Where would the best place for me to start learning about Buddhism? Reading books/essays/websites or from a person? If you don't know someone personally who is a Buddhist - as I do not - perhaps the most comfortable entry for you would be books/essays/websites, I'd suspect. You can take things at y...

I find that noteworthy; thanks very much for that extra detail, rowyourboat.

Thank you for that detail, Phil. It's clarifying.

Ben wrote:
Then what is the problem?

The problem (if that is what you want to call my opinion) is that discussions regarding Dorje Shugden / Dolghal have a reputation of degenerating into bitter acrimony.

As a non-Buddhist, even I am aware of this.

[quote="Ben]Maybe you should familiarise with Dhamma Wheel's TOS and show me where it says discussion of the naughty ghost is forbidden.[/quote]


It doesn't, and I didn't say it was forbidden here.

Ben wrote:

Marmalade wrote:And by the way, I think discussion of this Dorje Shugden thing is probably best avoided.

Why?

Well, because I understand discussions of this issue often become extremely heated. Also, because I am aware what the Terms of Service say about the issue on this site's sister site, dharmawheel.com.

Do you find, as a Buddhist, that your cultivation of Right Understanding, Right Intention, and your practice of meditation makes it easy for you to practice metta, or kindness, towards people who would annoy you? In response to my previous question about practicing / non-practicing Buddhists here at...

And by the way, I think discussion of this Dorje Shugden thing is probably best avoided.

Wikipedia says it's considered controversial. Qutoe from Wikipedia: "David V. Barrett has characterized the NKT-IKBU as "one of the newest and most controversial Buddhist movements", mainly due to the Dorje Shugden controversy in the Tibetan community" http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

Thanks for the further replies.

Thanks, unspoken, I found that very clear and helpful.

Buddhism is not a system of beliefs. Buddhism is a path of practice. If one is not practicing the eightfold path one can not be rightly called a "Buddhist" let alone a "Theravadin Buddhist". :anjali: That distinction betweeb beliefs and practice corresponds very closely to what ...

Hello, there are practising Christians and non-practising Christians. I'd like to ask if there are practising Theravada Buddhists and non-practising Theravada Buddhists? What generally, is considered to be important in defining a practising Theravada Buddhist? Regular meditation, and frequent readin...

I'm new here, and on Dharma Wheel. I'm not a Buddhist (I'm kind of agnostic, I guess), and I don't really know a lot about Buddhism, except some good basic stuff I read over at Buddhanet. There are a couple of questions I'd like to ask, generally along the lines of how peaceful a religion Buddhism i...