The Bay Area Open Sangha exists to allow people to practice and study the Buddhadharma, the teachings of the Buddha, without concern for sectarianism or the historical lines between traditions of Buddhism. This is not to say that these lines are ignored and traditions are mixed without reflection or regard to their conflicts. The Buddha taught many ways to practice the Dharma and his teachings have come down over two and half thousand years to this day. Many of the differences in doctrine and pr …