Brief members bios - please contribute!

Introduce yourself to others at Dharma Wheel.
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Wayfarer
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Post by Wayfarer »

Hi - welcome Placidus and Tony - glad to have you both on board.

:hi:
'Only practice with no gaining idea' ~ Suzuki Roshi
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tkp67
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Post by tkp67 »

I am 52 years old with a wife and two adult children. I started actively practicing Buddhism (independent of school with causal teaching) 10 years ago. I say actively because I feel as if my life prior was a prelude to the practice of Buddhism itself. My filial religion is Christianity and for me it vehicle for me to understand how to better serve humanity for the purpose of achieve latent full potential marked by synergy evoked through human harmonization.
I do not doubt on some level this was also an attempt to unravel strife that is part of my karma and thus my mind and that ultimately the enlightenment I sought and seek for the world was a reflection of the strife as I perceived it. To this end the practice has served me and it is reflected in those around me, especially my family.

Thanks to some very interesting, challenging and potent karma I had to reconcile many common cognitive challenges. Buddhism has been quite effective at facilitating escape from the attachment to such cognitive obstacles and while I realize this is a lifetimes long process, I feel more suited for the challenge with a practice such as this. Along with continuation of practice for the purpose of personal growth I am interested in repaying my debt to the Buddha(s) but understand that this desire in and of itself is subject to delusion. In light of this condition I attempt to deepen my practice on a personal level for the purpose of understanding how to best fulfill that debt. I have found myself in a position of maintaining encouragement for others and realize that I have a greater responsibility to the integrity of my practice by proxy.

Historic, traditional, scholarly and cultural aspects of Buddhism are areas where I have a great lack of knowledge so I do have vast territory to cover in this process which is ultimately what brought me here. The diversity of practice for me here is simple testimony (even when they seeming conflict through individual perceptions) of the true scope of Buddhism itself and am grateful for the resource. The active voices and practices behind them all teachers for me in this regard so thank you very much in advance.
Placidium
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Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Placidium »

I'm a thirty-four year old male from the UK. I developed an interest in Buddhism about a year or so ago. However I've long been acutely aware that sentient life involves suffering to varying degrees. Aside from Buddhism I'm interested in the natural word, particularly Lichens which is where the name parietina (on-walls) is derived from.

I can't make my mind up which school of Buddhist thought to align with so will concentrate on learning all I can about Buddhism as a whole. I'd be interested to find out which school most closely resembles pre-sectarian Buddhism?
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Kim O'Hara
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Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Kim O'Hara »

parietina wrote: Fri Dec 06, 2019 8:26 am I'm a thirty-four year old male from the UK. I developed an interest in Buddhism about a year or so ago. However I've long been acutely aware that sentient life involves suffering to varying degrees. Aside from Buddhism I'm interested in the natural word, particularly Lichens which is where the name parietina (on-walls) is derived from.
Welcome, parietina. :hi:
I can't make my mind up which school of Buddhist thought to align with so will concentrate on learning all I can about Buddhism as a whole. I'd be interested to find out which school most closely resembles pre-sectarian Buddhism?
At this point everyone will jump up and down and say, "mine!" :tongue:
(That 's human nature for you, of course.)
Since I'm talking to a life-sciences person, I'm going to suggest an evolutionary view: every single one of them evolved directly from what the Buddha taught to his students, just as every single species of ant evolved directly from their last common ancestor. (You thought I was going to say lichen instead of ant? No way. Lichens are ... different. :smile: )

:namaste:
Kim
Placidium
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Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Placidium »

Kim O'Hara wrote: Fri Dec 06, 2019 1:38 pm Welcome, parietina. :hi:
At this point everyone will jump up and down and say, "mine!" :tongue:
(That 's human nature for you, of course.)
Thank you. At this point I'm more drawn to the Great Vehicle of Mahayana that strives for the enlightenment of all sentient life.
Kim O'Hara wrote: Fri Dec 06, 2019 1:38 pm Since I'm talking to a life-sciences person, I'm going to suggest an evolutionary view: every single one of them evolved directly from what the Buddha taught to his students, just as every single species of ant evolved directly from their last common ancestor. (You thought I was going to say lichen instead of ant? No way. Lichens are ... different. :smile: )

:namaste:
Kim
A quite appropriate comparison, Buddhism is not static, a quite organic evolution has occurred, allowing for continual modification and variation on what is essentially a single and very elegant strand of genetic code. Perhaps Mahayana has mapped the Buddhist genome the most piercingly and with the most far reaching implications? As a Darwinian I find Buddhism does not contradict evolution by means of natural selection. It actually complements it quite nicely.
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Kim O'Hara
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Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Kim O'Hara »

:thumbsup:
parietina wrote: Fri Dec 06, 2019 5:59 pm ... Perhaps Mahayana has mapped the Buddhist genome the most piercingly and with the most far reaching implications? ...
Perhaps.
But "Mahayana" is very diverse, too. Most of us would agree that the primary division within it is between vajrayana and the rest; in my opinion, the primary division within "the rest" is between devotional schools (especially Pure Land) and the rest of the rest. :smile:

:namaste:
Kim
robsevering
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Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by robsevering »

Hey there

Rob here. I live in the west, Im 30. Spent the majority of the last ten years homeless and utterly alone, although there are interesting moments and people I run into that have made good conversation and life feel a little less bleak.

I also spent most of that time drinking.. and have resolved to spend a little time sober right now to reflect and hopefully start gaining a little weight. 30 days cold, atm, and I’m shooting for three months rn, maybe longer. Guess I’ll see.

Buddhism and meditation means a lot to me and has helped keep me sane over the years.. although I’ve never described myself as Buddhist openly nor have I studied much on the subject at all enough to call myself as much. It’s more simply that I am physically unfit and am constantly in need of rest/quiet introspection.. so gradually.. naturally gravitated toward eastern philosophies over time, in hopes of improving and strengthening my body.

Coming from where I am I won’t have very much to offer in the way of input or info, since I really don’t know about any of this stuff. But will likely have plenty of easily answered questions 😅

Saludos

Rob
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Kim O'Hara
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Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Kim O'Hara »

Welcome, Rob :hi:
robsevering wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2019 10:42 pm ...Buddhism and meditation means a lot to me and has helped keep me sane over the years.. although I’ve never described myself as Buddhist openly nor have I studied much on the subject at all enough to call myself as much. It’s more simply that I am physically unfit and am constantly in need of rest/quiet introspection.. so gradually.. naturally gravitated toward eastern philosophies over time, in hopes of improving and strengthening my body.
...
I've learned a lot from Buddhism but it didn't include much that strengthened my body. For that, I've practised Tai Chi, Qi Gong and (longest and currently) yoga. All are perfectly compatible (at my level at least) with the dharma, and you may find similar benefits.

:namaste:
Kim
robsevering
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Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by robsevering »

Thanks! :hi:

I meant yoga, really. Nuts and bolts here.. but thanks for clarifying that. Those that you mentioned are what I was thinking specifically, and maybe best if I didn’t substitute ‘Buddhism’ there.

Getting fit and healthy as possible for me has been my number one priority for years. The goal that keeps me moving forward.

:namaste: :)
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nowmindful
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Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by nowmindful »

Hello!

Paul Yip here, 40 years old Chinese heredity retiree from Singapore, a newbie. Want to know how people discuss about Buddhism in web forum, and also to exchange knowledge and experience. Hope to make some new friends too. Please pardon me if you don't catch my words as English is not my mother tongue.

My belief system is somehow like Osho, a little believe in every religion and mostly in Zen/Chan Mahayana Buddhism. In my whole life, I am mostly a flexitarian for many different reasons. These recent years, i am one due to finding some meat are too gruesome and disgusting to consume. I do Vipassana and Samadhi meditation sometimes, and am trying to do more frequently. I try to maintain right mindfulness especially during walking but many times forget.

I have an unblessed Thai Buddhist amulet pendant, Somdej, that I wear often for aesthetic decoration purpose. It was not blessed as I don't believe any supernatural power it can protect me. If any priest can bless it, he is more formidable than Lord Buddha, I think.

I very seldom chant and make offerings and long time never bow to any Buddha statue. But my room got four pictures of Buddha showing out and my mobile phone's wallpaper is head of Buddha statue picture. I can remember and sing The Heart Sutra in Mandarin and Cantonese.

Lastly, I believe that best attribute a person has is luck. Before that I thought wisdom is the most important, but it is not. Wisdom can't solve all the things, but good luck can easily bring happiness and good fortune even if one is stupid. So enough and see you guys around!
Niina
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Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Niina »

Hi all

I´m +40 years old sculptor, living in Europe. Practising yoga and martial arts. I´ve been interested about karma and reincarnation since I was a kid, and in this area the place to study those was Theosophical Society. Theosophy kind of includes all, but more I study Buddhism or Yoga Philosophy, more I´m aware about the theosophical viewpoint to things. At his point I´m more interested about the original sources than theosophist perceptions.

Now I´m back to school, studying art history and cultural history. My main interests in those are (eastern) spiritual art and symbols.
I´ve been reading about Buddhism for years, and I guess I could be Buddhist, but I don´t know what would be right path for me (unfortunately here isn´t too many possibilities). Even I´m interested about visual arts and ritual objects etc, I like to keep my own practise as simple and ascetic as possible. I guess that is one reason why do I study those things; I´d like to understand what all they can give to some. And studying Buddhist art really helps me to see and understand better the differences between Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana.
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Dan74
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Post by Dan74 »

Welcome, Niina!

There are some knowledgeable and experienced people here and also lots of pointless and rancorous debates. Hope you are good at sorting the wheat from the chaff!
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jake5521
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Post by jake5521 »

Hello my name is Jake and I have been studying Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism for 4 years now and I have been enjoying every moment of it. Vajrayana Buddhism is special because they say in one lifetime you can perfect all the stages and paths and become a perfectly enlightened Buddha. I have been studying in Las Vegas, Nevada with an authentic teacher named Lama Jigme Namgyal Rinpoche who has spent his life in solitary retreats and has done so much practice and meditation. I will continue this path and hope that other people can find something in their lives that benefits them and others. I hope that people all over the world find happiness and peace.
zen_mind
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Post by zen_mind »

Hello! :namaste:

It is a pleasure to greet you. My name is Sunny, I'm 36 yo and live in the quiet countryside of UK, Lincolnshire.
I've moved to the UK from South Korea when I was in my teens and grew up here.

The current situation with the isolation lockdown means that I've been able to dedicate more time and unearth the previous practice of sitting meditation and chanting. I don't consider myself a follower of any particular sect of Buddhism to be honest, though I mainly try to adhere to the no alcohol with meat free diet and meditating with the book of teaching called 'Vajra Mind Sastra' handed down by Geum Ta Hwa Sang.

I'm at a stage where my life has taken a turn where I'm presented with an opportunity of learning about the better part of myself, so that I can find compassion for all the rest that make me feel inadequate or otherwise and consider them to be part of Buddha nature also. I'd say I'm fairly open minded in a sense that I've had a period of wondering in the past coming to contact with Soto Zen, Christianity and even Vaishnavism to participated in its practice in US, UK, India and Korea. I was able to expand my perspective in that regards and have come to appreciate the aspect of sitting meditation, which is concise and direct in observing the mind, and realized also the delights of finding the common grounds that Buddhism shares with any other religion. They say there are 84,000 gates to enter the teachings of the Buddha Dharma and I tend to think that all of us are trying to do just that, to save lives instead of wondering in the existence of the impermanence of Samsara.

Having spent my childhood in Korea meant that I was able to absorb the culture that is steeped in Buddhism, though Korean society may be predominantly Christian. And because the view had never been contested, it wasn't until later down the years when I really looked into why the Buddhist culture (at least what I had been shown) is the way it is and what it means to me to access the Buddha Dharma with a fresh perspective.

For any beginner, sitting meditation is a bit like learning to operate a nuclear reactor from scratch in my opinion. There are so many aspects of it that one could potentially dedicate lives to hone to a perfection, the nature of mind being infinite and as the forefathers in search of Truth has done in the past. I find it fascinating how it opens up possibilities and even inspirations as a free diver talks about his experience of diving without the support of a breathing apparatus to the depths exceeding 100 meters into the sea bottom. His experience is not so far off from the state of meditation when we are surrounded by the cool darkness as the mind settles and come to face with the alone-ness. On the surface the world seems to revolve around ideologies when in fact it is the one and the same current of the sea from which thoughts like bubbles arise and disappear.

It is really nice to come across a community such as Dharma wheel to take inspirations and to be able to share anything that helps with practice. I'm almost envious of those who are able to study under a bona fide spiritual teachers but feel that we all are able to meet each other one day when the paths of practice criss cross along the way.

:namaste:
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WesleyP
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Post by WesleyP »

Welcome to Dharmawheel.
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Dan74
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Post by Dan74 »

zen_mind wrote: Thu Jul 02, 2020 1:44 pm Hello! :namaste:

It is a pleasure to greet you. My name is Sunny, I'm 36 yo and live in the quiet countryside of UK, Lincolnshire.
I've moved to the UK from South Korea when I was in my teens and grew up here.

The current situation with the isolation lockdown means that I've been able to dedicate more time and unearth the previous practice of sitting meditation and chanting. I don't consider myself a follower of any particular sect of Buddhism to be honest, though I mainly try to adhere to the no alcohol with meat free diet and meditating with the book of teaching called 'Vajra Mind Sastra' handed down by Geum Ta Hwa Sang.

I'm at a stage where my life has taken a turn where I'm presented with an opportunity of learning about the better part of myself, so that I can find compassion for all the rest that make me feel inadequate or otherwise and consider them to be part of Buddha nature also. I'd say I'm fairly open minded in a sense that I've had a period of wondering in the past coming to contact with Soto Zen, Christianity and even Vaishnavism to participated in its practice in US, UK, India and Korea. I was able to expand my perspective in that regards and have come to appreciate the aspect of sitting meditation, which is concise and direct in observing the mind, and realized also the delights of finding the common grounds that Buddhism shares with any other religion. They say there are 84,000 gates to enter the teachings of the Buddha Dharma and I tend to think that all of us are trying to do just that, to save lives instead of wondering in the existence of the impermanence of Samsara.

Having spent my childhood in Korea meant that I was able to absorb the culture that is steeped in Buddhism, though Korean society may be predominantly Christian. And because the view had never been contested, it wasn't until later down the years when I really looked into why the Buddhist culture (at least what I had been shown) is the way it is and what it means to me to access the Buddha Dharma with a fresh perspective.

For any beginner, sitting meditation is a bit like learning to operate a nuclear reactor from scratch in my opinion. There are so many aspects of it that one could potentially dedicate lives to hone to a perfection, the nature of mind being infinite and as the forefathers in search of Truth has done in the past. I find it fascinating how it opens up possibilities and even inspirations as a free diver talks about his experience of diving without the support of a breathing apparatus to the depths exceeding 100 meters into the sea bottom. His experience is not so far off from the state of meditation when we are surrounded by the cool darkness as the mind settles and come to face with the alone-ness. On the surface the world seems to revolve around ideologies when in fact it is the one and the same current of the sea from which thoughts like bubbles arise and disappear.

It is really nice to come across a community such as Dharma wheel to take inspirations and to be able to share anything that helps with practice. I'm almost envious of those who are able to study under a bona fide spiritual teachers but feel that we all are able to meet each other one day when the paths of practice criss cross along the way.

:namaste:
Welcome Sunny!

I spent a good time of 13 years practicing under a nun trained in Seon, originally under Kusan Sunim at the Ssongwan-Sa. I find it to be an amazingly rich and vibrant tradition with depths I can only begin to plumb. Kusan was also a very impressive master.
Bodhi Natura
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Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Bodhi Natura »

Hello. I just created an account although I've read a thread or dozen over the years. My online Sangha is experiencing technical difficulties so I thought I come by. I just got a new tablet so what the heck, I may as well join.

Sorry about the handle but David was taken.

Hope all is well
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DNS
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Post by DNS »

Bodhi Natura wrote: Wed Jul 29, 2020 8:19 pm Hello. I just created an account although I've read a thread or dozen over the years. My online Sangha is experiencing technical difficulties so I thought I come by. I just got a new tablet so what the heck, I may as well join.

Sorry about the handle but David was taken.

Hope all is well
Welcome to DW!

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dylan
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Post by dylan »

Hi, my name is Dylan. I’m 26.

I am in San Antonio, Texas in the United States now. Really hoping to get back into a significant daily meditation practice.

I studied Diamond Way Buddhism for several years when I lived in Boston. It was maybe the most important discovery of my life.

I am hoping to get back into a serious meditation practice, but the nearest Diamond Way center is in Austin, TX (about 79 miles or 127 kilometers).

I am hoping to use this forum to keep me on the right Buddhist path of meditation and study.
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DNS
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Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by DNS »

Welcome to DW!

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