Introductions!

[No Roads Home]

Hallo.

I am not a Buddhist, and will probably not join the religion, but I have a lot of respect for it. I joined your guild to learn about your religion and maybe ask some questions. I hope to learn a lot about Buddhism while I am here. Danke.  

[Cranium Squirrel]

Welcome aboard, new faces.

And remember: No pressure. xd You're more than welcome to stay not-Buddhist if you aren't; we don't mind. And feel free to ask whatever you need to. We'll help out where we can!  

[Amyane]

I've been a passive member of this guild for a little while now, and looking back through here realized I don't think I introduced myself! smile

My name is Jordana, and I live in Ontario, Canada. I would not say I am a practicing Buddhist, not yet anyways.

What really got me interested was yoga, and the calm awareness that it brought to me, and that lead to me searching for the same feeling. I read a few books, notably Being Peace by Thich Naht Hanh.

So for now I am a very interested learner. smile

As are we all, I suppose.  

[naoru]

Hello!

I'm from the UK, I became interested in Buddhism a few years ago when I was about 16- I actually was reading the Tezuka comic 'Buddha', when at one moment in the story I put down the book slowley and just sort of had a 'woooow' moment! XD (that then happened several times during the comic lol!)

Anyway, for a few years I didnt go out of my way to look into Buddhism, but I certainly became inspired by it, started treating everything with more respect and compassion.
Then within the last year I've started reading teachings/lectures properly, reading blogs/podcasts, just taking it all in. I'm not really part of a specific 'sect', I'm really just taking in everything from different areas, learning, thinking and meditating.

I've found it all to be so helpful and inspiring though.
I've found a lot of things seem to of always been there/I already practised certain opinions/ideas, but within Buddhism they can become further developed and push ideas forward smile  

[Shinkai-Brujeria]

Hey, I'm Adriana. I'm 19 years old & I am a Freshman in college ((which I'm starting in a few weeks, I'm scared!)). I was raised Catholic, but I separated myself around three years ago due to... well... I just didn't feel that it was the right religion for me ((and I got a bit of backlash from a few in people in my family for it)).

I became interested in Buddhism about two years ago when I was researching media censorship ((and it was kinda sad to see that a lot of Buddhist musicians, I believe some of the members of ABBA, were Buddhist & they were censored for being a different religion in the 60's & 70's)).

Anyways, I was thinking of becoming a disciple of Nichiren Buddhism, Zen or Vajrayana and maybe later on, when my kids are grown-up, I'll become a nun ((if I stick with it)). Well, that's all about me. I'm really happy to be here.

Suiseiseki says, "Desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu desu yo!"

 

[Bokusenou]

Hi, I'm new so I thought I should make an intro post. xd

I'm still pretty new to Buddhism, but I know the basics and try to practice the teachings everyday.

As for interests, I'm fluent in Japanese and love reading Japanese novels.
I love anime and manga as well, and I'll usually be found in one of the Japanese chat threads in the international forum, or answering Japanese questions.  

[Doctor Dementia]

Hey Ive recently Joined the Guild, My name is M'Lisa I'm 22 and practicing Mahayana Buddhism. Would anyone know how I can find A teacher in my area, Or are there any online perhaps?  

[chinchinchiller]

Howdy everyone!

I'm 24 years old and I reside in Indiana. For the last ten years, I've been voraciously reading books and websites and participating in forums about religions. I grew up Southern Baptist and knew by the time I was 12 that Christianity was not for me. From there, it was just learning and learning. For about four years, I was confident I would convert to Judaism. Then I realized that I wasn't considering out-of-the-box religions due to all of those heavy Christian chains. I was just too afraid to abandon the Bible. That was over a year ago and, since then, I've been re-evaluating myself and my research and just considered myself to be a Unitarian Universalist for a while. Then, a couple of months ago, I decided to start looking into Eastern religions more and all of a sudden, everything clicked with Buddhism. The beliefs, the practices, and culture, it couldn't have been more spot on.

So here I am. I'm reading through all of the books on Buddhism from the library down the street. Once I'm through all of those, I'll "graduate" and start checking books out from the big library downtown. While there isn't a very large Buddhist population here in Indiana, there is a meeting group here, which I hope to start going to soon.  

[Lateralus es Helica]

Man there hasn't been any activity in a while and I'm brimming with questions and my two cents on topics that are months old. : D

Anyways I'm Lateralus or Lattie, whatever you want to call me. My actual name is Jennifer but there's so many of them around it doesn't do much to distinguish me, but you can call me whatever you like I don't mind. I live in Dallas and am pretty new to Buddhism in general.

For a very long time, I've been working with the philosophical branch of Taoism. As such, I have some pretty distinct views that go with the territory. (It should be mentioned the distinction of philosophical Taoism just because it defers in tradition and lore from that of other schools of Taoism which incorporate much more folk-lore and practices such as traditional chinese medicine, feng shui, etc.) I still hold a lot of Taoism near and dear and find that often it influences the way I approach Buddhist thought. Sometimes everything aligns perfectly in harmony, sometimes the Taoist sage in me wonders at some of the ideas presented. I know traditionally many of the combined schools of Taoist and Buddhist thought belong to the general net of Mahayana practices such as Zen, but for some reason I just don't see harmony of the two schools of thought but a transformation from the original ideas, although I admit this could be because of ignorance on my part.

I'm actually looking more into Theravada teachings myself. I'm not sure how to explain it but it seems from what I've gathered thus far that it is the most basic, simple school that doesn't add embellishment. (After all, Taoism encourages simplicity.) I see Taoism more as spiritual truth and a recognition of the inherent harmony of the universe and all within, whereas Buddhism follows more of a path and deals more with our direct experience.(Although as stated before, often how I take in the teachings of Buddhism is flavored by Taoism.)

And that's the basics there. I really could talk your screen off about some of the general ideas I have but I've already missed the mark by making so much of an attempt as I have. I can go on and on about Tao that when given the opportunity, just a warning. I'm not above pulling quotes from my library.  

[Amano Yoshi]

Greetings and Salutations!

I am a Buddhist and have been for about seven or eight years now, officially speaking. Mahayana Buddhism and I attended a temple in Atlanta, where I got my start, and another in Seattle.

I currently live or will be living in SW Virginia for a little bit and then moving to New York State around Buffalo. If there are any groups in the areas who’d be willing to shoulder me for study and practice, I would be most honored to meet with you.

Peace and love heart  

[Je Suis La Vie]

Amano Yoshi

Greetings and Salutations!

I am a Buddhist and have been for about seven or eight years now, officially speaking. Mahayana Buddhism and I attended a temple in Atlanta, where I got my start, and another in Seattle.

I currently live or will be living in SW Virginia for a little bit and then moving to New York State around Buffalo. If there are any groups in the areas who’d be willing to shoulder me for study and practice, I would be most honored to meet with you.

Peace and love heart

hello and welcome!  

[Telith]

Hi, I'm Telith. I'm twenty and a sophmore working on acquiring my undergrad in Technical Theatre and Design.

I started identifying myself as a Buddhist when I started college last year when I came to the realization that I actually was. There was a little turbulence as people close to me tried to grasp the change, and the people around me tried to grasp that I considered it a religion. (I only know one other Buddhist on campus and he views it as a philosophy. He's happy to share his incense though, so whatever we're buddies.)

I guess I identify most with the Mahayana branch. I haven't had much opportunity to be a part of a 'Buddhist community' and probably wont have one until I graduate and move to an area that has that available. Ironically it's the only faith not represented on campus, and because of that seems to be the one that everyone is most curious about. (I often joke with my friends that I have crazy awesome Buddhist powers like the vegans do.)

I'm interested in Kung Fu movies, knitting, sewing, politics, animal rights, human rights, and theatre.

I spend my summers in various locations, because my professors try and get me to take summer internships out of state. So if I'm headed to a major metropolitan area I'll try and give a heads up and see if you guys know any Buddhist groups in the area that I could join for the summer.  

[Prince Lyre]

I thought for sure I'd posted an intro here. confused Oh well. I'm 26, Canadian... What else to say? My religion is officially defined as Chaos Magic, and unofficially defined as... a lot of things. Not writing an essay on it here, and frankly it would take a book. All you really need to know is a bunch of often paradoxical faiths married together to form a "spiritual toolbox" for life. Buddhism is one of my "tools," so when I saw my friend Amano had joined I thought... meh, why not? I'd love a place to discuss theosophy without rabid Paulians frothing at the mouth and telling me I'm going to Hell. smile

So, hi.