MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Forthcoming Changes to the DW Forums

The latest news and updates about the Dhamma Wheel forum.
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retrofuturist
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MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Forthcoming Changes to the DW Forums

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings all,

Thank you to everyone who contributed to our recent poll and discussion on the "News, Current Events & Politics" section. As we all saw, there was no clear consensus on how such topics ought to be addressed and managed here at Dhamma Wheel. Similarly, amongst Dhamma Wheel staff there have been different perspectives raised, and different views put forward on how we could and should proceed. Nonetheless, as a team we have considered and worked through these different perspectives, and have come up with a path forward that we believe represents the best interests of this forum and its members.

Impending closure of Dhamma Wheel's "News, Current Events & Politics" and "Lounge" sections

It is with a degree of sadness and disappointment that we announce that at some time in June (exact date TBD) we will be closing down discussion in the "News, Current Events & Politics" and "Lounge" forums indefinitely, and converting those forums to read-only archives. This will be done so that we, as a forum, and as a moderating team, can improve our focus on Dhamma Wheel as "a Buddhist discussion forum on the Dhamma of the Theravāda".

It had formerly been our intention, since the inception of Dhamma Wheel over nine years ago to "provide a time and place for all discussion of interest to Theravāda Buddhists". Unfortunately in recent times, the inability of certain members to tolerate and abide the presence of political views that differ from their own, means that discussions which had a political bent tended to generate more heat than light, and this inability to engage and communicate in a healthy manner tended to spill over into other areas of the forum. We accept that this political polarization is not specific or unique to Dhamma Wheel in 2018, but we have deemed that the intolerance and disdain that was being expressed towards other members and towards staff was not conducive to an effectively functioning on-line Buddhist community.

Similarly, the "Lounge" will be closed because the discussion that takes place there is tangential to our mission of being "a Buddhist discussion forum on the Dhamma of the Theravāda", and much of it could rightly be described as "idle chatter". We will however be keeping the "Personal Experience" section, so to whatever extent such topics may relate to "your personal experience with the Dhamma. How has it enriched your life? What challenges does it present?", such discussion may be had in that section instead.

So, have we abandoned our intention to "provide a time and place for all discussion of interest to Theravāda Buddhists"? Not quite, because contemporaneous to these changes, we are pleased to announce...

The Upcoming Launch of "Dharma Wheel: Engaged Buddhism"

To complement the highly successful Dhamma Wheel: Theravada and Dharma Wheel: Mahayana & Vajrayana forums, we shall be launching a third Dhamma Wheel forum entitled Dhamma Wheel: Engaged Buddhism at some time in June.

To give you an indication on the scope and breadth of the new forum, here is a preliminary first cut of the proposed forum structure...

- Social Justice Dharma (Applying the Dharma to social justice issues – race, religion, sexuality and identity)
- Environmental Dharma (Applying the Dharma for the preservation of planet Earth and its inhabitants)
- Political Dharma (A place to bring a contemplative perspective to current events, politics and economics)
- Charity and Dana (Charities that are doing great work, and opportunities to serve)
- Get involved! (Petitions, protests and activism)
- Self-care (Using the Buddha’s teachings to preserve and enhance our well-being, as we engage with the world)
- Personal Experience (Sharing our journey and experiences with others. You are not alone)
- Lounge (Taking time out to connect with others)

Dhamma Wheel: Engaged Buddhism will be pan-Buddhist in the sense that it will neither be exclusively Theravadin or Mahayana, and will be focused primarily on bringing together a community of people who are interested in the worldly application of the Dharma for social, global and environmental purposes.

We believe that across the Dhamma Wheel: Theravada (DWT) and Dhamma Wheel: Engaged Buddhism (DWE) platforms, we will be able to simultaneously achieve our objectives of "providing a time and place for all discussion of interest to Theravāda Buddhists", whilst allowing DWT to remain focused on being "a Buddhist discussion forum on the Dhamma of the Theravāda".

With the launch of the new forum, we will be seeking volunteers who wish to manage and shape the new forum, to enable it to successfully support an online community of Engaged Buddhists. If you believe you have the skills, time, temperament, interest and tolerance for such an undertaking, please contact David and myself, outlining how you believe you would be able to contribute towards the growth and development of such a community. If you know of any past or present members of Dhamma Wheel (DWT) or Dharma Wheel (DWM) who you would like to see considered for such a role, do please get in touch with them and direct them towards this announcement, so that they may express an interest in volunteering, if they feel the inclination to do so.
Dhp 256-257 wrote:Not by passing arbitrary judgments does a man become just;
a wise man is he who investigates both right and wrong.
He who does not judge others arbitrarily, but passes judgment impartially according to the truth,
that sagacious man is a guardian of law and is called just.
:buddha1:

Metta,
Paul. :)
"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."
ieee23
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Re: MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Forthcoming Changes to the DW Forums

Post by ieee23 »

Good moves. Good Luck.
Whatever a bhikkhu frequently thinks and ponders upon, that will become the inclination of his mind. - MN 19
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Re: MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Forthcoming Changes to the DW Forums

Post by ieee23 »

Will the engaged Buddhism forum be a separate web site?
Whatever a bhikkhu frequently thinks and ponders upon, that will become the inclination of his mind. - MN 19
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Re: MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Forthcoming Changes to the DW Forums

Post by Modus.Ponens »

Helo.

I think this is a great solution. Given the constraints of the situation, this looks like the best way forward.

:anjali:
'This is peace, this is exquisite — the resolution of all fabrications; the relinquishment of all acquisitions; the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; Unbinding.' - Jhana Sutta
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Re: MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Forthcoming Changes to the DW Forums

Post by DNS »

ieee23 wrote: Wed May 30, 2018 11:50 pm Will the engaged Buddhism forum be a separate web site?
Yes, currently we have:

dhammawheel.com (Theravada)
dharmawheel.net (Mahayana)
dharmawheel.org (currently redirects to Mahayana site, but now will be its own site for politics, Engaged Buddhism)
dharmapaths.com (comparative religions)
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Re: MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Forthcoming Changes to the DW Forums

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings ieee23,
ieee23 wrote: Wed May 30, 2018 11:50 pm Will the engaged Buddhism forum be a separate web site?
Yes, and the URL will be provided to you once the forum has been constructed to the point where it is at least functional.

Just like Dharma Wheel (DWM) it will have it's own URL, own staff, own ToS, and so on.

Just like when Dharma Wheel was established, David and I will help to set up the initial structure and then hand the reigns over to engaged members of that community.

Speaking of DWM, they have been notified that DWE is coming, and it will be for them to determine whether they wish to use the arrival of DWE as an opportunity to do an internal restructure too.

Metta,
Paul. :)
"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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Kim OHara
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Re: MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Forthcoming Changes to the DW Forums

Post by Kim OHara »

ieee23 wrote: Wed May 30, 2018 11:50 pm Will the engaged Buddhism forum be a separate web site?
That's strongly implied by, "To complement the highly successful Dhamma Wheel: Theravada and Dharma Wheel: Mahayana & Vajrayana forums, we shall be launching a third Dhamma Wheel forum entitled Dhamma Wheel: Engaged Buddhism," which suggests three forums all with the same level of independence.
However ... wild idea coming up ... I wonder if it would be (a) technically feasible and (b) desirable to have the new forum show up in the board index of both DWT and DWM? In favour of the idea, it would certainly help the new one establish itself. Against it, it may cause confusion over who is responsible for moderation.

But yes, the basic idea looks like a good and workable one, and a natural home for non-sectarians like me with a strong interest in dhamma/dharma in the real world.
And I'm glad my years of posts to the Global Warming thread are to be preserved for posterity. :smile:

:namaste:
Kim

P.S. Retro has just confirmed that first point.
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Re: MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Forthcoming Changes to the DW Forums

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings Kim,
Kim OHara wrote: Thu May 31, 2018 12:06 am However ... wild idea coming up ... I wonder if it would be (a) technically feasible and (b) desirable to have the new forum show up in the board index of both DWT and DWM? In favour of the idea, it would certainly help the new one establish itself. Against it, it may cause confusion over who is responsible for moderation.
We will certainly be looking at ways to create cross-visibility of the existence of the Dhamma Wheel forums. I'm unsure of the Technical feasibility of your solution, but it will certainly be kept in mind as we approach deployment.
Kim OHara wrote: Thu May 31, 2018 12:06 am And I'm glad my years of posts to the Global Warming thread are to be preserved for posterity. :smile:
The decision to keep these topics visible was primarily derived from our established commitment not to "censor speech gratuitously" (ToS4).

Metta,
Paul. :)
"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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Re: MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Forthcoming Changes to the DW Forums

Post by JamesTheGiant »

Wow an Engaged Buddhism forum will have very wide appeal I predict. Best wishes!
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Re: MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Forthcoming Changes to the DW Forums

Post by Garrib »

Smart moves IMO!
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Re: MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Forthcoming Changes to the DW Forums

Post by SarathW »

I wonder if it would be (a) technically feasible and (b) desirable to have the new forum show up in the board index of both DWT and DWM?
Initially I thought the same.
My second thought is keep the new website alone and find it's own path.
Otherwise the purpose is lost.
However it will not stop us giving a link to the new site
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
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Re: MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Forthcoming Changes to the DW Forums

Post by Dhammarakkhito »

well, engaged buddhism i think is still not really buddhism, but at least it will be a separate website. i support these changes
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Re: MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Forthcoming Changes to the DW Forums

Post by JamesTheGiant »

It'd be cool if you could somehow migrate all the usernames+passwords to the new site, from here and dharmawheel. So people don't have to create a new profile.
And migrate the Lounge and News sections entire, so there's content there to start with.
If it's technically possible.
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Re: MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Forthcoming Changes to the DW Forums

Post by DNS »

JamesTheGiant wrote: Thu May 31, 2018 5:08 am It'd be cool if you could somehow migrate all the usernames+passwords to the new site, from here and dharmawheel. So people don't have to create a new profile.
And migrate the Lounge and News sections entire, so there's content there to start with.
If it's technically possible.
:thumbsup: I think that is possible, I'll check with our webmaster. He'll have time to set up the forum and get started with that in early June.
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Re: MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Forthcoming Changes to the DW Forums

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings James,
JamesTheGiant wrote: Thu May 31, 2018 5:08 am It'd be cool if you could somehow migrate all the usernames+passwords to the new site, from here and dharmawheel. So people don't have to create a new profile.
And migrate the Lounge and News sections entire, so there's content there to start with.
If it's technically possible.
I'll leave that for David and the current webmaster to see how that looks now with the current version of phpBB3, but when we looked into a similar possibility in 2015, whilst we were looking into start-up options for a now defunct Dhamma practice project, it wasn't viable. I think it had something to do with the member number identification system... for example, here I am user number 53, you are number 10064. DWM will have its own overlapping numbering system for members (e.g. I am number 57 there), and DWE will have to start counting new members from a certain point.

Personally I don't mind having the member lists being unique and discrete, because each forum will have its own Terms of Service, standards and expectations upon members, and so on. One member who behaves well at one forum might not meet the ToS standards of another forum, and I would hate to see people's access at one site impacted negatively on account of how they've been regarded at another site etc. People might wish to choose a different username more befitting of the forum they're participating in, and that's fine too.

As for content, I'm sure if we all make an effort to 'seed' the new forum with a couple of topics that potentially interest each of us, then it will get up and running soon enough in time. I already have one such question lined up and ready to go...

Metta,
Paul. :)
"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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