Greetings again!

Introduce yourself to others at Dharma Wheel.
Post Reply
User avatar
Dan74
Former staff member
Posts: 3403
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 3:59 pm
Location: Switzerland

Greetings again!

Post by Dan74 »

Hello Folks! :hi:

Not a very frequent poster here but the good folks who run the forum have asked me to be a mod, so I thought it's a good idea to reintroduce myself.

I sat my first retreat in 2003, and soon after met my main teacher, a nun in Korean Zen (Seon) tradition, who trained alongside the (in)famous Batchelors, as well as Robert Buswell Jr, at the great Ssongwan-Sa under Kusan Sunim. Of course I take the responsibility for all the nonsense I have and will spout - none of it should be taken as a reflection on the teacher or that amazing tradition which stretches from Chinul. I had also sat with a Soto group for a while while it was present at my work, which was good. I am not sectarian in the sense of holding one tradition above others and have spent a fair bit of time at the other Wheel where I like many members and the moderation style. I know less about Vajrayana but would be happy to practice with a Vajra group if an opportunity presented itself.

I have a family, including 3 pesky kids and an old cat. The job that pays our bills is working as a mathematician at a large local University, which means teaching and playing with the Rubik's cube, among other things. I also spend a lot of time on photography and have a website at http://www.heliography.com and an upcoming (first) exhibition in a few weeks. I also like making up bedtime stories.

Originally I hail from the Ukraine, which I left back in 1987 and since then spent most of the years in Melbourne, Australia, and also a bit in Italy and Switzerland.

My take on being a moderator is basically helping facilitate a constructive exchange, which is sometimes supportive, sometimes informative and sometimes a robust debate. I prefer a light touch, basically treating members as responsible adults and my role as a member with extra work. Dharma Wheel is obviously different things to different folks and I don't have a particular view or dogma to promote, but rather hope that people with different approaches to the Dharma and practice find support, useful info and even a kind of a virtual Sangha here without pissing on each other's parade but interacting in a respectful way. I like threads to stay on track and if they go off track for the mods to split bits off before they become a mash of different threads and people talking past one another. I did a stint as a mod at ZFI a few years back and left mainly due to work commitments.

The manner in which I was taught the Dharma was very immediate, from the heart stuff, dealing very much with the here-and-now rather than getting into the theory and the dogma and this is where I mostly gravitate on the fora. I am hoping to see more activity in the Zen/Chan/Seon fora and I think this place can be a great place for Zen practitioners since I think Zen makes most sense as a Mahayana school. I think there is a bit of Buddhist cultural difference between Vajra and Zen, even the pretty traditional variety that I was taught such as the importance of believing various tenets, like rebirth, the importance of teacher and lineage, the forms, etc and I am hoping for a healthy live and let live attitude.

That's pretty much it. I realise many folks here are far more experienced and wiser than me. I am hoping I never have to moderate you and if and when I do, I hope we all see it as a joint work in keeping this place going and going strong! Thanks if you read this far, it turned out to be quite a spiel...

_/|\_
User avatar
Kim O'Hara
Former staff member
Posts: 7047
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2012 1:09 am
Location: North Queensland, Australia

Re: Greetings again!

Post by Kim O'Hara »

Congratulations on your new role, Dan, and thanks for taking it on.

:namaste:
Kim
User avatar
seeker242
Posts: 2092
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2012 2:50 pm
Location: South Florida, USA

Re: Greetings again!

Post by seeker242 »

A zennie on the Mod team, woo hoo! :D
One should not kill any living being, nor cause it to be killed, nor should one incite any other to kill. Do never injure any being, whether strong or weak, in this entire universe!
User avatar
DNS
Site Admin
Posts: 5251
Joined: Sun Apr 05, 2009 4:23 pm
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, Estados Unidos de América
Contact:

Re: Greetings again!

Post by DNS »

Good luck!

:cheers:
User avatar
Mkoll
Posts: 1118
Joined: Mon May 26, 2014 5:53 am
Location: Texas

Re: Greetings again!

Post by Mkoll »

Have Fun!
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
DGA
Former staff member
Posts: 9466
Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2010 5:04 pm

Re: Greetings again!

Post by DGA »

seeker242 wrote:A zennie on the Mod team, woo hoo! :D
Exactly. We're trying to build a more balanced team. Among Dan74's many qualifications for the role is his background in East Asian Dharma traditions.
Meido
Posts: 671
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2011 2:50 am
Contact:

Re: Greetings again!

Post by Meido »

Congrats, and thanks in advance for your work.

:namaste:
User avatar
Wayfarer
Former staff member
Posts: 5150
Joined: Sun May 27, 2012 8:31 am
Location: AU

Re: Greetings again!

Post by Wayfarer »

Rather than create another intro thread, I'm sure Dan74 won't mind if I tag along here. I'm a generation older than many of the mods here - came into Buddhism through the 'consciousness movement' of the 60's. First learned about meditation from a secular 'awareness training' school in Sydney in the 1970's. Then found out about Vipassana meditation; first retreat at the beautiful Wat Buddha Dhamma around 1980. Been sitting regularly since. Did an Honours in Comparative Religion at the time of my first retreat, and a Master of Buddhist Studies, 2011-12 (both Uni of Sydney.) This was not in pursuit of an academic career but simply provided a way of relating to dharma and deepening my knowledge. In terms of schools, I am not affiliated with any particular school although the one I feel the most affinity for is Soto Zen - my all-time favourite Buddhist book is To Meet the Real Dragon by Nishijima-roshi.

I have two grown sons, one at home, one lives in USA. My Sangha is centred around the Buddhist Library in Sydney (I am at middle of back row), where we meet bi-monthly on Sunday mornings for in-depth dharma study.

I am glad to be of assistance to Dharma Wheel as it is a very good facility for practitioners and aspiring students.

:namaste:
'Only practice with no gaining idea' ~ Suzuki Roshi
User avatar
Dan74
Former staff member
Posts: 3403
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 3:59 pm
Location: Switzerland

Re: Greetings again!

Post by Dan74 »

Thank you very much for the welcome, Kim, seeker, David, James, Jikan and Meido Roshi!

I hope we see a bit more life in the Zen forums in times to come.
Post Reply

Return to “Introductions”