By: Bennett Mertz
Background
The Red Rose Sangha is a Soto Zen Buddhist community located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It was started in 1993 by Rick Kent as an informal meditation group. Rick Kent is a professor at Franklin and Marshall College, so the group initially catered to a more secular Western audience with a focus primarily on meditation and mindfulness. As the group grew it began to include more community members and with them the focus of the group expanded to include Buddhist dharma and philosophy. Due to this expansion, in 1998 the group changed meeting location to the local Unitarian Universalist Church and began to do more in depth teaching of Japanese Zen Buddhism. Shortly after this transition, Unitarian ministers Phil and Paula Gable started hosting a weekly Mindful Meal and a monthly book discussion called the Dharma Discussion. These recurring events are described by members as a great way for the Red Rose Sangha to grow stronger as a community, and to supplement their learning beyond weekly Sunday sittings. The group evolved further in 2000 when the informal group formally declared itself the Red Rose Sangha. Shortly thereafter the group decided to affiliate with the Zen Peacemakers Society. The Red Rose Sangha underwent another change in 2004 due to increased interest which led to new programs and practices. This included the beginning of semimonthly all-day sittings, an annual Day of Silence, and increased participation with other Western Buddhist communities and traditions.
Affiliations and Leaders
As a group following the Zen Peacemaker school of Buddhism, within the White Plum Asanga lineage, the Red Rose Sangha affiliates with like-minded communities such as the Zen Community of Baltimore/Clare Sangha (ZCB). In 2009 three Red Rose Sangha members took precepts at the Zen Community of Baltimore/Clare Sangha, starting a relationship which the two places of worship have continued to this day. Red Rose Sangha members are encouraged to take a monthly Zazenkai at ZCB, and go annually for sesshin. Sesshin involves an intense period of meditation, where almost all of one’s time is spent in solitary meditation. The Red Rose Sangha also has ties to the Mt. Equity Zendo, which frequently sends teachers to aid in training members. Additionally, they have ties to the Zen Center of Los Angeles through Lancaster native Rev. John Plum-Hermit Swanger. He comes and teaches every few years, and encourages people to come to Los Angeles for in depth study. Finally, the Red Rose Sangha has ties to Sensei Todd Fry, of the Urasenke School of Tea. He comes periodically to teach the art of tea and its role within Buddhist culture.
These relationships form the foundation of the leadership and teachers of the Red Rose Sangha. One such teacher is Eric Daishin McCabe. He is a Buddhist monk who was ordained in 2004 and is an International Teacher for the Soto Zen School of Japan. He also ties the Sangha to the Mount Equity Zendo, where he trained for 15 years. It is this connection which has created a relationship where Red Rose Sangha members are encouraged to go and study at this strong local school. Additionally, Daishin ties the Sangha directly to Thich Nhat Hanh, whom he trained under in France. Daishin also helps run weekly yoga practice sessions using his training as a certified Hatha Yoga teacher.
Another important Sangha leader is Sensei Barbara Craig. She studied under Roshi Janet Jinne Richardson, who received Dharma transmission from Roshi Robert Jinsen Kennedy and inka from Zen Master Glassman. Sensei Barbara Craig helped start a Zen group in Wilkes-Barre called the Flowing River Sangha, with which the Red Rose Sangha keeps close ties. Additionally, she was an early member and is a strong tie to the Zen Community of Baltimore/Clare Sangha. She also is heavily involved in prison ministry and social outreach to marginalized communities, leading many efforts that the Sangha undertakes to help the community. This further supports the Sangha’s mission to improve the lives of others in the surrounding community.
Additionally, Senseis Bruce Blackman and Ed Sengetsu Sullivan are teachers at both the Red Rose Sangha and the Zen Community of Baltimore/Clare Sangha. They provide further ties to the outside Buddhist community as well as a wealth of knowledge concerning Zen Buddhist thought. Sensei Ed Sengetsu Sullivan in particular is highly motivated to reach out to people of other religions and worldviews. As a professor at Lebanon Valley College, he reaches out to student groups and professors of all faiths to come and meditate on loving-kindness (metta) and practice seated concentration meditation (zazen). He helps organize and lead meditation sessions for non-Buddhists at a local Presbyterian church. He sees this as an important part of community outreach and support, since meditation has the capacity to be therapeutic and enlightening to people of all backgrounds.
Despite the leaders and teachers of the Red Rose Sangha having these myriad connections to other Western Buddhist centers, the Red Rose Sangha is a small group of around 15-30 active members. Additionally, it is no more ethnically diverse than the surrounding area. Furthermore, the community has no clear ties to Asian centers of Buddhism. This lack of connection likely stems from the group’s openness to practices from across many traditions and schools of Buddhism. While they are affiliated with the Zen Peacemaker school and are a part of the White Plum Asanga lineage, much of their practice and philosophy incorporates teachings from across Buddhist groups.
Philosophy and Teachings
Their school of Buddhism, the Zen Peacemakers, was founded by Bernie Glassman Roshi and Sandra Jishu Holmes in 1996. This movement was meant to expand Zen Buddhism into social spaces to pursue peace work. They take the perspective that “All life [is] a boundless meditation hall”. This means one must take their Buddhism and apply it to life outside of the place of worship. The Red Rose Sangha practices this by espousing mindfulness in daily life. By practicing the art of tea ceremony, they are taught to focus on both the inner spiritual aspects of life and the outward emptiness of the world around. Tea ceremony allows one time for quiet and focused practice of an otherwise mundane experience. Their website quotes D.T. Suzuki, a foundational Zen Buddhist in the West, as saying “Who would deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space?”. It this attitude which encapsulates Eastern as well as the mainstream Western conception of mindfulness to which this Sangha subscribes; one can find insight into the true nature of reality and transcend the five aggregates through meditative focus throughout one’s life.
As mentioned, the Sangha goes further to act out the tenets of the Zen Peacemaker school of Buddhism by taking their moral beliefs to the community. Their events schedule is firmly rooted in community and charitable outreach. As part of a town with an above average homeless population, the Sangha intentionally spends considerable time and effort volunteering at food kitchens and homeless shelters. Additionally, the Sangha leads weekly twelve-step addiction recovery classes using mindfulness and meditation and offers free classes in meditation to community members in order to improve mental health. These practices are well in line with the Zen Peacemakers’ tradition of service to the community.
Despite these strong attachments to a specific school of Buddhist thought, the Red Rose Sangha incorporates other aspects of Buddhism not specifically limited to the Soto Zen tradition. When one joins the Sangha, they are given many introductory reading materials. These readings focus heavily on the teaching of the Buddha, such as the Four Noble Truths. Additionally, the Red Rose Sangha teaches Vipassana meditation which is a form of meditation found in many other traditions as well. Thus, we see that while the Sangha is a Western form of Zen Buddhism, they still share many practices and teachings with other forms of Buddhism such as Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism. Additionally, the Red Rose Sangha also teaches practices from the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism. Although koans are not frequently used in this organization they are discussed and taught; some members have gone to Burning House Zendo in Maryland, where koans are used as part of their Rinzai Zen teaching. While this relationship appears not to be as strong as it once was, it is interesting to see how various Buddhist traditions and teachings are accepted and practiced by the Red Rose Sangha.
This acceptance of diverse teachings, faiths, and backgrounds emphasizes the unique perspective the Red Rose Sangha takes on Buddhism. To many of the members, their study isn’t religious, but practical. Many see Buddhism as a way to achieve a better life. While some do go to other Sanghas to pursue monastic and intensive study, most are lay-people who have found Buddhist practice to enhance their lives. Situated in rural Pennsylvania, this Sangha offers a strong, closely knit community of diverse thought and practice.
Works Cited
Red Rose Sangha. www.redrosesangha.org/index.html. Accessed 29 Nov. 2016.
Zen Community of Baltimore Clare. www.zcbclaresangha.org/groups.htm. Accessed 29 Nov. 2016.
Zen Peacemakers, Inc. zenpeacemakers.org/zen-peacemakers-sangha/affiliate-biosnorth-america-usa-pennsylvania/. Accessed 29 Nov. 2016.