Sangha of the Bamboo Grove PDF Print Email
According to the thought of Zen Master Tetsugen Serra:

“One of the principal objectives of Zen is to help all beings rediscover their own Buddha nature”


To realise this and to begin to live like a Buddha, one has to rediscover inner peace, silence, and the joy of living and loving all beings like the Buddha, even in difficult times like our own. From this motivation is born:

The Sangha of the Bamboo Grove

The Sanskrit word sangha signifies a free association of people who accept the principles of Buddhism. In addition the Sangha represents the third of the Three Jewels of Buddhism, along with the Dharma (the teachings of Buddha) and the Buddha himself (Gautama Siddhartha Shakyamuni).

The first Buddhist Sangha was born in the bamboo grove in India where the Buddha constructed the first monastery. The Sangha of the Bamboo Grove of our time was born more than twenty years ago with the foundation of Enso-Ji Il Cerchio, the first Zen monastery in the city of Milan, and today it opens to all beings with the intention of enabling to bloom in these days of spring a marvellous new flower:

The real change in our existence

The Sangha of the Bamboo Grove is not limited to belonging to a monastery or a school but is open to all practitioners of whatever Buddhist lineage or tradition. It is a project which embraces all those who have decided to walk on the way towards their own realisation.
The Sangha of the Bamboo Grove is thus an organisation which belongs to all the Buddhists in the world. All beings who freely choose to join the Sangha of the Bamboo Grove are welcome as:

"Friends of Buddha"

The Sangha of the Bamboo Grove offers all beings the possibility to walk the Buddha’s Way, by means of

The Practice

Meetings, seminars, conventions, residential stays, intensive retreats (sesshin) and, for beginners, zenkai: open days of joy and of sharing Zen. All these will be precious opportunities to rediscover equilibrium in body, mind and spirit, in accordance with each person’s own approach and with respect for the singularity of each individual.

Where

The main seat of the Sangha of the Bamboo Grove is the mountain Zen hermitage Sanbo-Ji, Temple of the Three Jewels, directed by Zen Master Tetsugen Serra.


FURTHER INFORMATION

The ethical basis of the Sangha of the Bamboo Grove

To whom is the Sangha of the Bamboo Grove dedicated