Dear William:

Study buddhism. com/ what is sangha?: “The word ‘Sangha’ is a Sanskrit term that means ‘community,’…  Nowadays, as Buddhism has spread throughout the Western world, it has become quite common for the Buddhist community as a whole, or even just small groups of lay followers at a Dharma center, to be said to form a sangha…

“So, what kind of qualities does the Sangha have that we want to develop ourselves? 1. When they teach, they don’t just repeat what they’ve learned from books. They speak from their own authentic experience… 2. Their only wish is to help others, and they practice what they preach. Think of a smoker scolding us about the dangers of smoking, we will really wonder why we should follow their advice, right? For that reason, the Sangha is always sincere in what they do, so we can really trust them. 3… the Sangha has a very good influence on us to improve our Dharma practice“.

Before I am able to offer you any advice, I ask: “I have a background that makes me cautious and anxious around any group of ‘believers’“- are you cautious and anxious around any group of people, or in particular, around a group of people who claim to believe in X or Y, suspecting that they are not genuine believers?

anita