It helps to mix with people who think in the same way and have similar views of the world. This is particularly important for Western Buddhists who can often feel out of step with the rest of the society. Plus, mixing with other people who have an interest in Buddhism deepens our own understanding and helps answer any questions we may have. We need a ‘Sangha’, or community around us.

Buddhists don’t have a ‘sabbath’ or anything similar, there’s no need for the equivalent of going to mass on Sunday. Instead, Buddhist centres will generally have a range of different meetings and rituals at which everyone is welcome to attend, whether a practising Buddhist or not.

The exact nature of a meeting will depend on exactly who is attending. For example, there might be ‘meditation classes’ where there is no mention of Buddhism at all and the focus is on attitudes that can help us, coupled with one or two guided meditation sessions. Or it could be a whole day or weekend class on a particular topic. The one thing that doesn’t happen though, is preaching. There is no ‘sermon’. Instead, someone will give a talk and then host a discussion on it and there will usually also be a guided meditation where the host talks through a number of things to meditate on.

Attending such a class on a regular basis can help enormously in our daily lives, whether we are Buddhist or just seeking a bit of peace and happiness. In a busy life, taking two hours per week to talk about attitudes and then sitting quietly thinking about it can be the most restful thing we do. We can carry that feeling into our daily lives but it might only last so long, meaning that by the time we go to the next week’s class we are as frazzled as we were before. But the more we do it, the longer the rested and peaceful feeling will last for and the more likely we are to bring it into our daily lives. So no preaching, just a hand with living our lives.

Coupling a regular class with some personal rituals and ceremonies can ensure that we gradually develop helpful ways of thinking that can make our life more peaceful, happy and meaningful.