Dhamma Wheel Buddhist Forum

Excuse me for sticking my oar in but I am troubled.

I left "that other place" because there was far too much sniping, bitchiness and general unkindness going on.

I understood that as well as being a purely Theravadan site, this one would be a kinder and gentler place to post but unfortunately some of the posters on here seem to be adopting the same dismissive, mocking, unkind and unpleasant tone. It may be that some people are posting in English which is not their native language - I doubt it somehow. I feel that some members are just carrying on the one-upmanship and up-yours attitude that I found so distasteful "over there".

Is this a Buddhist thing? I don't know because I am not a Buddhist and the ones I know personally seem able to conduct a discussion in a calm and rational manner. Or is it something to do with on-line Buddhist sites? Do people feel they have to get "Bodhisattva-er than thou" with other members? Is sarcasm a requisite?

Right speech would seem to have taken a nose dive somewhere along the line in a tradition described by one person as "my religion is kindness".

If you are motivated by loving kindness and compassion, there are many ways to bring happiness to others right now, starting with kind speech.
- Thich Nhat Hanh

Hi all,

I start with myself and my own loving-kindness.
The rest tends to follow. And when it doesn't, well...



But I always check my own activity first.

Some of the people here who might be accused of sect-bashing and such have helped me in the past to peek at my own attachments and imagined righteousness. And turned out to be helpful in other ways too. Appearances can be deceiving; we rarely know another's intent.

Just my two cents

Kindness,,

"Over there" can be kind of rough, unnecessarily so, but there is something to learn from that, if in the very least what our reactions to it are. Also, it gives us a chance to be kind. I am sure here you'll find some pointy behavior from time to time, but I hope not too much and I hope that mostly we treat each other with kindness. This bears repeating:


If you are motivated by loving kindness and compassion, there are many ways to bring happiness to others right now, starting with kind speech.
- Thich Nhat Hanh

Oh yes - those who set themselves up as the fount of all knowledge and wisdom are a fine example not to follow. Those who denigrate and belittle the previous poster are a great teacher ....... but it still upsets me to see kind and compassionate people treated in a manner that is far from civil.

You can say that shows me I have a lot to learn ... which is true. But could I possibly appeal for a little MORE kindness and respect? Respect is a word much mis-used in European society - if we have no respect for others we can have very little respect for ourselves. I think.

The counter-balance to Respect, is Dignity.
If we can conduct ourselves with Dignity, and afford others Respect - frankly, I don't see how anyone can go wrong.

Greetings,

A reminder of our Terms of Service, as they currently stand, which should help facilitate kindness in discussion.

Terms Of Service
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you've not read them, please do so... it will only take a few seconds.

Metta,
Retro.