The new landscape

[catmoon]

Things are settling down since the demise of E Sangha. The new landscape, as I see it, is Dhamma Wheel for the Theravadins, this place for the Mahayanists and FreeSangha for the, uh, pan-Buddhists I guess.

Are there any other important boards out there?

[plwk]

I wuz wunderin abt Cat Sangha.... (No dogs allowed policy? )

[catmoon]

I wuz wunderin abt Cat Sangha.... (No dogs allowed policy? )

Oh you must be referring to http://www.sanghaforestcats.com/. Ya no dogs allowed there, sry.

[ball-of-string]

Things are settling down since the demise of E Sangha. The new landscape, as I see it, is Dhamma Wheel for the Theravadins, this place for the Mahayanists and FreeSangha for the, uh, pan-Buddhists I guess.

Except I see all the same people on all 3 sites, including you Brother!

[Yogicfire]

Things are settling down since the demise of E Sangha. The new landscape, as I see it, is Dhamma Wheel for the Theravadins, this place for the Mahayanists and FreeSangha for the, uh, pan-Buddhists I guess.

Except I see all the same people on all 3 sites, including you Brother!

Yeah, I do kind of miss that. On E-Sangha it was a melting pot of ideas, people, loonies, great people, a wide variety of interesting topics, and just a bit of an ummph to it all. I find these sites a little flat in comparison right now. But, maybe they will develop in time. Segregating everyone has pulled the energy down a bit -in my opinion-.

I will be interested in seeing how it goes... Thanks to the people who took time out to set these sites up. Nice to see some old faces.

[Indrajala]

Things are settling down since the demise of E Sangha. The new landscape, as I see it, is Dhamma Wheel for the Theravadins, this place for the Mahayanists and FreeSangha for the, uh, pan-Buddhists I guess.

Are there any other important boards out there?

If you want to see some oldschool internet Buddhism go to

http://groups.google.com/

and look through the archives dating back more than a decade. There are actually familiar E-Sangha names like Namdrol.

I kind of wish we could have more academic oriented discussions here. At E-sangha we managed to have a lot more.

[Anders]

Things are settling down since the demise of E Sangha. The new landscape, as I see it, is Dhamma Wheel for the Theravadins, this place for the Mahayanists and FreeSangha for the, uh, pan-Buddhists I guess.

Are there any other important boards out there?

If you want to see some oldschool internet Buddhism go to

http://groups.google.com/

and look through the archives dating back more than a decade. There are actually familiar E-Sangha names like Namdrol.

I kind of wish we could have more academic oriented discussions here. At E-sangha we managed to have a lot more.

Usenet was fun and interesting in a wild west kinda way. Definitely not for the faint of heart though. Some real wacky stuff happening there over the years. Been rather static for the past 7-8 years or so though and will probably die out sooner than later.

[BFS]

I find these sites a little flat in comparison right now. But, maybe they will develop in time.
I will be interested in seeing how it goes... Thanks to the people who took time out to set these sites up. Nice to see some old faces.

Flat is a good word to describe the online sites right now. I have the same feeling about them. However, this one is well thought out and well run, moderators are fair, intelligent and considerate, so the rest is up to us. We members have to do our bit to help bring it to life, get it a moving and a grooving.

[mindyourmind]

Yes, it all seems a bit fragmented, scattered - impermanent even

I suppose that part of that is just a numbers game - taking the E-Sangha people and scattering them into three or four directions. But the energy is missing, somehow, the identity. But it will come, I have no doubt.

The internet is an important part of the establishment and growth of the Dharma in the West.

[Ngawang Drolma]

Things are settling down since the demise of E Sangha. The new landscape, as I see it, is Dhamma Wheel for the Theravadins, this place for the Mahayanists and FreeSangha for the, uh, pan-Buddhists I guess.

Are there any other important boards out there?

Thanks to BFS and all who made kind remarks about Dharma Wheel and what we've been doing. I know that for Zen people there is a sect specific Zen forum called Zen Forum International (www.zenforuminternational.org) I was active there for a little while but I don't practice Zen and my participation kind of petered out. Beyond that I think the big name these days is Dhamma Wheel. David and Retro and their team have worked really hard to make it successful, and it's grown to be quite large. Other than that I can't think of forums that have emerged that are comparable to e-sangha since it went down.

Hopefully Dharma Wheel will invite the same level of intellectual discussion like Huseng mentioned. He certainly does his part with thoughtful postings! We've tried to do some sutra studies but it's tough to keep them going and to keep folks on the same page, so to speak.

I think Facebook is a good way to keep people connected and aware of where the discussions are going on. Dharma Wheel is specific to Mahayana and Vajrayana but that sure is a huge space for discussion! And our Theravadan friends can always pop over to Dhamma Wheel for a dhamma fix.

It would help if everyone spreads the word, about this place

We've been up and running for about a year so we have some good foundations for discussion at this point, and I have no doubt that we'll continue to attract the Mahayana/Vajrayana crowd over time.

Best,
Laura

[noclue]

Forums are largely a collective result of the members interaction. If people see the potential in online Buddhist interaction they should put energy into it and the forums will liven up.

Personally I find there is too much to do in the "physical" world to spend much time online but this must vary depending on commitments.

This is a powerful medium and people often come to these fora as a first point in their spiritual quest. What they find may well have a huge influence on the course of their journey. So it may serve us well to keep this in mind and create a space to nurture all that is genuine, clear, radiant, compassionate and free within and without and shine light on what is confused, conflicted and confining.

[shel]

This is a powerful medium and people often come to these fora as a first point in their spiritual quest. What they find may well have a huge influence on the course of their journey. So it may serve us well to keep this in mind and create a space to nurture all that is genuine, clear, radiant, compassionate and free within and without and shine light on what is confused, conflicted and confining.

And what pray tell, dear Sir, do we do with what is other than genuine, clear, radiant, compassionate and free within and without? throw it out with yesterdays trash? Why... why then we would be merely normal and behaving like normal people who are not normally always genuine, clear, radiant, compassionate and free within and without.

Don't get me wrong, I highly value what is genuine, clear, radiant, compassionate and free within and without. It's just that I do not have an aversion to what is normal, and that in itself is normal. Do you follow?

Abnormal is special, and who doesn't like feeling special.

[noclue]

The answer is in my post, if you read the second half of the sentence.

But this is just a suggestion which I am sure can be pulled apart with enough diligence.

Or it could be used for something else entirely. According to one's inclination.

[muni]

Forums are largely a collective result of the members interaction. If people see the potential in online Buddhist interaction they should put energy into it and the forums will liven up.

Personally I find there is too much to do in the "physical" world to spend much time online but this must vary depending on commitments.

This is a powerful medium and people often come to these fora as a first point in their spiritual quest. What they find may well have a huge influence on the course of their journey. So it may serve us well to keep this in mind and create a space to nurture all that is genuine, clear, radiant, compassionate and free within and without and shine light on what is confused, conflicted and confining.

We are having the tools of intelligence which is super. We can use it in correct way while not becoming frustrated or lost in confusion and conflicts, as the path to samsara and nirvana are in the use of conceptual constructs "not far" from each other. The trap of satisfying analytical habits is a clinging one in debates. Nobody is helped by that.
Some can with a handful of simple words open the clear sky, others are very clear helped by intellectual elaborations which floods to simplicity of nature.

Warm heart for all and all.

[BFS]

Warm heart for all and all.

[shel]

The answer is in my post, if you read the second half of the sentence.

You mean, "shine light on what is confused, conflicted and confining."

I will point out that in order to shine light on what is confused, conflicted and confining we need to ourselves not be confused, conflicted and confined, because if we are confused, conflicted and confined we will be shining light that is confused, conflicted and confined. Shining confused, conflicted and confined light onto what is confused, conflicted and confined will only result in more confusion, conflicting and confinement.

But wait I have a solution to this dilemma!

Screen everyone for their ability to shine genuine, clear, radiant, compassionate, free within and without, light.

Oh but that won't work. We need to have what is confused, conflicted and confining on the forum in oder to shine genuine, clear, radiant, compassionate, free within and without, light on it.

But wait I have a solution to this dilemma!

We can let a little bit of what is confused, conflicted and confined on the forum. If there's a little bit of confusion, conflicting and confinement, a manageable amount, that'll be perfect!

The only question that seems to remain is how much confusion, conflicting and confinement can you handle Mr. Noclue?

But this is just a suggestion which I am sure can be pulled apart with enough diligence.

I think that I did pretty well, if I may say so myself.

Or it could be used for something else entirely.

You mean like something, oh, I don't know... EVIL!!

According to one's inclination.

Personally, I'm inclined to shine light on what is confused, conflicted and confining. But this is fun too.

[BFS]

[catmoon]

So the universe now primarily consists of the 3 boards in the OP plus ZFI? Anything else major out there?

[noclue]

The answer is in my post, if you read the second half of the sentence.

You mean, "shine light on what is confused, conflicted and confining."

I will point out that in order to shine light on what is confused, conflicted and confining we need to ourselves not be confused, conflicted and confined, because if we are confused, conflicted and confined we will be shining light that is confused, conflicted and confined. Shining confused, conflicted and confined light onto what is confused, conflicted and confined will only result in more confusion, conflicting and confinement.

But wait I have a solution to this dilemma!

Screen everyone for their ability to shine genuine, clear, radiant, compassionate, free within and without, light.

Oh but that won't work. We need to have what is confused, conflicted and confining on the forum in oder to shine genuine, clear, radiant, compassionate, free within and without, light on it.

But wait I have a solution to this dilemma!

We can let a little bit of what is confused, conflicted and confined on the forum. If there's a little bit of confusion, conflicting and confinement, a manageable amount, that'll be perfect!

The only question that seems to remain is how much confusion, conflicting and confinement can you handle Mr. Noclue?

But this is just a suggestion which I am sure can be pulled apart with enough diligence.

I think that I did pretty well, if I may say so myself.

Or it could be used for something else entirely.

You mean like something, oh, I don't know... EVIL!!

According to one's inclination.

Personally, I'm inclined to shine light on what is confused, conflicted and confining. But this is fun too.

I will point out that in order to shine light on what is confused, conflicted and confining we need to ourselves not be confused, conflicted and confined, because if we are confused, conflicted and confined we will be shining light that is confused, conflicted and confined.

What's happened to the luminous unstained original nature, Mr Shel? It's shining light on all without discrimination, if only one stops to look...

But of course there are more pressing and engaging tasks at hand usually.
.............

Yes, ZFI is there too struggling to get that critical mass happening it seems...

[Tree]

I think Western Buddhists could do with a bit less intellectualizing and study... and more practice. More Action.

Just my opinion.