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UrbanContemplative
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Hello Everyone

Post by UrbanContemplative »

Hello Everyone!

I was searching the web on Theravada Buddhism and discovered this forum. I am so happy to have found it!!

About me in brief: I am 35 years old and live in the state of Ohio. I am a Christian and ministry student who is studying to be a Pastor. I am a Methodist. That said, I have a deep love and admiration for other faith traditions and have been studying comparative religion for over ten years now; reading sacred texts from the world's major religions as well as travelling to experience them directly. You could say that I have a deep love for religion, faith, and the sacred in general. I cite people like Thomas Merton and Huston Smith as my heroes. This is why when I start graduate seminary next year, in the Master of Divinity program I plan to specialize my MDiv in "Interreligious Contexts" which is a Methodist program to cultivate and improve interfaith relations. This is one of my greatest passions, and to be able to go to school for it and hopefully one day work in that field is a dream come true for me!!

More particular to this forum; I have a deep love for the wisdom of Buddhism and the Theravada tradition. I was first exposed to it in a deeper way when I read Bikkhu Bodhi's "In the Buddha's Words". I then began to devour his other translations, and now have read nearly all the works that he did of the Pali Canon. This has had a tremendous impact on me spiritually.

I have often told my friends the almost paradoxical, yet totally true statement that "Buddhism has made me a better Christian and Christianity has made me a better Buddhist."

I very much look forward to taking part in the discussions on this forum!!
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mikenz66
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Location: Aotearoa, New Zealand

Re: Hello Everyone

Post by mikenz66 »

Welcome UrbanContemplative,

:hello:

Like you, my first extensive study of the suttas was In the Buddha's Words.

:anjali:
Mike
Coyote
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Re: Hello Everyone

Post by Coyote »

Welcome :)
"If beings knew, as I know, the results of giving & sharing, they would not eat without having given, nor would the stain of miserliness overcome their minds. Even if it were their last bite, their last mouthful, they would not eat without having shared."
Iti 26
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DNS
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Re: Hello Everyone

Post by DNS »

Welcome to Dhamma Wheel!

:popcorn:
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Hickersonia
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Re: Hello Everyone

Post by Hickersonia »

Welcome, friend. I hope you find your time here enriching. :)
Hickersonia
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"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of
throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned."
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Khalil Bodhi
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Re: Hello Everyone

Post by Khalil Bodhi »

Welcome!
To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one's mind — this is the teaching of the Buddhas.
-Dhp. 183

The Stoic Buddhist: https://www.quora.com/q/dwxmcndlgmobmeu ... pOR2p0uAdH
My Practice Blog:
http://khalilbodhi.wordpress.com
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retrofuturist
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Re: Hello Everyone

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings,

Welcome to Dhamma Wheel.

:buddha1:

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Ben
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Location: kanamaluka

Re: Hello Everyone

Post by Ben »

Greetings Urbancontemplative,

Welcome to Dhamma Wheel.
My teacher, SN Goenka, has taught many thousands of people ordained in the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Jain religions a non-sectarian approach to the Dhamma and vipassana meditation. If this is something you are interested in exploring - then I recommend it.
www.dhamma.org
kind regards

Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
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tiltbillings
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Re: Hello Everyone

Post by tiltbillings »

Welcome
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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UrbanContemplative
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Re: Hello Everyone

Post by UrbanContemplative »

Thanks all!!

@ Ben; I appreciate the recommendation!
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