Hello from San Francisco

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dylanj
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Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2016 1:48 am
Location: San Francisco
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Hello from San Francisco

Post by dylanj »

My name is Dylan, I am 21 years old, I have been Buddhist since I was ~17.

I grew up as an atheist scientific-materialist with a nonreligious family.

I found Buddhism after looking into meditation in the midst of depression, existential discontent & uncertainty, & sympathy for my friends who were going through a lot of pain. I had been engrossed in bad conduct & decided it was time to stop, to be happier & set good example. Through reading about meditation I came to read about Buddhism via wikipedia, a lot of the ideas I initially found seemed at the time to correspond with what I was reading; I converted almost instantly. It took me 2-3 more years to settle against mahāyāna but I feel from the beginning I saw a clear distinction between the two sets of teachings...I always held the nikāyas as authoritative over Mahāyāna doctrine & had lots of doubts about the latter, none about the former...but nibbāna scared me & I was seduced by the bodhisattva path concept. Anyway eventually I gave it up, now I am theravādin, albeit in the likes of figures like Bhikkhu Anālayo & Bhikkhu Ñāṇananda whom are willing to reject parts of the theravāda canon.

I live in San Francisco. I was attending the University of San Francisco, I took a leave of absence for a semester after my partner whom I'd been with & living with for over a year suddenly died in my 2nd year. Then I went back after the summer recess & completed another semester as Theology & Religious Studies major. After that - in part due to the lack of equipment in the school's department for Buddhist Studies but mostly due to fearing the obstacle of debt & feeling I was not receiving a worthwhile education - I decided to discontinue pursuing a degree. Now I work full time, still living in San Francisco, with friends. I intend to ordain once I can pay off the debt I've already accumulated.

I am in the process of teaching myself to read pāli, trying to exercise regularly - I had several long periods in the past 4 years of a decent albeit never stable meditation practice...but right now I have come to a point where I think the state of my virtue is concerning & it seems without addressing that I will get nowhere with meditation.

I don't regularly attend any saṅgha or involve myself with other Buddhists, although I recently met someone in SF through facebook who is theravādin, interested in learning pāli, I intend to meet with him. There is a theravādin temple near me, I wish to give alms to the monks. I asked for their schedule once but I lost the notebook & am embarrassed to go ask again after still having not given alms since the last time. Of course that is a ridiculous way to think, though.

Also I run the facebook page in my description thing below, that is a fulfilling hobby I think it is good.
Last edited by dylanj on Wed Aug 09, 2017 3:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
Born, become, arisen – made, prepared, short-lived
Bonded by decay and death – a nest for sickness, perishable
Produced by seeking nutriment – not fit to take delight in


Departure from this is peaceful – beyond reasoning and enduring
Unborn, unarisen – free from sorrow and stain
Ceasing of all factors of suffering – stilling of all preparations is bliss
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CedarTree
Posts: 254
Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2017 9:37 pm

Re: Hello from San Francisco

Post by CedarTree »

Welcome! :namaste:


Practice, Practice, Practice

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bodom
Posts: 7215
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 6:18 pm
Location: San Antonio, Texas

Re: Hello from San Francisco

Post by bodom »

Welcome!

:namaste:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
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DNS
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Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, Estados Unidos de América
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Re: Hello from San Francisco

Post by DNS »

"Welcome" to DW! I see you've been here for about 8 months or so and posting, so maybe I should say thanks for the interesting bio (instead).
:toast:
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dylanj
Posts: 936
Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2016 1:48 am
Location: San Francisco
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Re: Hello from San Francisco

Post by dylanj »

thanks all :anjali:
Born, become, arisen – made, prepared, short-lived
Bonded by decay and death – a nest for sickness, perishable
Produced by seeking nutriment – not fit to take delight in


Departure from this is peaceful – beyond reasoning and enduring
Unborn, unarisen – free from sorrow and stain
Ceasing of all factors of suffering – stilling of all preparations is bliss
dharmacorps
Posts: 2298
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2015 7:33 pm

Re: Hello from San Francisco

Post by dharmacorps »

Hello back at you brother, from across the bay in Oakland :)
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