The Oak Tree Sangha is a group of Buddhists and like-minded individuals in Fairfield County, Connecticut and Westchester County, New York dedicated to serving as a proactive force for peace, social and economic justice, and a sustainable environment.

Founded in March 2004, the Oak Tree Sangha is inspired and guided by the wisdom and compassion of the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh as well as contemporary nonviolent, progressive movements for social transformation.  As Thich Nhat Hanh¹ explains, "Peace is not simply the absence of violence; it is the cultivation of understanding, insight and compassion, combined with action."

The Oak Tree Sangha holds regular meetings to help develop skills for the effective promotion of peaceful change. As an organization, we recognize the importance of individual contemplative practice and mindfulness as the foundation for inner peace. We also recognize that sitting in meditation is itself the realization of Buddha nature, or enlightenment.  We seek to encourage and nurture awareness of dharma principles that show the way of peace; namely that all sentient beings are interconnected and interdependent. From such understanding, compassion for all beings naturally emerges along with the possibility of breaking the hold of a seemingly endless cycle of aggression, retribution and needless suffering.

---

¹Thich Nhat Hanh is a Zen master, scholar and peace activist whose concept of Engaged Buddhism (mindfulness plus social action) emerged from his experience during the Vietnam War, when he realized that "it is truly possible to live happily and free from hatred, even among people who hate us."