Greetings from Bahamas
Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 12:18 am
Hi All,
I've been on the path since the end of 2012, but I have been peripherally interested in Eastern spirituality and Buddhism over the years. I've been practising mindlessness in my life before that, so only remember some of the early "sparks" by reading bios here: Hermann Hesse and Siddharta, Thoreau, Gandhi, somebody's audio cassettes of The Bhagavad Gita (could have been 8 track tapes, just to date myself appropriately).
About a year ago I found Free Buddhist Audio (in the UK) and started downloading talks; then I found Dharma Seed in the US; then all the other stuff online ... how lucky are we?!
For quite a while I thought "I'm the only Buddhist on the island" - anyone like British humour? Little Britain "I'm the only gay in the village" (Welsh accent) who is then disappointed when he's not the only one. Well, I'm not unique anymore, I am finding a few Buddhists, but no real community yet. So I am hoping to find community here at Dhamma Wheel.
I am booked for my first retreat "Wise Concentration" at IMS near Barre, MA just before Christmas.
This weekend I took Thursday & Friday off work and "rolled my own" retreat here in my condo, turned off the phone & email & facebook, sign on the door ... the results were mixed ... need a few more practice runs before my IMS retreat I think!
Why Baker? That was my nickname when I was a kid, somehow, and now, well ... my mind's always cooking something up ... oh, wait, my mind is full of half-baked ideas ... ok, there'll be a prize for the funniest reason for Baker being a good nickname for a Buddhist
With kind regards.
I've been on the path since the end of 2012, but I have been peripherally interested in Eastern spirituality and Buddhism over the years. I've been practising mindlessness in my life before that, so only remember some of the early "sparks" by reading bios here: Hermann Hesse and Siddharta, Thoreau, Gandhi, somebody's audio cassettes of The Bhagavad Gita (could have been 8 track tapes, just to date myself appropriately).
About a year ago I found Free Buddhist Audio (in the UK) and started downloading talks; then I found Dharma Seed in the US; then all the other stuff online ... how lucky are we?!
For quite a while I thought "I'm the only Buddhist on the island" - anyone like British humour? Little Britain "I'm the only gay in the village" (Welsh accent) who is then disappointed when he's not the only one. Well, I'm not unique anymore, I am finding a few Buddhists, but no real community yet. So I am hoping to find community here at Dhamma Wheel.
I am booked for my first retreat "Wise Concentration" at IMS near Barre, MA just before Christmas.
This weekend I took Thursday & Friday off work and "rolled my own" retreat here in my condo, turned off the phone & email & facebook, sign on the door ... the results were mixed ... need a few more practice runs before my IMS retreat I think!
Why Baker? That was my nickname when I was a kid, somehow, and now, well ... my mind's always cooking something up ... oh, wait, my mind is full of half-baked ideas ... ok, there'll be a prize for the funniest reason for Baker being a good nickname for a Buddhist
With kind regards.