Dhamma Wheel Staff Changes - July 2010 (please read)

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retrofuturist
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Dhamma Wheel Staff Changes - July 2010 (please read)

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings,

There's a few announcements to make... :soap:

Firstly, Ben is stepping down from his current Global Moderator role, which he has filled since Dhamma Wheel came into being the start of 2009. For over 18 months Ben has done an absolutely fantastic job moderating this forum and helping build it into the wonderful resource that it is today. Unfortunately, work and family commitments will prevent Ben from having the time to continue in the Global Moderator role, but I would like to publicly thank him for his excellent service to the online Dhamma community, and would encourage others likewise to join me in thanking Ben for his efforts!

OK, bad news over... it's all good from here! Ben's replacement as Global Moderator will be jcsuperstar! JC has done a wonderful job managing the Study Group here at Dhamma Wheel and has been a positive and active contributor here for quite some time now. It is with great pleasure that we invite JC onto the team and whilst we know he has big shoes to fill, we also know that he has the knowledge, temperament and tolerance to help keep Dhamma Wheel strong and support the online Theravada community.

Finally, with venerable Dhammanando's current Internet situation in Iceland, and Ben's retirement as a moderator, we felt as if there wasn't really enough representation amongst Dhamma Wheel staff for our members who favour the more classical (Mahavihara) end of the Theravada doctrinal spectrum. Accordingly, mikenz66 has accepted our invitation to moderate and lead Dhamma Wheel's Mahavihara section (e.g. Classical Theravada, Abhidhamma, and Pali sub-forums). It is our hope that under Mike's guidance we can build the Mahavihara section of Dhamma Wheel into a thriving and stimulating environment for discussion on the Pali Tipitaka and the Theravada commentarial tradition.

Please join me in welcoming our new arrivals to the team, and in thanking Ben for his selfless service to Dhamma Wheel.

:anjali:

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."
PeterB
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Re: Dhamma Wheel Staff Changes (please read)

Post by PeterB »

Ben you are good bloke and a gentleman and an example to us all.
The time you have spent on this forum and previously when you were one of the good guys on the Grey Forum, has been much appreciated. I hope the time will come when other commitments will once more permit you to lend to this forum the rare combination of insight, tact, and sheer good sense that is your trademark. In the meantime all good wishes and metta to you.
Sadhu ! Sadhu ! Sadhu !
PeterB
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Re: Dhamma Wheel Staff Changes (please read)

Post by PeterB »

Welcome jc superstar and Mike . I am sure that you will be an invaluable asset to the forum in your new roles.

:anjali:
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Kim OHara
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Re: Dhamma Wheel Staff Changes (please read)

Post by Kim OHara »

A big 'Thank you,' Ben, for what you have done in the last 18 months, and thanks to both JC and Mike for taking on the responsibilities.
DW has always been a nice place to visit and I'm sure it will continue that way ... it might even be more peaceful, with a kiwi replacing a tassie devil. :tongue: (Sorry, Ben, but I couldn't resist that one!)
:namaste:
Kim
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jcsuperstar
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Re: Dhamma Wheel Staff Changes (please read)

Post by jcsuperstar »

thank you for the welcome!
สัพเพ สัตตา สุขีตา โหนตุ

the mountain may be heavy in and of itself, but if you're not trying to carry it it's not heavy to you- Ajaan Suwat
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bodom
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Re: Dhamma Wheel Staff Changes (please read)

Post by bodom »

Ben was an excellent moderator. Thank you for your time here. As for the two new mods, Jc an Mike, great choices. :thumbsup:

:anjali:
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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Khalil Bodhi
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Re: Dhamma Wheel Staff Changes (please read)

Post by Khalil Bodhi »

Ben, thank you for all of your time and energy. You have been one of the best moderators I've ever encountered on any board.

Mike & JC congratulations and I'm sure you'll do excellent jobs!

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

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DNS
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Re: Dhamma Wheel Staff Changes (please read)

Post by DNS »

Ben will be missed! Thanks Ben for all the great service and work!

Here's that great video Ben and Quinn made a while back:



Welcome Mike! Mike will be a great addition, ensuring that the two major perspectives within Theravada are represented in the moderating team (Bhante Dhammanando has had very limited internet service and connectivity issues at his current monastery).
PeterB
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Re: Dhamma Wheel Staff Changes (please read)

Post by PeterB »

Bless you both, Ben and Quinn..
:smile:

:anjali:
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Annapurna
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Re: Dhamma Wheel Staff Changes (please read)

Post by Annapurna »

Ben, THANK YOU so much for the excellent job you have been doing here and in e sangha.

It was a pleasure to "deal" with you!

Mike and JC Superstar, I wish you peaceful and fruitful interactions with the members, so that this job may be a source of strenght and joy for you.-

Best wishes to all and Dhammawheel!


:group:

Anna
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Ben
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Re: Dhamma Wheel Staff Changes (please read)

Post by Ben »

Damn! I was hoping everyone had forgotten about that video!

Seriously...
Firstly, congratulations to JCsuperstar and Mike. Both of whom I know will make excellent moderators. Mike was someone that I had the pleasure of getting to know at e-sangha and is someone in whom i have a great deal of respect and admiration. JC's selfless work as coordinator of the Study Group thread on DW never failed to impress me.

Thank you all for your kind words. Its been a great honour to participate as a moderator both here and formerly at e-sangha, serving the online Theravada community. Earlier this week I accepted a change to my work arrangements whereby I will be working out of town and in a rural setting, and away from my family for a week to ten-days at a time. The change in my work arrangements will start next Tues/Wed and last until September - if not longer. So, instead of being an absent moderator, i thought it was best to step down and give someone else (or others) an opportunity to serve this great community.

While I will have no shortage of spare time while i am away, internet connection in the Valley is problematical and slow. I've decided to utilise the opportunity to prepare for my trip to Myanmar later this year by devoting more time to meditation and study. Maybe even commencing my long held ambition of learning a little Pali!
Thank you David and Paul for giving me this opportunity to serve. And thank you to all of our members for making Dhamma Wheel what it is. And for me, what Dhamma Wheel is, is communicated by the verse in my signature, which is translatd (courtesy of Ajahn Dhammanando):
I see the gathering of followers:
Putting forth effort, self controlled,
Always with strong resolution
—This is how to honor the Buddhas!
Metta

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

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Modus.Ponens
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Re: Dhamma Wheel Staff Changes (please read)

Post by Modus.Ponens »

Thank you Ben for your excelent work here at DW.

Welcome jcsuperstar and Mike! May you do a wonderful job just like your predecessors. :smile:

: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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Sobeh
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Re: Dhamma Wheel Staff Changes (please read)

Post by Sobeh »

:heart: , :heart: / :heart: .
Anicca
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Re: Dhamma Wheel Staff Changes (please read)

Post by Anicca »

retrofuturist wrote:Ben's replacement as Global Moderator will be jcsuperstar!
"How inconstant are compounded things!
Their nature: to arise & pass away.
They disband as they are arising." Digha Nikaya 16

Ben, you are a blessing - your contributions are a merit for yourself and many many others.

Best wishes to jcsuperstar and mikenz66!
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adeh
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Re: Dhamma Wheel Staff Changes (please read)

Post by adeh »

Thank you Ben...
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