Brief members bios - please contribute!

Introduce yourself to others at Dharma Wheel.
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dylan
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2020 10:14 am

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by dylan »

DNS wrote: Fri Sep 18, 2020 3:57 pm Welcome to DW!

Thanks! It’s so great that we have this platform as a tool. Very useful!
Archit Choudhary
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2020 9:37 pm

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Archit Choudhary »

I'm 30 years old male from Delhi, India. I have developed an interest in Buddhism a couple of years ago. In my childhood I lived at Dharamsala for a few years and had the great fortune of meeting HH the Dalai Lama. However, at that time I was not concious of my interest in Buddhism.

I developed an interest in spirituality in my adolescence while living in a Hindu monastery hostel (as a student of secular subjects) for four years. There I interacted with various monks and got to know the basics about the Hindu spiritual philosophy. When I read about Buddhism a couple of years ago I realised richness of the ancient oriental spiritual traditions. I got attracted to its systematic approach and its core philosophy of morality (specifically the compassion). Also, the yogic tradition of Tibetan Buddhism has inspired me greatly, since Tibetan people have undertaken immense effort to preserve the traditions and maintain a unity in the diversity.

Therefore, I intend to study and practice the Buddhist doctrines for the sake of my own realisation and to help all the beings whenever I can. 🙏
avatamsaka3
Posts: 879
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2019 6:11 am

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by avatamsaka3 »

In my childhood I lived at Dharamsala for a few years and had the great fortune of meeting HH the Dalai Lama
Lucky. You should read the books in his Core Teachings series.
Archit Choudhary
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2020 9:37 pm

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Archit Choudhary »

Thanks for suggesting :)
Deki.Sel
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2020 6:08 pm

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Deki.Sel »

:alien: Hi there, I'm going by Deki.Sel here (because when else do I get to use a Dharma name), but I'm Donna, too. I am a student of Vajrayana Buddhism since shortly after I discovered it existed, late in the game, early 1990s. I grew up in Ft. Worth, Texas, and at the time there just was no such thing as a Buddhist temple. (That has changed, of course, with the times.) However, there is an amazing museum that housed and featured many Buddhist relics, including a gold-leaf rendition of the Heart Sutra, so I consider that I got a seed planted the day I viewed that as a young adult.
Later, living in Bellingham, Washington, U.S., as a slightly older adult, I jumped into the water of a different way of looking at the world.
My favorite studies right now are some lovely books on tried and true basics: Geshe Yeshe Tobden's commentary on the Bodhicharyavatara (Shantideva's Guide to Enlightenment) and Traleg Kyabgon's Lojong slogans translation and commentary (The Practice of Logong).
I'm happy to find this site!
Archit Choudhary
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2020 9:37 pm

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Archit Choudhary »

Welcome :)
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Manwon
Posts: 23
Joined: Sat Dec 05, 2020 11:30 pm

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Manwon »

Hello, my name is Manwon and I am a wanderer. I was born in St. Louis Mo in 1959 into a traditional Catholic family, my mother and father immigrated from Germany in the 1950s, so I was the first US Citizen in my family. Christianity never resonated with me, I never felt Christ in my heart, so I walked away form Christianity in my early teenage years. I have always been a restless soul and I never liked staying in one place for very long. I was a bit of a Hippy during the cultural revolution of the 60s and 70s, I love all kinds of music, however my main preference is Classic Rock and Roll. In 1978 I joined the US Army, and decided to make a career of Military service, during my career I met and married a South Korean women 1986, and we are still happily married today. My wife is a practicing Buddhist, and over the last 34 years I have participated in the Tongbulgyo ("interpenetrated Buddhism"), beliefs for most of the time we have been married. In 2003 I retired from the US Army, and I was awarded 100% disability from the Veterans Administration at that time. In 2010 I went back to work as a US Government Contractor working in the Middle East, in 2014 we moved to South Korea where I continued my work as a contractor in the Middle East. In 2019 I again retired and I am currently still living in South Korea. Since I have lived in South Korea for almost 7 years now, interest in the teachings of the Buddha have stirred a strong interest in me to further my knowledge of Buddhist teachings. This is why I have joined this chat forum, and I truly hope to meet and chat with as many members as possible, my belief is you are never to old to start the journey along the path that Buddha has laid our for those who wish to follow it. While my knowledge is limited in far to many areas on this subject, I do want to learn so I would sincerely appreciate any guidance or help achieving my goals.

Thank you very much in advance :anjali: :anjali:

Respectfully
Manwon

.
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Ayu
Global Moderator
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Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2012 8:25 am
Location: Europe

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Ayu »

Manwon wrote: Sun Dec 06, 2020 12:13 am Hello, my name is Manwon and I am a wanderer. I was born in...
Welcome to DW, Manwon.
:namaste:
Schwarz
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2021 5:13 pm

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Schwarz »

Hello,
nice to meet you guys:) From time to time I make meditation or yogga at the week.
I hope I can learn a lot more about Buddhism. I wouldnt say I m the best practicing buddhist but I like the ideas of these religion.
II here to improve my English skills too. I m happy to practice here my English writting and meet nice people:)
Damchö_Dorje
Posts: 25
Joined: Thu May 27, 2021 6:49 pm

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Damchö_Dorje »

Hi everybody — my name is Eric, I used to post on this forum but that account is defunct. I'm a student of Chogyal Namkhai Norbu through my direct introduction in November 2016. I'm also a bipolar manic-depressive, and I've been in recovery for quite a long time. I'm writing a lot more lately — schoolwork, posts, poetry, theories — and immersing myself in writing contexts. I'm a student in a graduate technical writing course. I'm also just feeling very isolated here in Arkansas and wanting to connect with vajra friends. My refuge name is my my username: Damcho Dorje. I got that name from Khentrul Lodro Thaye Rinpoche at Katog Rith'rod at some point in time, I can't recall. I honestly haven't been the most observant Buddhist for a little while — I've been working through a lot of mental unwellness — but I like to be open and expressive. I feel a strong return coming back around which pleases me, and I probably will ask questions and seek advice. Nice to be back!
Last edited by Damchö_Dorje on Fri May 28, 2021 3:15 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Ayu
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Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2012 8:25 am
Location: Europe

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Ayu »

Damchö_Dorje wrote: Fri May 28, 2021 3:06 am Hi everybody — my name is Eric, I used to post on this forum but that account is defunct. I'm a student of Chogyal Namkhai Norbu through my direct introduction in November 2016. I'm also a bipolar manic-depressive, and I've been in recovery for quite a long time. I'm writing a lot more lately — schoolwork, posts, poetry, theories — and immersing myself in writing contexts. I'm a student in a graduate technical writing course. I'm also just feeling very isolated here in Arkansas and wanting to connect with vajra friends. My refuge name is my my username: Damcho Dorje. I got that name from Khentrul Lodro Thaye Rinpoche at Katog Rith'rod at some point in time, I can't recall. I honestly haven't been the most observant Buddhist for a little while — I've been working through a lot of mental unwellness — but I like to be open and expressive. I feel a strong return coming back around which pleases me, and I probably will ask questions and seek advice. Nice to be back!
Nice to meet you, Damchö Dorje.
Sherap Nyima
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2021 8:33 pm

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Sherap Nyima »

In my 9th decade after 50 years of messing with Buddhism with time off for family and job (but steady for the last 20) I sit alone. I started
with the Yoga tradition early then Zen then Tibetan and back to Zen, lots of teachers along the way. Favorite book Zen Mind of course and Trust in Mind, reading Engaging Dogens Zen.
Happy to be here. Call me Paul
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Kim O'Hara
Former staff member
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Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2012 1:09 am
Location: North Queensland, Australia

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Kim O'Hara »

Sherap Nyima wrote: Tue Aug 24, 2021 10:57 pm In my 9th decade after 50 years of messing with Buddhism with time off for family and job (but steady for the last 20) I sit alone. I started
with the Yoga tradition early then Zen then Tibetan and back to Zen, lots of teachers along the way. Favorite book Zen Mind of course and Trust in Mind, reading Engaging Dogens Zen.
Happy to be here. Call me Paul
:hi:
Welcome, Paul.
50 years gives anyone a lot of time to explore different traditions. I've wandered around, too, but not for quite so long.

:smile:
Kim
genkaku.linrx
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2021 1:07 pm

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by genkaku.linrx »

I'm Chris from Singapore, nearing 40 years of age, I was born in a Catholic hospital but became a Buddhist as I grew up. I have been dabbling in Buddhism since 1994, I don't really have a fixed practice and I'm pretty much just a lay follower, but I am interested in the various denominations of Buddhism all this while. I have no aspirations, I aim for nothing at best the discipline and / or dharma which brought me this far. Thank you.
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Dharmasherab
Posts: 127
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 8:20 pm

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Dharmasherab »

I am a 33 year old Buddhist male originally from Sri Lanka born to Theravada Buddhist parents. In school as part of the curriculum I learned Buddhism as a school subject. In addition to this, I also attended Buddhist Sunday school for sometime.
When I was 16 me and my parents we moved to the UK, and this is where I stared having some exposure to Mahayana Buddhism. When I was 19 I started reading Bodhisattvacharyavatara by Shantideva and this was what sparked my interest in Mahayana Buddhism.
I did medicine in university and for career reasons, I moved to Bristol. It was after I moved there that I became more social as a Buddhist, visiting different Buddhist groups and interacting with Mahayana Buddhists at a much closer level. The main group I visited was a Sakya group and this was where I developed a deep interest in Tibetan Buddhism/Vajrayana. At 28 years of age I took up the Bodhisattva commitment and then formally became a Vajrayana Buddhist.
Later I moved to Ireland and stayed there for more than 2 years.
Working my way towards monastic ordination, I applied to stay for 3 months in a Theravada monastery in UK to serve the monastics who were in retreat. I wanted to get more used to monastery lifestyle, and Theravada monasteries do not charge money for staying there. Covid-19 came about and I was not able to take the ferry back to Ireland given the risks. So I continued to stay and asked to become a postulant (Anagarika). As a postulant I wore white robes and was under 8 Precepts. Currently I am a novice (Samanera) in this monastery on 10 Precepts. I make effort to live by the 10 Perfections (the Theravada Bodhisattva path has a set of 10 Perfections).
Provided if all goes well, my plan is to request full monastic ordination and then completing the dependence years (Nissaya). Then afterwards I hope to request ordination in Tibetan Buddhism and fully commit to Vajrayana.
“When one does not understand death, life can be very confusing.” - Ajahn Chah
beyond1
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2021 4:23 pm

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by beyond1 »

Hi, I'm Łukasz from small village in Poland. 35 years has already passed for me. Born catholic.
I'm schizophrenic, I take meds. Meditation helps me to settle down, to be peaceful towards oneself and others.
Regarding schizophrenia - i don't know the roots, what was cause? I don't know. I got ill about 10 years ago, after very ecstatic, life-changing experience which i mistook with enlightenment. 2-3 months later after that i developed heavy depression. It lasted for about 3 years, and almost diminished completely after listening to Sharon Salzberg discourse (actually i misheard what Sharon said, and that mistake freed me...) I was centered, back fully in my body. I contacted then my spiritual 'guru', which gave me some white powder. Next day i was very angry, especially at politics. I didn't wanted this situation to last - i thought that I was an avatar, who 'keep' this situation preventing from another world war. I wanted that another world war happen, don't know why. I decided that it's time to kill myself (by hanging). I went to barn, sat on joist (bar?), and put rope around my neck. I was struggling, I felt fear. Dad came maybe minute after me to the barn, told me to go down. I did that, and called emergency to take me to psych ward. I spent there around 38 days, got prescribed meds which i take.
3 years later i took refuge from buddhist monk (forgot his name), got the name Lobsang Rangdrol.
Without meditation I don't function normally, I act like pig (i don't want to offend pig, though).
"Teachers" i know aren't trustworthy. During session with my therapist i understood that i should turn inwards for guidance, but i don't trust myself fully. I'm not seeking for teacher., rather want to share my spiritual life with other members.
Greetings,
Łukasz
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JieshiShan
Posts: 65
Joined: Sun Jan 23, 2022 6:12 pm
Location: Bahia Blanca
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Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by JieshiShan »

Hello everybody!
I am 54 years old, I live in Argentina and I have been studying for more than 20 years with the Venerable ShanJian (deceased).
My entry into the Dharma was as Avuso Ucchushma, and later on as Shan Jieshi.
Together with him I was instructed in Mahamudra and Dzogchen, and then finally decanting into Chan and Tao.
In all these years I have met many people and got to know myself a little more.
I remember all those Forums where we met, from Yahoo to E-Sangha and many others.
I fondly remember Venerable Dharmakara Boda, and the projects of the Avaivartika Order and Shantideva Society.
I prefer to keep this summary brief, but it is a great exercise, as it reminds me of how things were in the last century...
山结实 Shan Jiēshi
禅四轮
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escavetta
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Jul 10, 2017 11:33 am
Location: Bangkok TH / San Francisco US

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by escavetta »

I’m Eric, 50 years old and living in Northern California, architect by trade, and currently an online student of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche, of Ka-Nying Monastery in Nepal for the past year.

I first gravitated toward Buddhism around age 20 (early 1990s), my family being non-practicing Catholics, and step-family reform Jews, also very secular. That said, I had a underlying sense that we are interconnected with our environment and nature. This feeling both pushed me away from Abrahamic view of humans as separate and toward Eastern views of Taoism and Buddhism, for which reading Huston Smith’s “The World’s Religion” ignited that interest.

Atter some reading into philosophical Taoism, I came across Zen Buddhism, mainly through reading, but I visited a Korean Son temple for meditation practice (similar to Soto Zen) in Providence, Rhode Island. But I always struggled with diligence of maintains a sitting practice. At the time I suffered from a huge amount of anxiety (social anxiety and fear of untimely death), on top of being a full time student and navigating the 20s.

I cycled through internet in various schools of Buddhism, with a feeling like I needed to find the “right” school/sect before starting, but felt limited by the options in my various physical location. Over the years, I looked into Zen (Rhode Island and Quebec), Theravada (while living in Thailand), Shambala (Bangkok), Tiantai, Shingon (after visiting Koyasan), Japanese Pure Land (after moving to San Francisco), New Kadampa, Karma Kagyu, Nyingma, Drikung Kagyu, and various Dzogchen lamas, often feeling overwhelmed by the choices and FOMO (fear of missing out). While living in Bangkok, I attended lectures by George Dreyfus (a scholar and former Gelug monk) at the Little Bangkok Sangha on Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, which allowed me to get past certain Western cultural fears around Guru devotion and sparked my interest further to explore a Vajrayana path.

In part to advice given on this forum and elsewhere, I came to realisation that I could try to let go of these feeling and apply myself to one path for a while and see how it goes. In the midst of the pandemic, karma brought me Tara’s Triple Excellence (based on the terma of Chögyur Lingpa) which has allowed me to build a more solid inner foundation in a structured “gradual path” way that develops the view through study, reflection and experience. Through this approach, I’ve learned to focus of instructions and cultivate patience on one hand (building a foundation of renunciation and boddhiccita, rather than grasping to the urge to chase the highest practices like AtiYoga right away), while at the same time grasping the impermanence of this life which drives us to the dharma with some urgency.

After 30 years of dabbling and feeling self-guilt for not practicing diligently, I finally feel like I am making some progress, counterintuitively by letting go of the ego’s need to measure progress. The view of non-dualistic Buddha Nature being always present in all sentient beings, just obscured by afflictions and cognitive obscurations, which can be allowed to fall away, resonates well with me as an expedient means. I still feel like a lay beginner in all of this, which I don’t think is a bad thing.
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dorje.yignyen
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun Jul 31, 2022 2:52 am

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by dorje.yignyen »

Hello everyone,

I have been practicing Buddhism for about 13 years as of now (age 19, although I remember feeling in about my tween years that Buddhism would be the most natural path for me to take). I have had the great luck to have met two lamas in my lifetime so far. The first I met in my undergraduate school for an introductory course to Tibetan Buddhism. At that point I was only familiar with the Four Noble Truths and the basics of the Eightfold Path. Lama Tenzin Yignyen expanded my understanding and comprehension of Tibetan Buddhism by a large margin.

I experienced a few years of setbacks once I graduated with my BA in international relations (minors in political science and sociology, with a regional concentration on everywhere from North Africa through the Middle East, into Central Asia and down into South Asia). It was 2011, and no one in my field was hiring whippersnappers who couldn't take unpaid internships over summer and winter breaks. It's frankly a stroke of very good luck that I did not kill myself in my early 20s. I credit some of the practices in current mental health treatment (including involuntary detention if doctors decide one is a danger to self or others), my family and good friends, and whatever enabled me to exercise my mind to the point where I can at least cope, if not potentially thrive, through this lifetime with a brain that skews to the dark and sad.

Eventually, after I managed to sufficiently overcome my depression symptoms, I served with AmeriCorps NCCC FEMACorps, got a Master's in public administration, did two years as an AmeriCorps VISTA Member and VISTA Leader, and a second Master's in urban planning. I am currently working on a PhD in public administration.

It was actually during the early phases of my doctorate that I met the second lama. I was still wracked with the question of what was meant by nirvana, since I wanted (and still want) to no longer be born in any form. Fortunately, Losang Samten was able to explain it in a way that I was able to understand. I later found the answer explicitly laid out in the The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom sutra, and in the line,
If you are caught in the idea of the Dharma, you are also caught in the ideas of a self, a person, a living being, and a life span. If you are caught in the idea that there is no Dharma, you are still caught in the ideas of a self, a person, a living being, and a life span....You should let go of the Dharma, let alone what is not the Dharma (https://plumvillage.org/library/sutras/ ... -illusion/)
found in the The Diamond that Cuts Through Illusion sutra.

Other than that, I'm originally from a small town on the Southern coast of New England just in between New York and Boston (yay sports, lol) and I have one 8-year old orange-tabby cat. Her name is Josephine, I've had her since she was 8-months old, and she really is as cute as she sounds.
Silent Bob
Posts: 269
Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2010 2:12 am

Re: Brief members bios - please contribute!

Post by Silent Bob »

Walter Sobchak wrote: Wed Apr 13, 2016 3:18 am I was "Silent Bob" in a previous incarnation here, then forgot my revised user name, "Walter Sobchak", and was unable to log on for couple of years, until I remembered it yesterday.

I'm 74 y/o and have been practicing since 1974. My first teacher was Trungpa Rinpoche, whom I studied with for about 12 years and I completed Ngondro under his direction. Not long after that I met Thrangu Rinpoche, who became my principal teacher and was the source of all the various practices I've done in the past almost 30 years. In the years since 2000 I've also formed fruitful connections with Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche and Jetsun Kushok Rinpoche. I aspired to do the traditional three-year retreat, but was never able to, though I did attend Trungpa Rinpoche's three-month residential seminary in 1978 and a number of other long Vajrayana retreats.

For the past 25 years I was the manager/caretaker of a remote 6000-acre ranch in the Eastern Sierra, but after my wife died a year ago I got tired of my own company and moved to Bellingham, Washington, to be closer to dharma centers and to people I might talk to about things other than horses, trucks and how oppressive the government is.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Chris
In a brief update, I'm still Silent Bob, more or less, and after seven years I'm still in Bellingham. As it turned out, B'ham is hardly a dharma hotspot; the town's three dharma centers (Shambhala,the Zen center and Insight Meditation have all closed down after prolonged financial and membership struggles during the worst of covid, as did the beautiful Sakya retreat center on one of the nearby islands. I've met only one (1) other vajrayana practitioner in the years I've been here, and learned that if I can't talk dharma with anyone here I actually miss talking to people about trucks and horses, though trash-talking the gummint is still not very interesting.
It's good I had decades of solo practice before coming here because it seems to be my fate to be a solitary practitioner.

Chris
"All the sublime teachings, so profound--to throw away one and then grab yet another will not bear even a single fruit. Persevere, therefore, in simply one."
--Dudjom Rinpoche, "Nectar for the Hearts of Fortunate Disciples. Song No. 8"
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