Members Bios - please contribute yours

Introduce yourself to others at Dhamma Wheel.
User avatar
Coëmgenu
Posts: 8150
Joined: Mon Jun 13, 2016 10:55 pm
Location: Whitby, Canada

Re: Members Bios - please contribute yours

Post by Coëmgenu »

tiltbillings wrote:
Coëmgenu wrote:
I am most interested in the Tiāntái Buddhism, but the only proper Buddhist instruction I have received so far, in a traditional teacher-based person-to-person setting, was for a little over a year when I was in school in Toronto, from a Jōdo Shinshū representative from the local "Toronto Buddhist Church" (http://tbc.on.ca/about-us/).
That is a bit unusual. Dogen comes out of Tendai. I like his stuff a lot, and if I were still a Zennie I pursue Soto Zen.
Yeah the Toronto Buddhist Church was interesting, they were simply the closest Buddhist establishment near me, so I went, I didn't have any particular favouritism toward Pure Land study. It certainly taught me what Pure Land was not tho, because I had had a bunch of silly rhetoric absorbed into myself that Jōdo Shinshū was some kind of messianic monotheistic Buddhism.
What is the Uncreated?
Sublime & free, what is that obscured Eternity?
It is the Undying, the Bright, the Isle.
It is an Ocean, a Secret: Reality.
Both life and oblivion, it is Nirvāṇa.
User avatar
cjmacie
Posts: 690
Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2012 4:49 am

Re: Members Bios - please contribute yours

Post by cjmacie »

fivebells wrote:
cjmacie wrote:reading (twice already) Than-Geof's "Buddhist Romanticism" – which, from all the previous cultural history and Germanic studies, I'm able to relish perhaps more than most readers.
That book is a gem, the ideas in it clarified my own history with Buddhism so much. There is also his much shorter essay on the topic, and the recording of his daylong on the topic.
(slightly "off-topic" but tangential -- "bio" as fabrication; In Antonio Damasio's schema -- in "Self Comes To Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain"-- of the 3-level development of "self" in evolution and neurology, the 3rd, most complex level he calls "the auto-biographical self".)

There are several versions of talks and writings where he (Thanissaro) has worked on these ideas, going back, I think 15 years or so.

I was at IMC/Sati-Institute when he have those talks, back in 2015. At this last year's visit by him (talk on Thai Forest Masters), being close-by when he arrived, he called to me "I've made you immortal". What? Apparently, in the book's introduction, on page 13, he mentions a couple of talk-attendee's mentioning that "Romantic" influences actually brought them to the Dhamma (or Dharma, as the case may be). One of those mentions I had made.

Aside from his immense output in translations, commentaries, and transcribed Dhamma-talks, in my view the "Buddhist Romanticism" book is a "magnum opus". The basic issue presented is not simply how cultural biases influence Dhamma (mis-) interpretation, but, IMO, coming to realize the deep and thorough effect of one's cultural conditioning, and coming to terms with that is an essential element in developing the path.
User avatar
UnboundFire
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2016 1:33 am

Re: Members Bios - please contribute yours

Post by UnboundFire »

Will rewrite over again. Sorry for the inconvenience. :oops:
Last edited by UnboundFire on Mon Sep 12, 2016 11:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
rowboat
Posts: 700
Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2010 5:31 am
Location: Brentwood Bay

Re: Members Bios - please contribute yours

Post by rowboat »

Welcome to Dhammawheel, Shirley. Yours is an interesting bio. You were in Israel just a few years after I lived there.
:anjali:
Rain soddens what is covered up,
It does not sodden what is open.
Therefore uncover what is covered
That the rain will not sodden it.
Ud 5.5
User avatar
padmini
Posts: 60
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2016 7:13 am
Contact:

Re: Members Bios - please contribute yours

Post by padmini »

David N. Snyder wrote: For those that don't want to list too much detail about your bio, how about 6 words to describe yourself or your life? It could be personality traits, accomplishments, interests, or something else.
Here are mine (excluding the very obvious "Buddhism"):
Chinese language & culture
avihiṃsā
NNEST (Non-Native English Speaking Teacher of English)
introvert
family
reading
knitting

:anjali:
The Buddha's path is simple and meant for ordinary people; anyone with goodwill and determination can follow its steps toward freedom of heart and mind
-- Ven. Ayya Khema
User avatar
Mohan Gnanathilake
Posts: 89
Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2016 6:16 am
Location: Ragama, Sri Lanka
Contact:

Self-Introduction (Abhivādana)

Post by Mohan Gnanathilake »

My name is Mohan Barathi Gnanathilake. I am a Sri Lankan. I was born on 10 May 1975 in Kandy, Sri Lanka. I am a nature lover. I am working as a Private Tutor for German language at present. I was in Munich and Freiburg in the past. I got two scholarships to fly to Germany. I passed the “Zentrale Oberstufenprüfung” at the Goethe Institute in Munich.
All thoughts begin in the mind, mind is supreme and mind-made are they. If one speaks or acts with impure mind pain follows him like the wheel the hoof of the ox.
(Dhammapada 1, Yamaka Vagga – The Twin Verses)

All thoughts begin in the mind, mind is supreme and mind –made are they. If one speaks or acts with pure mind happiness follows him like one’s shadow that never leaves.
(Dhammapada 2, Yamaka Vagga – The Twin Verses)
indianromeo
Posts: 103
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2016 3:04 pm

Re: Self-Introduction (Abhivādana)

Post by indianromeo »

Mohan Gnanathilake wrote:My name is Mohan Barathi Gnanathilake. I am a Sri Lankan. I was born on 10 May 1975 in Kandy, Sri Lanka. I am a nature lover. I am working as a Private Tutor for German language at present. I was in Munich and Freiburg in the past. I got two scholarships to fly to Germany. I passed the “Zentrale Oberstufenprüfung” at the Goethe Institute in Munich.
Welcome!
User avatar
soogar571
Posts: 55
Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2016 6:41 am
Contact:

Re: Members Bios - please contribute yours

Post by soogar571 »

Hello! I'm soogar(meaning 'practice more'). Because of my poor English, I wrote the biography as follow in condensed form.

main events in my life;
1957 born. 1975 my mother died when i was 18 years old. 1987 married. 1988, 1991 earned two daughters respectively. 2008 lost elder daughter forever and divorced. 2009 divorced. (My daughter, the decedent was definitely an effect of samsara of my mother died 12 years ago before the year of daughter's birth. I have undeniable many evidences.)

education background;
1970 graduated 6 year's primary school. 1973 graduated 3 year's middle school. 1976 graduated 3 year's high school. 1980 graduated 4 year's merchant maritime college.

occupations for livelihood;
1980-1983 maritime navigation officer of cargo ship for worldwide. 1983-1999 system programmer, application programmer and project manager. 1999-2003 reseller for thermal health care machine with at a shop rented. 2003-2009 owner of pensions for rental service at beautiful mountain area. 2009-current day-trading for 'future index' while staying home.

Practice;
1986-1989 qi-gong practice at DanWorld. 2008-2009 chanting practice of 'Om mani padme hum'.

Books affected profoundly to me;
1976-1978 Siddhartha written by Herman Hesse. 1978-1980 Bible, especially New-testament. 1980-1983 Tao of Physics written by Fritjof Capra. 1980-2009 Tao Te Ching translated by R.L.Wing. 1980-2009 I- Ching translated by R.L.Wing. 1980-1983 Third Wave written by Alvin Toffler. 2003-2004 Zi Ping Theory(chinese astrology). 2003-2009 Mahayana's Diamond Sutra. 2010-2016 Abhidhamma Sangaha. 2011-2016 Nikaya as AN, SN, DN, Ud and Dhp

My greeting is there in "Introduction".
That's all for my biography. Thank you.
soogar
Object determines the quality of citta.
So, the experience of nibbana at this very moment invokes the lokuttara citta.

home page : http://www.soogar.com
facebook : https://www.facebook.com/soogar571
sandun Wanniarachchi
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2016 12:10 pm

Re: Members Bios - please contribute yours

Post by sandun Wanniarachchi »

hi everyone,

i am sandun and i am from srilanka. i am 15 years old and i am probably the youngest member of dhamma wheel with least experience. i am a bit busy with school work these days since i have to face the ordinary level exam next year.not much to say about my personal life because my life history is very short.

though i am a buddhist by birth i started following it very recently. i have a very recent history in meditation which is approximately 8 months. over the last few months i discovered many of meditation methods but i was'nt able to adapt them fully. but after reading "satipatthana direct path to realization by venerable Analayo and heart of buddhist meditation by ven. nyanaponika thera i came to the conclusion that sutta reference was the best and possible method to reach the buddha. i am a member of sutta central and i am interested in studying early buddhist texts in pali,chinese,sanskrit and tibetan. but, i always make sure that i give priority to daily mindfulness and tranquility meditation which helps me to figure things out.
Attachments
1941043_785630381566211_1449143193_n.jpg
1941043_785630381566211_1449143193_n.jpg (86.6 KiB) Viewed 29209 times
“Venerable sir, it is said, ‘the world, the world.’ In what way, venerable sir, might there be the world or the description of the world?”

“Where there is the eye, Samiddhi, where there are forms, eye-consciousness, things to be cognized by eye-consciousness, there the world exists or the description of the world.

“Where there is the ear …..

“Where there is no eye, Samiddhi, no forms, no eye-consciousness, no things to be cognized by eye-consciousness, there the world does not exist nor any description of the world.

" Where there is no ear,.....

S.N. 35.66
User avatar
cjmacie
Posts: 690
Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2012 4:49 am

Re: Members Bios - please contribute yours

Post by cjmacie »

SDC wrote:...Did drugs and skied...
The guy who taught me how to ski (a friend from Germany), put it so: you go to the top, and go down, using gravity to exercise your body and mind. If you do it right, when you get to the bottom your are "higher" than when you began at the top. (That was in California, 1970's -- the golden-age of psychedelics.)
User avatar
SDC
Posts: 9062
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 11:08 pm

Re: Members Bios - please contribute yours

Post by SDC »

cjmacie wrote:
SDC wrote:...Did drugs and skied...
The guy who taught me how to ski (a friend from Germany), put it so: you go to the top, and go down, using gravity to exercise your body and mind. If you do it right, when you get to the bottom your are "higher" than when you began at the top. (That was in California, 1970's -- the golden-age of psychedelics.)
:rofl:
“Life is swept along, short is the life span; no shelters exist for one who has reached old age. Seeing clearly this danger in death, a seeker of peace should drop the world’s bait.” SN 1.3
Derek
Posts: 112
Joined: Wed Aug 28, 2013 12:31 pm

Re: Members Bios - please contribute yours

Post by Derek »

Dan74 wrote:I think it can be healthy to have a little thread where people can contribute a few lines about themselves. Some of us did that in the Intro already but others may feel like doing more after having gotten involved in the forum and gotten to know the folk here a bit better.

Anyhow here goes one of me and I hope some others will follow!
Some chapters of the link in my signature give biographical info. It's free to read.
Kapimaia
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2017 12:32 pm

Re: Members Bios - please contribute yours

Post by Kapimaia »

Bio!

I have a pressing mess and will figure out who I was later, however in the link below I am Ananda.

http://www.earlywritings.com/forum/view ... 100#p66100

Clarity is meritorious!

Joy,
Kapimaia
Amare
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Apr 29, 2017 11:56 pm

Re: Members Bios - please contribute yours. English

Post by Amare »

Hi all, I'm Amarasiri from Sri Lanka. I'm an electrician by proffession and a teacher of a Sunday dhamma school.I'm conducting a program to teach Buddhism in English to some children. I'm a born Buddhist and I prefer to learn English so on.
Derek
Posts: 112
Joined: Wed Aug 28, 2013 12:31 pm

Re: Members Bios - please contribute yours

Post by Derek »

Derek wrote:
Dan74 wrote:I think it can be healthy to have a little thread where people can contribute a few lines about themselves. Some of us did that in the Intro already but others may feel like doing more after having gotten involved in the forum and gotten to know the folk here a bit better.

Anyhow here goes one of me and I hope some others will follow!
Some chapters of the link in my signature give biographical info. It's free to read.
Now moved here: https://toronto.stream-entry.ca/
Post Reply