#TheSuchnessofSangha: on “sitting together” ~ thich nhat hanh

Sitting alone is wonderful. Sitting with a friend makes meditation easier.
There is a Vietnamese saying that goes like this: “When you eat rice, you need to have soup.”
When you practice mindfulness, you have to have friends.
When we sit together, we generate a collective energy of mindfulness that is very powerful…
The collective energy is very supportive and effective in helping us gain insight and transform difficulties.
As a practitioner we can benefit from that energy to help us embrace our pain and our suffering.
You can silently say, “Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Sangha, this is my suffering. Please brothers and sisters, please help me to embrace this pain and this suffering.”

~Thich Nhat Hanh from “How to Sit”