Sangha The Smile of Budda, a school of ZEN

 Sangha The Smile of Budda - a community of mindfulness, inspired by the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh (a Vietnamese Zen master).
The basis of this practice is meditation, so the members of the community meet once a week to meditate together and discuss a text which is chosen for the given week. It  is a place in which one can seek a more  mindful "here and now" and break away fom the daily hurry and routine.  The building of sangha is the most important part of the practice. The members should learn how to build a happy community, in which people trust each other and have faith in oeach other. The practice centre should be organised in a way a family is. The teacher is like a father or a mother. The more experienced members are like older brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts. If the practice centre does not form a spiritual family, where everybody feels needed and important, the transformation will be difficult.

If the people in a sangha are like isolated islands, without any contact with others, without the warmth and care from other people, then there will be no effects, even if the practice takes ten or even twenty years. We must put down roots. Without them it is difficult to achieve happiness.

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Zen master, a poet, a peace activist. Jis life has been unusual. He was born in Middle Vietnam in 1926, he became a novice at 16. During the war in Vietnam, the monks had to choose whether to stay in their orders and keep on living their contemplative life, or to engage in helping the residents of the villages which got destroyed as a result of the war. Nhat Hanh was one of those who decided to do both by helping to establish the movement called "Engaged Buddhism". From then on he dedicated his life to inner transformation in the service of the human and the society. 

He published several books about meditation, mindfulness and peace, such as volumes of poetry, prose and prayers.Almost ten books got translated into Polish, e.g. "Peace every step", "Living Buddha, Living Christ", "No death, no fear", "Sun my heart", "Understanding our mind". Every year, thousands of people come to Plum Village to be alone and listen to his teachings about mindful living. Inspired by them and by the practice of mindfulness, they return home and establish their own sanghas - communities of mindful living.

The Centre 

The members created a library with buddhist books, which one can use freely. A warm and unofficial atmosphere, which can be felt here, causes you to feel at home - if you come before the meditation starts, you can sit down, have some tea and talk to fellow members, and after the meditation everybody eats a common dinner.