Greetings & Salutations

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JP_1992
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Joined: Wed Apr 01, 2009 12:20 am

Greetings & Salutations

Post by JP_1992 »

Greetings to everyone! :smile: My apologies if this is posted in the wrong section or forum.

My name is Joshua and I am a sixteen year-old student enrolled in a high school in South Australia, Australia.

I have an assignment for the subject of Studies of Society. This assignment requires me to:
1. Explore the idea of religious culture and its contribution to youth identity and social identity.
2. Consider and evaluate some of the different beliefs and values associated with religious affiliation.

I am required to conduct an interview with a person from a particular religion or faith (such as a follower of Buddhism, a member of the Islam faith, etc.) and use the acquired information and responses to develop an analysis report of cultural diversity in contemporary youth culture. I am to pay particular attention to the the question of "to what extent does religion influence identity as a young Australian in contemporary Australian society?".

I decided to choose Buddhism as my topic predominantly because I find it to be a particularly interesting faith and way of life. I chose to use an internet forum to go about conducting an interview due to the reasons of of not personally knowing many people of seperate faiths, and due to personal shyness and anxiety of conducting a public interview. I found this site via a Google search and thought it would be helpful.

I require an actively-practising Buddhist, who is living in Australia and is under 25 years of age. The interviewee must consent and give permission for me to use contents of the interview in my project. The interview questions themselves range from general questions about the faith, to questions regarding the impact the faith has on a member of society.

I was referred to this site by the New Buddhist forum, who advised that this site might be of help to me since several members are living in Australia.

I greatly appreciate anyone who is willing to help. If this is considered an inappropriate notion for this site, my sincerest apologies.

Regards,
Joshua.
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retrofuturist
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Re: Greetings & Salutations

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings and welcome Joshua,

There are indeed a few Aussies here, but I can't think of any who are under 25... in fact, I'll be honest, I don't know any Aussie Buddhists of that age online or offline, but I do wish you good luck in finding one!

Anyway, welcome to Dhamma Wheel.

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."
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zavk
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Greetings & Salutations

Post by zavk »

Hi Joshua,

Welcome. Do you hang around here more if you are indeed interesting in exploring Buddhism for yourself.

I too do not know any young Aussie Buddhist under 25. Have you tried emailing the different centres around Australia? They might help you. You can find their contact details on Buddhanet.

All the best,
zavk
With metta,
zavk
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Dhammanando
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Re: Greetings & Salutations

Post by Dhammanando »

Hi Joshua,

Welcome to Dhamma Wheel. I hope someone here will be able to find a suitable interviewee for you. If not, then you might also try writing to the Oz-based BSWA forum: bswa.org

Best wishes,
Dhammanando Bhikkhu
Rūpehi bhikkhave arūpā santatarā.
Arūpehi nirodho santataro ti.


“Bhikkhus, the formless is more peaceful than the form realms.
Cessation is more peaceful than the formless realms.”
(Santatarasutta, Iti 73)
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phil
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Re: Greetings & Salutations

Post by phil »

Hi Joshua

The Buddhist Society of Western Australia that Bhante recommended has quite an active forum.

http://www.bswa.org/modules/tinycontent/index.php?id=3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But I hope you ask questions here as well. I think you'll find a wider range of viewpoints here.

Metta,

Phil
Kammalakkhano , bhikkhave, bālo, kammalakkhano pandito, apadānasobhanī paññāti
(The fool is characterized by his/her actions/the wise one is characterized by his/her actions/Wisdom shines forth in behaviour.)
(AN 3.2 Lakkhana Sutta)
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Cittasanto
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Re: Greetings & Salutations

Post by Cittasanto »

hi
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
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Nadi
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Re: Greetings & Salutations

Post by Nadi »

Hi Joshua,

Maybe you should try contacting Buddhist Societies of Universities. For example:

Melbourne uni - http://www.geocities.com/um_bss/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Monash Uni - http://www.buddhist.monashclubs.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hope it helps....
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genkaku
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Re: Greetings & Salutations

Post by genkaku »

Dear Joshua -- Welcome. I hope you find something useful here.

With respect (and this comes from someone well beyond the required age), I think you might learn more if you lifted the age restriction. While it is true that anyone can find meaning in The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, that meaning is likely to be more credible when it is backed up by some experience.

Just my (aging) take.
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