I would like to remind you there are the Three Jewels in Buddhism of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. The Buddha and the Dharma are usually easy for people to respect and cherish. It is frequently the jewel of the Sangha that seems less important to some. I believe this is a great mistake and deprives us of tremendous benefit, if we choose to ignore the community of practitioners. If we think Buddhism is a solitary practice then I think we are missing many of the messages the Buddha tells us.