Embracing Sangha - What you Seek is Seeking You (Reflections on graduating from The Path’s Meditation Teacher Training) by recent graduate Melissa Pelham

Melissa reflecting on her Sangha experience

“What you seek is seeking you” - Rumi, 13thc Sufi poet and mystic

My 12-week journey with The Path’s Meditation Teacher Training came to a close last Sunday. 12-weeks ago, on April 27th, I entered through a gateway that brought me into a big new beautiful world of teachings, timeless wisdom and practical applications. On reflection, I’m in awe of the work and the dedication that was put into it by myself, my inspirational teachers (Dina Kaplan and Manching Tom), and all of my classmates. 

We logged daily 25-minute meditations, showed up for weekly zoom calls, put in hours of homework, and surrendered our egos to practice guiding each other whether or not we felt ‘ready’.

We read buddhist philosophy, watched educational videos on the neuroscience of meditation and its effects on the brain, and committed (or tried to) to living according to buddhist vows (I’ll think twice before I ever reach for a fly-swatter again! ~ and: white lies are still, lies!)

We gained insight into the workings of our minds, and found those fleeting but blissful moments of joy in just sitting in mindful presence. Amazing accomplishments, all of it. 

When I signed up for this training, my primary motivation was to find the discipline to SIT. I longed to foster a meditation practice that I was proud of, one that I could say, with confidence, that I engaged in daily. I knew I needed it, and I knew of the innumerable benefits that came with a consistent practice. I had no *real* prior experience, and I knew my mind well enough to know it as a racehorse in need of some serious training. While I am disciplined person in general, the habit of slowing down and getting tuned in - on a regular basis - had somehow evaded me, and I wanted to change that. 

The sitting, I found, came more easily than I had anticipated. It was as if my mind and body were greeting me (“ah, here you are, at last; we have been waiting for you”). It wasn't easy, but it was WELCOMED. I looked forward to those 25-minutes like they were a hug: warm, comforting, and fully relaxing. I could not leave a sit and not feel loved and nourished in some way. 

The homework, the videos and all the readings opened my mind and gave me the framework to fit the wisdom into my daily life. I felt energized, awakened and challenged by all of it.

But, at the close of training, as we all gathered online for our final class — and I saw the zoom gallery of “tiles” all lit up with the faces of each one of us: student, teacher, guide, individual, future graduate — I suddenly realized that the biggest gift I had received from the 12-week experience wasn’t the discipline at all. It was the SANGHA. This community. This group of fellow seekers and supporters who had taken their steps along the Path with me. My podmates, who had acknowledged every check-in, who had sent texts of encouragement, and who helped keep things in perspective when I felt off. My teachers, who had led us with their unfaltering compassion, words of kindness, and warm guidance.

Sangha was what I was seeking afterall. 

That sacred space, shared with others, that promoted connection, support, friendship and FUN was the destination all along. 

What you seek, is seeking you.