Greetings Mudra,
mudra wrote:Interesting that we all find it a wee bit flat here, when back in E-sangha there was kind of a running assumption that it was the Mahayana (well ok especially the Tibetan and maybe the Zen) side of things that was rowdy.
I think this has more to do with the fact that Dhamma Wheel and ZFI were already reasonably well established before E-Sangha dropped off the face of the Internet. Members of these traditions had logical and established places to relocate to - sites that most of them had already heard of.
This wasn't the case for the other traditions, and partly why things were a little slow to get off the ground here. Dharma Wheel was just one of many other contenders for people's attention, including the non-denominational New Buddhist (which seems to have fared well as the forum most geared to beginners), and the pan-Buddhist offerings like Free Sangha, Buddhism Without Boundaries, iSangha, and Buddha Forum.
Dharma Wheel pitches itself mainly towards established Buddhists who already know which tradition their views are most aligned to. Given the DW sites not really geared towards absolute newbies (and those crazies that were mentioned above!), they're a lot calmer, with less sectarian bickering (you'd get sick of it again soon enough if exposed to it regularly), and hopefully a more focused and Dharmic environment as a result.
Metta,
Retro.
Live in concord, with mutual appreciation, without disputing, blending like milk and water, viewing each other with kindly eyes.