A View on Buddhism

[unkempt]

[WuMing426]

My family just grew to 10, 3 weeks ago. The baby's pics are in the "Prayers for a Rescue" thread. He's growing like mad, and is quite the clown.
_________________
A society will be judged by the way it treats its most vulnerable members- the animals. -Gandhi
Everything comes to pass, nothing comes to stay. -Matthew Flickstein
One who hates the feline is one not to be trusted.- Chinese proverb

[Nools]

Hi everyone!

I'm new around here so I thought I'd add to this thread and introduce myself.

NAME: Nools (a nickname for Nuala)
LOCATION: Ireland
AGE: 38
HEIGHT: About 5' 5" I think
WEIGHT: I don't know. More than it should be!
HAIR: Long, slightly wavy and auburn-brown
EYES: Bluish grey
LIKES: Connecting with people, laughing, nature, the sea, helping, living alone, tea, lots more that I can't think of just now
DISLIKES: feeling under pressure, smoking, bigotryand lack of consideration
BOOKS: I seem to like a lot of different genres. I think Anna Karenina is one of my favourite novels. My bookshelves are filled with everything from all the Harry Potters to Charles Dickens to Margaret Atwood to Douglas Adams to Sogyal Rinpoche. There's a lot of non-fiction there and some poetry too - Anna Akhmatova is one of my favourite poets.
CURRENTLY READING: The Art of Happiness by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. I think he's just wonderful. I'm also reading a lot of Buddhist articles and essays online.
MUSIC: Haven't had favourites since my teens! I love just about any type. I think music is the art form that gives voice to emotion most directly. I find some of my favourite music almost too sad and painful to listen to even though it's beautiful.
FAVOURITE FOOD: Mmm, that's tricky. It would be savoury rather than sweet. Cheese would be quite high up there. Ripe tomatoes. Good bread with olive oil. Mashed potato and gravy on a cold, miserable day. A bacon butty. aromatic crispy duck. Fish and chips with lashings of salt and vinegar. Avoca broccoli and chickpea salad. (I'm trying to eat more vegetarian food but I'm not there yet!)
FAVOURITE COLOUR: Deep blue but it depends on the context. Sometimes orange/saffron
FAVOURITE ANIMAL: I don't know. I love dogs because they're so affectionate and loyal but there are so many others.
SAYING OF THE MOMENT: 'That's interesting, I'll have to think about that'.

[rudyh01]

Hi Nuala,

Welcome to our gang!

That's an unusual name, is it Irish? Somehow it sounds African to me?
_________________
Love & clear light,
Rudy

[beginners mind]

Hi Nuala

Great to have you hear.

Love your profile answers and we share some things in common.
Bacon sarnies being one of them. I am still looking for the "inspiration" to turn back to being veggie but............

I am also 38 and like living alone and reading Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche wisdom!

Hope you like it here
you get a friendly ear
It's a nice place
with a slower plodding pace
and not without a friendly face......or two!

There is Rudy for wisdom
Mitch for Zen
Diane for cat talk
And Jeff, simply Amen!
Don't forget Matt
For compassionate chat
And many more for a conversation or two.....
_________________
“When you realise how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky”

Buddha

[Nools]

Thank you both for the lovely warm welcome! This is a really nice forum, have you ever walked into a room where you don't know anyone but for some reason you feel immediately comfortable and "at home"? Well that's how I feel here, so many thanks for that.

Rudy, I love the idea that my name sounds so exotic but, no - it's Irish, pronounced Noola.

Beginners Mind - I love your poem! What a great welcome! BTW, your dog is so cute!

[Gary]

Great to see a few more members, welcome all!
_________________
Oneness is reality.
Oneness perceived is duality.
Duality is illusion.
Oneness perceived is illusion.

[Mani]

Hi, Everybody!

I'm new here, so a little introduction is in order I suppose.

I'm a male in my early to mid thirties. I've had a great interest in Buddhism for many years that never really got any further than some reading and a lot of procrastination! I have been practicing seriously for about a year know, and practice in a Vajrayana tradition. I think that there is much to learn from those from all schools, and that each of our practices is a matter of our causes and conditions. In this way I value those from all traditions. Getting there is really just as important (if not more) than how you get there, isn't it?

I found books by HHDL such as "How to Practice"... as well as Songyal Rinpoche's "Tibetan Book of Living and Dying" great when first getting my feet wet. Great books! Right now I study Lam Rim (Tsongkhapa's great text, as well as "Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand", a great teaching/commentary of Lam Rim). I have also been studying Madhyamaka (middle way) lately. That's a handful right there!

I love animals, though I don't currently have any. I sometimes joke that if I could show all humans the same compassion that I show towards animals...

I don't listen to the amount of music that I used to, but now I enjoy the odd bit of "mantra/chanting music", Yanni, etc.

OK enough about me for now, I look forward to exchanging thoughts and ideas with the rest of you!

Mani

[rudyh01]

Hi Mani

Hope you will feel at home here.
_________________
Love & clear light,
Rudy

[Nools]

Hi Mani,

Nice to hear from you, I'm new here myself.

I'm always interested in what books others find helpful, not that I have much free time for reading these days.

I can identify with the procrastination, one of worst habits but I'm trying to beat it.

I really enjoy reading the discussions here and I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

Nuala

[Jahda]

Hi Mani!

to the forum!
_________________
To study the Way is to study the self.
To study the self is to forget the self.
To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things.
To be enlightened by all things is to remove the barriers between one's self and others.

Dogen

[Mani]

Hey, thanks for the welcome everyone

From having a poke around I see that you have a pretty friendly and informative community here.



Glad to be here

Mani

[JP]

hello all. i am new here. my first name is justin. i'm a few months away from my 30th birthday and i live in new jersey in the u.s. in the last year, a lot has happened for the worse and i've been searching for answers to why that is.
_________________
close your eyes and look around

[JP]

i don't have a computer, so i do this from my phone......i wasn't brought up on any sort of religion and have been asking for help from many different kinds. buddhism is the only one that seemed to answer, so here i am.
_________________
close your eyes and look around

[Nools]

Hi Justin,

Nice to have you here - you'll find lots of helpful people who will share what they know. I'm sorry to hear you've had a tough time recently although I can identify with that leading to Buddhism. Lets hope 2010 and your 30th birthday bring a change for the better.

Nuala