heavenly state corresponds to states of dhyana.
4/ the Arahant has gained enlightenment here and now.
Later in Buddhist history the term arahant had a corrupted meaning.
A person who gained enlightenment for himself alone
So an arahant was not a bodhisattva
Here we use arahant in its uncorrupted meaning.

We have mapped out states of consciousness from the first dhyana till the arahant.

The pivotal point of the spiritual life is stream entry.
How do we become a stream entrant?
We do so by breaking the three fetters.
How do we break the three fetters?

We usually look at this question through the lens of practising the dharma.
Today we will look through the lens of practising sangha, the spiritual community.

Dharma and sangha on the same level
On the kesa show three jewels
Greatest contribution to Buddhism
Talking about the value of sangha
Of spiritual community
Of spiritual friendship
Of communication

So our theme for our festival of the sangha
How can we practice sangha to gain insight
So as to enter the stream
So as to make the greatest possible positive change