Hullo Everyone.

I am Fabrizio, a 43 years old man from Rome, Italy. I have being practicing Buddhist meditation since 1999 and my reference point is the Santacittarama Vihara in the north of Rome. I came back to this site after having attended the recent retreat held by Ven. Ajhan Amaro in Italy.
As of myself, I follow the five precepts - presently I am at work with some ants in the kitchen… - and read most translations of the Pitakas and their comments including the Visuddhi Magga, the Abidhammatta Sanghaa, the recent “Life of the Buddha” and “Great Disciples”; I have no brothers or sisters, no wife or children, my mother is still alive and I see my father taking portraits of angels - he was a painter - in the Christian Paradise he believed in…

As for my ‘social’ practice: I do not expect any longer to receive new enlightening teachings by others, but rather I love to listen to masters to be kept on tune; recently I also stopped to expect to be able to help anyone else but with my example, in the lucky days

Greetings, Fabrizio

My name is Chris and I’m a 37 year old novice Buddhist practitioner in Alabama. I am married (11 years) but we have no children just yet. I first read about the 4 Noble Truths and other Buddhist concepts in my 20’s. I have always had a love and affinity for various forms of spiritual practice and prayer has always been an important part of my life. I am drawn to Buddhism and to Theravada Buddhism in particular not because I have any “issue” with other forms of practice or faith but because of its beautiful systematic approach to the relief of suffering.

My mother recently passed away after an extended illness and I found that the words of the Buddha, the practice of Mindful Breathing, and the works of Ajahn Chah, Ajahn Sumedho, Ajahn Amaro (and others) brought me immense relief. I am now convinced that a life of Buddhist study and practice is what lies ahead for me.

I have enjoyed browsing the Abhayagiri website in recent weeks and am looking forward to participating along with all of you…

Thanks,
Chris

Welcome to the all the new members. Be well in your practice of the Dhamma.

Greetings.

So much could be said, but what is important?

Survived Hodgkins Disease 5 years ago.

Have been reading the suttas since leaving a Acts style community in 1997.  http://www.twelvetribes.com

Live in Sacramento and am not a part of a formal Sangha yet realize that Sangha is necessary and a natural fruit of following the Buddha’s teachings.

Have backpacked across America three times in my life; The last time after my cancer with three pairs of scrubs and a hammock system. There is peace and freedom in homelessness; My only fear is the uncertainty of abandoning money because I have a two inch lift on my right shoe yet the use of money can cause so much confusion.

My meditation practice is undisciplined by Buddha’s standard; my large frame causes me pain sitting in the suggested positions for any length of time; put me in a chair and sitting is a release. The same with walking.

Read the forum entries and have much respect for those who write about their experiences, practice, and longevity; I can relate with Westwind’s testimony of cleaning house for 23 years; it causes respect.  If anyone lives in the Sacramento area who is affiliated with Abhayagiri or practices according to Ajahn Chah’s or Ajahn Sumedho’s teachings, I would like to meet you.

Want to come to the monastery after the monks return from retreat to take the precepts.

in care,
Jacob

I am 67 years old and close to retirement.  My wife and I live just south of Yosemite.  The closest meditation center is California Vipassana Center, Dhamma Mahavana in North Fork, CA.  I have meditated for 35 years.  The first 23 years were spent cleaning myself up.  Meditating and looking at what comes up into the consciousness, discerning the issue, determining right behavior for the issue, and doing it all over again the next day.  For the first 23 years I would meditate nearly every day for about 45 minutes.

My wife and I have participated in several meditation seminars and weekly sittings while living in the San Francisco bay area.  Spirit Rock, Mt. Madonna, weekly sittings in Berkeley and also the Vipassana Center in Berkeley were activities we both enjoyed.  Since then meditation has been more spontaneous, on the fly as the occasion merits.  Most recently I have been finding myself more in tune with other peoples’ problems without including my own self and my own issues.  This way of approaching problems becomes very freeing and increasingly peaceful.

Hi everyone
My name is Aman (it’s my nickname, means “peace") . I’m 21 and live in India.
I was introduced to mantra meditation by my guru, which I still practice. My parents too are avid meditators, and I’m so glad now that they taught me about these things.
My first exposure to buddhist meditation was when I read books by SN Goenka ji. It made sense, specially the part where he says that we are responsible for who we are and the situation we are in, and that heaven and hell are states of mind, within us. I heard about Samatha and Vispassana. Then my dad showed me a book on Milarepa, the great Tibetan yogi. Besides, the Dalai Lama is of course a great ambassador for Buddhism, what strikes me about him is that he’s so happy. 
The dhamma talks by the Ajahns are inspirational, a real blessing and I enjoy listening to them. It was actually an interview by Ajahn Amaro that first got me to this site.
I look forward to learning more about meditation.

Peace, love and happiness.

Kris,

I have been to several of the various Dhamma centers around here in Tampa, including Bodhi Tree! I’m quite fond of Jim, who runs the place, but it is simply too far away for me to commute to very often. There is also a large a Thai temple on the river here with a great big new beautiful Dhamma hall in the style of the colorful monasteries in Thailand. I frequent this WAT on some of the major celebrations and Upasotha days, but for the most part do not take part in normal activities there because it is not very prepared to cater to English speaking westerners and is mainly a Thai cultural center. They certainly do have some tasty food though! I have settled in with a quaint little Sri Lankan vihara which happens to actually be practically just around the corner from the Thai WAT. It is amusing when the Thai and Sri Lankan monks get together and attempt to chant because they use different rhythm schemes and they mess each other up! This vihara has a nice meditation group that meets weekly and discusses in english, as well as a bi-weekly Dhamma class in which we are currently covering Bhikkhu Bodhi’s recent book “In thhe Buddha’s Words” one chapter at a time. Maybe we will run into each other sometime Kris! Thanks for your interest.

-James

Welcome James,

Glad you’re here! There are several temples and centers in the Tampa area. Have you had an opportunity to visit any? I have relatives in St. Pete that we usually visit once a year. I had planned to visit Bodhi Tree Dhamma Center this past March but was unable to make the trip.

Kris

Hello everyone! My name is James and I live in Tampa, Florida. I am a full time student in secondary (chemistry) education at USF, and I work full time as well as a veterinary technician at Temple Terrace Animal Hospital. I became intimately acquainted with the Dhamma 5 years ago when I move up to North Carolina for a year. While I was up there I went looking for a community to participate and make friends in, and thinking I could accomplish 2 things at once, I decided I would satisfy my curiosity about Buddhism and seek out the closest temple. Little did I realize just how lucky I was to have moved where I did because I was just outside of WAT Carolina, which is a beautiful monastery under the dhammayut order and the leadership of a gifted monk named Tan Ajahn Phrakru. I’ve been hooked ever since!

I am very busy most of the time, so I have limited posting ability (in fact, I am in class waiting for it to start as I write this!), but I plan on contributing however I can to this worthy forum!

Thanks!

-James

P.S. My name comes from here:

What do you think, monks: Which is greater, the tears you have shed while transmigrating & wandering this long time — crying & weeping from being joined with what is displeasing, from being separated from what is pleasing — or the water in the four great oceans?… This is the greater: The tears you have shed… Why is that? From an inconstruable beginning, monks, comes transmigration. A beginning point is not evident, though beings hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving are transmigrating & wandering on. Long have you thus experienced stress, experienced pain, experienced loss, swelling the cemeteries — long enough to become disenchanted with all conditioned things, enough to become dispassionate, enough to be released.

— S XV.3

Hello everyone, I’m Don but have the nickname kleewyck. For those that wonder where that comes from, it’s a Hiada Indian word meaning “Laughing One”. It was a name given to a canadian Painter Emily Carr that spent her life documenting the life of the Coastal indians in Canada. I liked the name and it was very uncommon on so I was able to use it on a number of internet sites without conflict, which was a good thing.

I think somewhere in my past I came into contact with Buddhism as even as a child I knew I had to know more about it. I did some reading as a teen but life quickly got in the way and 20 years flew by until I went back to school. There I was reintroduced to buddhism and meditation. I realized that much of what I had felt about the world around me was explained in the teachings. I started exploring more but listening to podcasts from various sites and reading books mostly by Thich Nhat Hanh. I also have managed to start to meditate daily for 30 minutes every morning and working to expand that to 30 in the evening.

I’m looking for ways to deepen my practice and get in contact with others wishing to do the same. I’m looking forward to corresponding with like minded people.

Don…

Hi again everyone,

This is actually a re-introduction. I was away from posting for so long that I forgot my sign in info and had to join again. Screen name was Kris, now KrisR.

Welcome, JB!

Glad to have you join us. Sounds like you’ve had your hands full with all sorts of dukkha. But it also sounds like your years of practice have been a blessing—helping you to get through it all.

The idea of becoming a monk seems to be a theme in this group right now. Please check out a thread on that subject. I’m about to contribute a few thoughts there.

Take good care,
Dorothea

Hi folks,

I go by “JB.” Please feel free to call me that in spite of my handle, which is what I used for most bulletin boards.

I’m 37, been a lay Buddhist for 10 years or so, and am going through a pretty heavy transitional period now. Last year my mother died, my dad almost died, and I had a long period of unemployment. I work in the computer world and it can be pretty unstable and unsatisfying for me. This year I’m going through a separation from my wife of 9 years, and this month I’m moving. I think I’ll have the whole set if I can get a major illness for myself!

Anyway, all this has me thinking pretty hard about becoming a monk, something I’ve always been interested in. Both my wife & I have said we would go monastic if the other died. Well, no one’s dead, thankfully, and now the opportunity is there. I talked to an ex-monk and he looked at the monastery I was interested in (Birken Forest, here in British Columbia) and felt I should look at more places, since I have dual U.S./Canadian citizenship.

So part of why I’m here is to check out Abhayagiri. It’s also nice, of course, to encounter a committed lay community. I sit weekly with D.I.Y. Dharma, a group here in Vancouver that I helped establish. It’s in the tradition (loosely speaking) of Noah Levine, the guy who wrote Dharma Punx.

Anyway, I look forward to participating in the discussions. Cheers!

Aloha all,

My name is Steve, and I live with my wife and our two teens on Oahu.  I sometimes sit with the Vipassana Hawaii sangha down in Honolulu, and have benefitted greatly from a few retreats over the past couple years given by Sayadaw U Lakkhana, Grahame White and Dr. Thynn Thynn, all held at the Palolo Zen Center (also on Oahu).  I first learned vipassana technique from John Travis around 1994, back when we lived in California (Berkeley and Sacramento). 

My first encounter with Buddhism came when I was a teen, around age 14, back in Chicago in 1967 when I joined a very early Nichiren Shoshu group.  Fortunately, my parents were exceedingly liberal and did not freak out when I brought home a Pure Land scroll (Dai Gohonzon) to hang in my room and chant before mornings!  That “phase” passed, and I’ve been involved in meditation ever since, mainly practicing Shabd Yoga as taught by Kirpal SIngh from around 1972-1994 when I re-turned to vipassana.

I’m quite fortunate in having a wife who supports my practice, good health, access to excellent teachers, and a couple of teenage kids (son 17, daughter 14) who are fierce dharma teachers.  All the requisites for the lay life! LOL!

So, not too much to say.  I have to mention I have also benefitted greatly from the audio downloads of dharma talks by the ajahns at Abhayagiri, whose words accompany me often during my drive to work.  I hope to visit the monastery someday.

I have a few questions I’ll post in the appropriate forums, later on.

With metta,

Steve Diamond

Hello everyone

My name is Jane and it’s very nice to be here. Brief introduction - I started meditating 10 years ago when encouraged to attend a retreat at the Vipassana centre in the S.N.Goenka tradition here in the the UK, inspired by the example of my sister and her husband. Since then I have found my way to Amaravati and Chithurst Monasteries. I am lucky enough to live about an hour between each one.

I have two young children (daughters now 5 and 7); I am both a stay at home mum and a student, currently doing a degree in Music; both of these things are facilitated by a generous and supportive family.

I felt a deep connection with this tradition as soon as I encountered it and feel very lucky to have come across it! I am pleased Sakula has initiated this forum and look forward to sitting in on the discussions.

With warm good wishes to all,

Jane