Starting up a Buddhist flat share forum...
Vanilli
Veteran
Hi everyone,
I want to start up a forum where people can look for Buddhist flatmates. This isn't a very wide pool of people so I was thinking of maybe including veggies, yogis, meditators, people that grow their own food - basically a forum to link together like minded groups of people that support sustainable, eco friendly and emotionally healthy ways of living 
. Also if people needed a place to stay when visiting another city etc, then they could post of the forum
I was also thinking that there could be a book swap section and people could set up book groups, discussion groups and walking, sitting and metta meditation groups in their city - basically just connecting Buddhists in different ways to support everyone's practice
Is this something you guys would be interested in? I'm in my 20s so I am in the flat sharing stage , I know most people here are older, but I'd love to live with other Buddhists who would support my practice
I'm still undecided about which categories to include or not include so suggestions are welcome !
Comments
@Vanilli I think that's a great idea
, I specially like the book groups, it will be very interesting to see other Buddhist point of view on books.
PS. if anyone ever visited Tampa,FL the are always welcome to my house
Sweet Nichy
!! Thanks so much for your feedback 
!
another one I would suggest is dating advice for Buddhist (boy do I need it sometimes lol)
Hmmm..... a Buddhist is just another human being with a label attached.
Simply because someone is Buddhist in no way guarantees that harmony will prevail or that people will see eye-to-eye and get along...
I speak from some experience: A student I was at school with decided to house-share with fellow Christians. Eventually, six other people shared the large house with her. Two of these people came from her parish and worshipped at the same church.
Within the year things turned decidedly sour for some.
In the end, she had to speak to my parents' neighbour, who was a solicitor dealing in these very matters. it took a while to sort the mess out....
Simply because somebody follows the same path as you, does not mean, in any way that their footwear is the same, too.
I think it sufficient to have a clear set of boundaries, agreements and contracts, IN PLACE, before a tenancy commences.
Matters such as deposits, damage, breakages, privacy, use of communal areas, cleanliness, use of amenities and facilities, with maybe a whiteboard for rotas (emptying bins, taking trash to kerbside, clearing dishwasher, use of washing machine) need to be considered.
Is there a garden?
Are you all going to pitch in and hire a gardener once a month, to do the heavy stuff, or are you going to accept that responsibility jointly?
What about local council Tax (or equivalent) household bills, window-cleaning, maintenance...
Maybe all of this is already under way and considered, or maybe it all still needs doing, but remember that there is the discrimination factor as well.
Would local laws permit you to offer rental to one social group only?
The above may be useful to some, so I'll leave it up, but I just realised you weren't looking to actually set up an abode, but a forum for Buddhists LOOKING for an abode.
Sorry.
Haha, oh my god, that's a great idea Nichy
- Buddhist dating advice, didn't even think of that...or Buddhist singles even :P - haha it might get a little overloaded with categories 
lol, Vanilli, I think there's a Buddhist single website just like Christian single
.
Hey
, that's okay 
sound advice, thank you. I agree, that of course it doesn't mean that everyone will get along and it will all work out. But I think in general Buddhists are working on their minds so it could be helpful and supportive, of course I would recommend people meet up and see if they get along first 
.
@Vanilli This could prove very useful. It's a really interesting idea, and could be great for people who are looking for like-minded people as flatmates.
Cheers tibellus
, I was just looking around and thinking I'd love to live with Buddhists! I just started volunteering at the Buddhist cafe (in the Buddhist center near my house) and I was thinking it would so cool to live with people as chilled and lovely as this 
. One of the guys who volunteers there also lives at the center and he was saying it's great to live there because everyone is working on their minds and I thought it would be so cool if everyone could have the opportunity to experience that without actually moving to a center or something 
Hey @Vanilli - I subscribe to Tricycle magazine (Buddhist quarterly mag from the USA) and they always have an advertisement for http://dharmamatch.com/ - a buddhist dating site. Check it out!
@ Vanilli
I have lived with other Buddhists for many years.
While many people call themselves Buddhist (and I am not saying some are not), their behaviors can be as diverse a sampling of humanity as you can imagine.
Try to keep your expectations within the 4NT range for suffering's sake.
I have found that it's not so much whether your flat mate is a Buddhist or not but whether the priority that you both place on your Buddhist practices, compliments the others practice in some way.
Best of luck
Just being a Buddhist is not important. You should be confident about person.
Have a best luck!!
I was wondering if there are any buddhists in São Paulo - Brazil besides me!
@dantepw i'm sure they are some, you just have to find them...
You might find some suggestions reading up on Chogyam Trungpa's idea of Buddhist community. Not that you have to take on his brand of Buddhist, but he had ideas of creating Buddhist communities and started a Buddhist college. It's pretty interesting the way they live. They are not all Buddhist students, but they are expected to live mindfully and their roommate/flatmate conflict resolution and everything else on campus reflect that. Naropa is the name of the college in Boulder, CO. You might look at their website and look at what ideas you could implement.
I think it's a lovely idea. I agree with @federica and others who mentioned that Buddhist or not, you will find very different people and there very well might still be conflict. But bringing people of like belief together to give them the option of finding each other is nice
A while ago on a retreat I asked the lama what he'd recommend for helping my youngest kid (because he was thus far mostly uninfluenced by society to the extent my older kids were) get into Buddhism. His answer was "create a Buddhist community. Create a Buddhist preschool. Whether you call it Buddhist or not, create a community of wisdom for your children." That can be extended to any community.
@Vanilli
"Flat mate wanted!"
To share flat with other Buddhists
Must be enlightened or at least on the path towards enlightenment
If interested apply within
Awesome ideas. Go for it! A forum that is oriented around starting new real-life get-togethers / flat[apartment] shares / book discussions sounds like an awesome way.
What would be a good name?
A simple yes!:)
I find that sharing our house with a non-Buddhist Welsh woman has done wonders for my practise, especially when it comes to the cultivation of patience and tolerance.
For example, she asked me last week, "So why did they bury Richard the Third in a carpark?" and instead of laughing openly in her face (bitter experience has shown me that this often ends up with me being physically hurt), I practised some equanimity and just answered in a deadpan kind of way, "Five-hundred-years-ago, it wasn't a carpark!" and I left the room.
Her nick name is 'Atisha's cook'. I expect I'll be enlightened soon.
Probably not!
What made me grin wryly about Richard's Pomp-filled recent burial is that the Mass in the CofE Cathedral is something which didn't even exist while he was king.
There was no such thing as a CoE religion. That arose during Henry VIII's time....
Although many factions arose protesting against Catholic rule, (Lollards and Protest-ants) the main ecclesiastical influence was from Rome.
So strictly speaking, he should have had a Catholic burial.
Lol.
I used to live in Buddhist communities, but living with other people is always a challenge.
It came down to the usual irritations about people not cleaning the bath and leaving the washing up.