I just attended my first Buddhist class... in an old KINGDOM HALL! (page 2)

Kudra

The "trash man" was hot. I don't usually look at guys in "muscle shirts" but this guy was just normal in kind of a all-dressed-in-black way. I shall lurk this place til I GET HIM.
Just kidding.
One quick story: I did speed-dating a week ago and had a uncomfortable interchange with this guy who was belittling my double marathon I have in a month by saying "oh, it's no big deal- I just rode a marathon on my bike (WTF?) and was totally fine afterwards."
I looked at him and laughed. and I think it hurt his ego. awww.
so I KEEP running into him (at this coffee shop) and the first time I ran into him I was like, "Hey! It's the guy who biked a marathon!" And he said "...yeah, and you're riding your bike..." So I bend over to lock my bike up, still talking, and when I look up he has high tailed it down the road...
Hilarious. I keep seeing him everywhere. I am his plague of locusts.
I can never win with guys.
Send positive vibes to me and the trash man.
-K

Kudra

And by the way- I'm glad I made you smile.
All of you guys make me smile ALL THE TIME.
-K

Arthur

Kudra and Sparkplug: Thank you so much for your input. It was very interesting.

Sparkplug wrote:

Personally I would love to go to a temple type convent place and stay a couple of years and really learn what it is all about. then I would really know if I liked it.

I don't know if you knew this or not. But, in Southern California; about 20 miles outside of Los Angeles, is the largest Buddhist temple in the Western Hemisphere. I know that many worshipers live inside. The property that it sits on is enormous. Actor Richard Gere built a house really close to it, for convenience.

frylock_lives

I took refuge with Thich Nguyen Tanh and Thich Dao Quan in vietnames Pure Land/Thien School. I've never heard of a kingdom hall turned into a temple or meditaion hall, but why not, as long as the seats can be moved out of the way. Also the platorm is a good place to put the offering table and statues of the Buddha and Boddhisatvas. Jonathon Chanh-Niem

frylock_lives

The Monestary here in Memphis is actually an big old farmhouse. It's been renovated quite a bit but it's more or less very good for the needs of the monks and nuns and the lay people, plus the large amount of land supports vegetable gardens and there is a lot of room for statues which have helped to beautify the surrounding neighborhood. One thing of interest is when clearing an overgrown thicket, they found the gravesites of the people who had lived on the farm, apparently a white farmer, his consort (probably a slave) and his children. Never buried on church property, but now on temple grounds. We cleaned up there little cemetary as best we could.

cognizant dissident

Hi everyone

I started seeing a counsellor 8 months ago who holds a meditation/discussion group in his home once a week. He is an atheist and a psychologist. He teaches and counsels from a "buddhist psychology" perspective. I asked him how he could reconcile his atheism with the traditional buddhist beliefs in reincarnation? His answer was that there are many in the psychology/counselling/helping professions who understand the value of many of the buddhist philosophies in helping one to find inner awareness and calm. One can meditate and find some peace in the buddhist philosophies without having to accept all the traditional beliefs. It is a very non-dogmatic belief system which focuses on finding enlightment and acceptance from within. He has also spent much time on retreats, some very long journeys to india and asia in the 60's.

And yes Sparky, it does work to calm and quiet the mind. My stress levels were through the roof 8 months ago when I decided that I would no longer go to meetings or be a witness. I was so upset with my 40 yr belief system crumbling I was almost irrational with the fear of what would be left of my life when the dust settled. Would my marriage survive? Would I be shunned again? Would my only child side against me and with the witnesses? I am so much calmer today. I know it is because of the meditation and the counselling that I'm finding a measure of peace and acceptance of the reality of my life and the decisions I've made and the way my family is. I know I will be OK no matter what family chaos is swirling around me.

Because there are so many different styles of meditation and different buddhist traditions, I would recommend that you do a little research and try to determine which is right for you. For myself, I was very fortunate to have stumbled accidentally on to a style that suits me fine. Some groups are much more formal and ritualistic and that would be a turn off for me because of my history with formal, organized religion, I'm still very wary. The group I attend is very informal, just a small relaxed group meditating and discussing how certain buddhist teachings can lead one to healing the human spirit on a personal level and how we can each take what we have learned personally and use it in our relationships with family and community. Its sort of a humanistic approach to making the world a better place within our sphere of influence whatever that may be, great or small, one loving or compassionate act at a time. There is absolutely no pressure to believe or not believe anything. So refreshing and freeing after being a witness. It's a very non-judgemental atmosphere and we have lots of laughs at ourselves and human nature in general as well.

Cog

Sad emo

I've been looking at zen meditation recently, I came across a brill website which covers Buddhism in general:

http://buddhanet.net/index.html

I wouldn't adopt the whole concept of Buddhism but I find the meditation helpful. We have a huge Buddhist monastery/retreat centre a few miles away. Some of the monks and associates run a cafe in our town and they hold meditations there in the daytime, I think it's great that stressed out town centre workers have somewhere to go and totally unwind.

aniron

Not much different from Kingdom Halls that were once churches. When were looking for a larger KH 20 years ago, one place we looked at was an old Presbytarian church. It was highly suitable good size etc. But unfortunately in had a graveyard in the front. Planning regulations meant we couldn't turn it into a car park, which we need.

Now here is an ideal way to use a old unused place of worship.

http://www.visitliverpool.com/site/eating-out/alma-de-cuba-p93101

tan

That's so funny. I know of an old Kingdom Hall that I used to attend is now a Buddhist Church.

I just attended my first Buddhist class... in an old KINGDOM HALL!

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