Finding a teacher

General discussion, particularly exploring the Dharma in the modern world.
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DavidDanska
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Joined: Thu May 08, 2014 6:28 pm

Finding a teacher

Post by DavidDanska »

Hello all :hi:

I am a 17 year old student studying in Denmark. I have been studying Buddhism for around 2 years and am interested to further my studies, but the problem is I don't know where to find a teacher. I am planning on studying for 1 to 2 years under a teacher and then returning to finish university and perhaps return back to receive further teachings. Anywhere in the world is fine as long as long as i can learn much from their teaching.
philji
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Re: Finding a teacher

Post by philji »

Welcome. In my opinion you have one of the best Dharma centres in the world in Denmark.
Gomde Denmark...check out their website, lots of great courses and great teachers.
emaho
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Re: Finding a teacher

Post by emaho »

Hi David,

welcome. Is there a specific direction of Buddhism you feel attracted to? Like Zen, Tibetan, Theravada?
"I struggled with some demons, They were middle class and tame..." L. Cohen
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Seishin
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Re: Finding a teacher

Post by Seishin »

You can also try the Danish Tendai Centre http://tendai.eu/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; http://tendai.dk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Gassho,
Seishin
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conebeckham
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Location: Bay Area, CA, USA

Re: Finding a teacher

Post by conebeckham »

I think it's better to think of finding a tradition, first, and then a teacher, in general. But that's just a suggestion.
དམ་པའི་དོན་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ཆེ་བ་དང་།
རྟོག་གེའི་ཡུལ་མིན་བླ་མའི་བྱིན་རླབས་དང་།
སྐལ་ལྡན་ལས་འཕྲོ་ཅན་གྱིས་རྟོགས་པ་སྟེ།
དེ་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ལ་ནི་ལོ་རྟོག་སེལ།།


"Absolute Truth is not an object of analytical discourse or great discriminating wisdom,
It is realized through the blessing grace of the Guru and fortunate Karmic potential.
Like this, mistaken ideas of discriminating wisdom are clarified."
- (Kyabje Bokar Rinpoche, from his summary of "The Ocean of Definitive Meaning")
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Luke
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Location: Europe

Re: Finding a teacher

Post by Luke »

If you are interested in Tibetan Buddhism, Samye Ling monastery in the UK, seems quite amazing. I believe that they have courses and retreats of many different lengths there which you can choose from.

http://www.samyeling.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Good luck with your search for a teacher! :namaste:
DavidDanska
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Joined: Thu May 08, 2014 6:28 pm

Re: Finding a teacher

Post by DavidDanska »

Hello all thanks for all of the recommendations :) If it is helpful I would like to say that I have been studying zen. I have not been reading the other branches and this always worries me that I am missing out on something very important. Is there a good website or person who can give me a brief difference between the main branches
Punya
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Re: Finding a teacher

Post by Punya »

There is an overview here http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/schools.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; which might give you a starting point.

If you're not sure that Zen is the path for you then just keep exploring (reading, visiting different centres etc) the different traditions until you find something that resonates.
We abide nowhere. We possess nothing.
~Chatral Rinpoche
dude
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Re: Finding a teacher

Post by dude »

Study broadly, starting with what you know, which for now is Zen.
Ask questions of anyone willing to teach you, and if the answers don't satisfy you, ask more questions or ask somebody else. Think critically about everything.
If you do this, your path and your teacher will appear.
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Wayfarer
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Re: Finding a teacher

Post by Wayfarer »

https://buddhistisksamfund.dk/en/conten ... ur-teacher" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Zen Teacher in Denmark.
'Only practice with no gaining idea' ~ Suzuki Roshi
Andrew108
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Re: Finding a teacher

Post by Andrew108 »

Gomde center in Denmark has an interesting course coming up. You might want to check it out. http://www.gomde.dk/program/56" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The Blessed One said:

"What is the All? Simply the eye & forms, ear & sounds, nose & aromas, tongue & flavors, body & tactile sensations, intellect & ideas. This, monks, is called the All. Anyone who would say, 'Repudiating this All, I will describe another,' if questioned on what exactly might be the grounds for his statement, would be unable to explain, and furthermore, would be put to grief. Why? Because it lies beyond range." Sabba Sutta.
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