Brief members bios - please contribute!

Introduce yourself to others at Dharma Wheel.
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Caoimhghín
Posts: 3419
Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2016 11:35 pm
Location: Whitby, Ontario

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Caoimhghín »

Jeff H wrote:Thanks for posting, Coëmgenu. I always find it interesting to read others' stories. Do you mind if I ask how you pronounce your names?

BTW, I have no musical sophistication, but I very much enjoyed listening to your Heart Sutra song.
Kəiṽʲʝiːnʲ, but that is an archaic pronunciation, since that spelling, Caoimhghin, is itself an archaic spelling.

"Kee-veen" with the stress on the last syllable is a suitable modern pronunciation that most Irish people will be familiar with. Honestly most people call me Kevin. Coemgenus is the Latin form of Kevin.
Then, the monks uttered this gāthā:

These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?

The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
Jeff H
Posts: 1020
Joined: Mon Sep 01, 2014 8:56 pm
Location: Vermont, USA

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Jeff H »

Coëmgenu wrote:
Jeff H wrote:Thanks for posting, Coëmgenu. I always find it interesting to read others' stories. Do you mind if I ask how you pronounce your names?

BTW, I have no musical sophistication, but I very much enjoyed listening to your Heart Sutra song.
Kəiṽʲʝiːnʲ, but that is an archaic pronunciation, since that spelling, Caoimhghin, is itself an archaic spelling.

"Kee-veen" with the stress on the last syllable is a suitable modern pronunciation that most Irish people will be familiar with. Honestly most people call me Kevin. Coemgenus is the Latin form of Kevin.
Thanks. I certainly could never have worked it out myself!
Where now is my mind engaged? - Shantideva
jet.urgyen
Posts: 2746
Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2017 12:29 am

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by jet.urgyen »

Hello all, im javier

about 16 my mother showed me a book of Osho, and i learned a lot about universal love and understood a bit my sufferings at that time; i was very rebell before that, very against authority, i was disrespectfull, etc.. so this teachings helped me a lot.

that year -2002 i believe- i attended a hata yoga course, there started to communicate whit the instructor -who was a dzogchen practitioner- and introduced me slowly slowly to dzogchen community. so i receibed direct introduction and started to practice atiyoga at 16 -today i'm near 30 years old- and met ChNN at 17 during a public speach and a retreat here in Chile -south america-. Later -after finish school- i traveled to tashigar-south and attended a retreat from christmass to new year. since then i pracice dzogchen.

around 2008 i became a serious boddhiccitta practitioner. sometimes when i feel it's time i read sutras on this matter, it' is very deligthful.

in 2016 i attended for one day at a retreat on shitro with Younge Kachab Rimpoche -a rimé lama-, for some reason no shitro teaching was given but many explanations on the different paths, then innitiations to buddhism religion was given and in a unexpected manner i decided to take refuge in the three jewells and became buddhist with the name Ogyen Trinley -it's a funny story to me-.

currently i'm finishing studies of industrial engineering -at the thesis stage- and practicing guruyoga as usual, and shitrot a lot, and yantra yoga also.

thankfully my life is very bussy between atiyoga and boddhiccitta practice and research. this year -2017- i found DW. i'm not very schoolar-approach-like to the teachings, i prefer to experiment and do investigation -not citation- so maybe is annoying to read my posts -which almost all came from this-.

tashi deleks
true dharma is inexpressible.

The bodhisattva nourishes from bodhicitta, through whatever method the Buddha has given him. Oh joy.
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Ayu
Global Moderator
Posts: 13244
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2012 8:25 am
Location: Europe

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Ayu »

javier.espinoza.t wrote:Hello all, im javier

about 16 my mother showed me a book of Osho, and i learned a lot about universal love and understood a bit my sufferings at that time; i was very rebell before that, very against authority, i was disrespectfull, etc.. so this teachings helped me a lot.

that year -2002 i believe- i attended a hata yoga course, there started to communicate whit the instructor -who was a dzogchen practitioner- and introduced me slowly slowly to dzogchen community. so i receibed direct introduction and started to practice atiyoga at 16 -today i'm near 30 years old- and met ChNN at 17 during a public speach and a retreat here in Chile -south america-. Later -after finish school- i traveled to tashigar-south and attended a retreat from christmass to new year. since then i pracice dzogchen.

around 2008 i became a serious boddhiccitta practitioner. sometimes when i feel it's time i read sutras on this matter, it' is very deligthful.

in 2016 i attended for one day at a retreat on shitro with Younge Kachab Rimpoche -a rimé lama-, for some reason no shitro teaching was given but many explanations on the different paths, then innitiations to buddhism religion was given and in a unexpected manner i decided to take refuge in the three jewells and became buddhist with the name Ogyen Trinley -it's a funny story to me-.

currently i'm finishing studies of industrial engineering -at the thesis stage- and practicing guruyoga as usual, and shitrot a lot, and yantra yoga also.

thankfully my life is very bussy between atiyoga and boddhiccitta practice and research. this year -2017- i found DW. i'm not very schoolar-approach-like to the teachings, i prefer to experiment and do investigation -not citation- so maybe is annoying to read my posts -which almost all came from this-.

tashi deleks
Thanks for this nice introduction. I never read anything from you that annoyed me. :smile:
jet.urgyen
Posts: 2746
Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2017 12:29 am

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by jet.urgyen »

Ayu wrote:
javier.espinoza.t wrote:Hello all, im javier

about 16 my mother showed me a book of Osho, and i learned a lot about universal love and understood a bit my sufferings at that time; i was very rebell before that, very against authority, i was disrespectfull, etc.. so this teachings helped me a lot.

that year -2002 i believe- i attended a hata yoga course, there started to communicate whit the instructor -who was a dzogchen practitioner- and introduced me slowly slowly to dzogchen community. so i receibed direct introduction and started to practice atiyoga at 16 -today i'm near 30 years old- and met ChNN at 17 during a public speach and a retreat here in Chile -south america-. Later -after finish school- i traveled to tashigar-south and attended a retreat from christmass to new year. since then i pracice dzogchen.

around 2008 i became a serious boddhiccitta practitioner. sometimes when i feel it's time i read sutras on this matter, it' is very deligthful.

in 2016 i attended for one day at a retreat on shitro with Younge Kachab Rimpoche -a rimé lama-, for some reason no shitro teaching was given but many explanations on the different paths, then innitiations to buddhism religion was given and in a unexpected manner i decided to take refuge in the three jewells and became buddhist with the name Ogyen Trinley -it's a funny story to me-.

currently i'm finishing studies of industrial engineering -at the thesis stage- and practicing guruyoga as usual, and shitrot a lot, and yantra yoga also.

thankfully my life is very bussy between atiyoga and boddhiccitta practice and research. this year -2017- i found DW. i'm not very schoolar-approach-like to the teachings, i prefer to experiment and do investigation -not citation- so maybe is annoying to read my posts -which almost all came from this-.

tashi deleks
Thanks for this nice introduction. I never read anything from you that annoyed me. :smile:
thank you :smile: . by the way, i'm very happy that i have found this site, it helps a lot on developing diligence and brings a sense of community, even with the argues haha
true dharma is inexpressible.

The bodhisattva nourishes from bodhicitta, through whatever method the Buddha has given him. Oh joy.
Penor
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2017 11:29 pm

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Penor »

My name is Penor, I am a student of Chogyal Namkhai Norbu and Ngakpa Karma Lhundup. I studied sutra at Chenrezig Institute and briefly took rabjung vows there.

I met Chogyal Namkhai Norbu around 2002 and Ngakpa Karma Lhundup shortly after. Since that time until the present I continue to receive teachings from both masters.

I have completed the Dudjom tersa ngondro and have been authorised to teach dzogchen by Ngakpa Karma Lhundup.

Thanks
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Wayfarer
Former staff member
Posts: 5150
Joined: Sun May 27, 2012 8:31 am
Location: AU

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Wayfarer »

Welcome Penor, very glad to see you have joined here, looking forward to your contributions.

:namaste:
'Only practice with no gaining idea' ~ Suzuki Roshi
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Invokingvajras
Posts: 84
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2017 5:11 am
Location: Portland, OR
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Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Invokingvajras »

Hello! I'm 27, recently moved to Portland, OR from Pennsylvania, where I attended school at Penn State and graduated in 2013 with a dual B.A. in Religious Studies and Japanese. I currently consider myself an eclectic Pagan-Buddhist.

My studies started around 2004, when my Japanese teacher introduced me to Pure Land and Zen Buddhist traditions. I have been an artist as far back as I can remember, and as a child was inspired by popular media such as music, animation and video games. After formally studying the culture, I came to notice how much Japanese culture was lost among American audiences, especially regarding religion. In 2007, I had a dream about Amitabha shortly after attending a Jōdo Shinshū temple and picking up taiko drumming, which inspired me to take up a more serious and eclectic study of Buddhism.

My interests cover various subjects within the overlap of Buddhist and Western pagan/occult traditions, including meditation, cosmology, mythology, and gender. After my latest Upavasatha observance, I began to consider the notion of gender as it relates to furthering oneself on the path. I've been studying Japanese language and culture since 2004, which has served as a catalyst for my interest in becoming more involved with the POC community. This in turn has provided me with the opportunity to learn and grow within the tradition. You really begin to notice the tropes in Buddhist literature and how they relate to our own experiences interacting with fellow humans. I studied abroad at Nanzan University in Nagoya, Japan in 2010 and Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Monastery in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in the summer of 2015.

I have had a few very intense experiences in my 10 years of practicing meditation, which primarily includes mindfulness of breathing. In 2010, I experienced a vision that was reminiscent of a figure that I later associated with Vajrapani,, a Buddhist deity who was synthesized with Herakles among the Greeks in the area that is now Pakistan and Afghanistan. I didn't know at the time of the experience, but discovered several depictions of this deity that were eerily reminiscent of what I saw in the vision. This historical period, as well as my involvement with the Pagan community, inspired me in 2012 to adopt Paganism as a valid worldview within my practice. I've recently found inspiration in Alexander Duncan's writings in light of these ideas. It's part of my intuition that the widespread nature of folklore and mythology can play a vital role in aiding communication across cultures and potentially building a more cohesive, "global" community.

That being said, I'm mostly a solitary practitioner as I've struggled to find a community that fits my particular needs within my own practice.. And I'm absolutely comfortable wandering alone, "like a rhinoceros," but figured I'd try becoming more involved with the online sangha where my skills may prove useful. It's nice to be acquainted with everyone and I look forward to studying more Dharma with y'all!

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Last edited by Grigoris on Tue Mar 06, 2018 8:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Edited as per member's request
Admin_PC
Former staff member
Posts: 4860
Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2012 11:17 pm

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Admin_PC »

Let me be the first to welcome you to DharmaWheel Invokingvajras.
ようこそ!
:anjali:
A Ah Sha Sa Ma Ha
Posts: 1494
Joined: Sat Jan 30, 2010 2:01 am

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by A Ah Sha Sa Ma Ha »

:namaste:
:heart:
:heart:
:heart:
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Invokingvajras
Posts: 84
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2017 5:11 am
Location: Portland, OR
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Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Invokingvajras »

Thank you for the warm welcome!
おおきに!どうぞよろしくお願いします :anjali:
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Carlos (Chö Dorje)
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2017 11:06 pm
Location: Getafe (Madrid, Spain)
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Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Carlos (Chö Dorje) »

Hi everybody, nice to join this community.

Well, my name is Carlos, I'm 41 and I was born and raised in a small town down in southern Spain, near Gibraltar, but I moved to the Madrid area in 2006.

I considered myself as a buddhist a couple of years before already. As a matter of fact, it seems a bunch of right karmas happened to ripen right then and there where in mid-2005 I managed to take refuge with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, receive my first empowerment from him, engage in the boddhisatva vows, and receive the blessings of the Buddha's relics at the Maitreya Project tour, all on the same day!

So, Lama Zopa Rinpoche is my root guru. My main teachers are Geshe Tsering Palden along with his nephew Geshe Ngawang Losel (Thubten Dhargye Ling center, Madrid) and Geshe Thubten Chöden (FPMT's Nagarjuna center, Madrid). I've been so fortunate to receive teachings, empowerments and transmissions from people like His Holiness' female oracle Rangjung Neljorma Khandro-la (some lamas believe she's Yeshe Tsogyal, some say Vajrayogini, some say Tara...), Geshe Soepa, Dagri Rinpoche, Robina Courtin, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, His Holiness the Sakya Trizin, several touring lamas especially from Ganden monastery... Several months ago I was honored to serve as a Spanish translator for Geshe Thubten Tsundue and Lama Ahbay Rinpoche, and just last week I spent several days with Geshe Lobsang Dakpa, from Namgyal Monastery in Dharamsala.

Back in 2005 I founded www.sanghavirtual.wordpress.com, one of the most well known Tibetan buddhism websites in Spain. In 2007 I had one of the most incredible experiences in my life, when I spent a whole week in Nalanda Monastery (France).

Since October 2015 I run a couple of monthly three-hour classes on meditation basics and Tibetan buddhism-inspired advice for daily life, and Geshe Dakpa was so excited to know, encouraging me to keep it going. Of course this is incredibly inspiring for me, not only because Geshela is a wonderful lama and one of my tantric gurus: He's one of the main teachers, debate expert and examiner at Namgyal.

In my years as a practicioner I've had two or three periods of seriously considering ordination, but... seems those karmas ain't ready yet for some reason! You know, obstacles happen! Next time maybe!

All the best.

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Last edited by Carlos (Chö Dorje) on Wed Feb 22, 2017 12:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
Admin_PC
Former staff member
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Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Admin_PC »

Welcome to DharmaWheel Carlos!
:anjali:
Derek
Posts: 51
Joined: Mon Aug 26, 2013 4:51 pm

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Derek »

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Old Stan
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Jul 05, 2017 3:34 pm

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Post by Old Stan »

Hi, I am a guy from Eastern Europe, I live in Poland now but I had been living for 4 years in Vietnam, a little in Thailand as well. I taught English at local schools and during my free time started to practice yoga and got interested in Buddist perception of the world. I lived with monks on a mountain in Vietnam for 1 month and studied life. I keep teaching English at school in my home country and am still interested in Buddism. Hi ! :smile:
Old tyme hockey
Posts: 26
Joined: Wed Aug 30, 2017 9:50 am

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Old tyme hockey »

Hi, Mattias from Sweden, got into buddhism about 3 years ago, i started out doing zazen at home alone, and it worked out well in the begining, but it is hard to practice alone, so i found the pure land teachings which reasonated well with my life situation. Especially jodoshin was my cup of Tea , i am truly grateful to have found this dharmagate.
Old tyme hockey
Posts: 26
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Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Old tyme hockey »

Old tyme hockey wrote:Hi, Mattias from Sweden, got into buddhism about 3 years ago, i started out doing zazen at home alone, and it worked out well in the begining, but it is hard to practice alone, so i found the pure land teachings which reasonated well with my life situation. Especially jodoshin was my cup of Tea , i am truly grateful to have found this dharmagate.
Im also lost when it comes to computers, so i pressed send before i was done :) . But at least that was some info about me.
movingmeditation
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Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2018 8:00 pm
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Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by movingmeditation »

Hi!! I have been a Buddhist for 27 years and a Moving Meditation Master Teacher for 24 years. I developed my own teaching technique over years of study and teaching. I'm a mum, wifey, nature walker, world traveler, raptor, shark and alligator fan. I'm a published writer, a level 3 certified Qigong instructor and Reiki Master. I was in the entertainment industry professionally from the age of 14 until my retirement three years ago. That was the reason I began to study Buddhism and meditation - to help me cope with a pressure cooker of a career. Former stunt actor, professional water skier, circus artist, actor, dancer, singer, choreographer, casting director, stage director, stunt coach, theater artistic director and television producer. (Whew, it has been a great ride.) Presently I teach my moving meditation technique in a juvenile justice facility and a grade school for predominately disenfranchised youth. Glad to be here. THANK YOU!!
Padmavati
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2018 8:30 pm

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Padmavati »

Really excited to introduce myself to this community.

My name is Ashley, I am 26 years old and I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I first started my meditation practice when I was 18 years old and at the time identified as an atheist. During my first (and only) year at the University of Calgary, I took an Eastern religion course where I first started formally learning about Buddhism. I learned and practiced independently for many years while attending the local Calgary Buddhist Meditation sangha I found on meetup.com. Through them I attended my first meditation retreat over this May long weekend, where I participated in the taking refuge & Boddhisattva ceremonies.

I work as a health care aide through a private homecare company and am currently attending Bow Valley College for my licensed practical nursing diploma. I just finished my first set of clinicals. :) My heritage is a quarter Chinese through my paternal grandfather, though most people say I don't look it. I was born in Richmond Hill, Ontario and my family moved to Calgary when I was 8. I'm thinking of moving to a more liberal city, somewhere in BC like Kelowna or Victoria, once I have my diploma.

I'm single/don't have kids. Have 1 younger sister. My parents live nearby in Chestermere and help me with school. I was homeschooled from grade 1 - grade 12 and am pretty introverted as a result, when I'm not at school or studying I'm at the gym, listening to music, writing/organizing stuff in my bullet journal. I enjoy doodling and taking photos. I cook a little bit. I love learning new things.

The OCEAN test places me high in openness, low in conscientiousness, ambiverted, moderately low in agreeableness and moderately high in neuroticism. My Myer-Briggs type is ENFP. I'm an Aquarius/Monkey on the Chinese zodiac.

Here's my obligate selfie with me wearing my Chinese endless knot jade pendant :)

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Emmet
Posts: 55
Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2018 1:51 pm
Location: Clay County, NC

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Emmet »

I'm 59, happily married, a former firefighter/paramedic and social worker, and have been quite fortunate to live within 3 miles of a Zen Center where I practiced for many years, and a Plum Village sangha as well, in a large and very diverse urban area. The Zen Center was very much my home, although with the virtually exclusive focus on zazen, we tended to silently come, sit, and leave. While I developed some deep relationships with some folks, it tended to be a very individualistic thing. I very much liked the TNH sangha with their very strong focus on community and bodhisattvic practice; collectively "flowing as a river", all Buddhism; all the time.
When I was diagnosed terminally ill with a neurologic disorder, we moved to be closer to family. However, when I didn't die on cue, they re-classified me as merely chronic. We now live in the buckle of the Bible Belt in a very homogeneous rural Appalachian village of 311 people; "three hours from anywhere". It's 98% White, 97% American-born, with the highest weekly church attendance in the state (94%); but only Christian churches; there are no temples, mosques, or gurdwaras for miles. When Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston was shot up by a White supremacist, killing nine parishioners, a veritable thicket of Confederate flags sprouted overnight across the county, and fanciful odes to the Confederacy, and overtly racist screeds, are regularly published in our weekly paper. We don't exactly celebrate diversity here, and neighbors routinely carry sidearms into the coffee shop or hardware store. Having come from a very diverse multicultural society, It's a very curious place to practice.
As I said, the nearest brick-and-mortar sanghas are nearly 6 hour 'round trips in any direction, and I don't drive. Even if I did, I'd never really be a member of their communities in the true sense; able to attend only rarely, I'd always be a visitor; a stranger. I continue to sit zazen in the little zendo I've set up, listening to on-line Dharma talks, and practicing chado (Ryurei, with allowances for my tremor), shinrin yoku (heavily influenced by TNH's style of walking meditation) in the Nantahala National Forest, and Yang-style Tai Chi; all solitary. Hermitage isn't all it's cracked up to be; I'm going to practice Ango this fall with Treeleaf; an on-line Zen sangha.

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