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New Dharma for New Now
lobster
Crusty Veteran
There I was reading some Rumi in the Hollow Bones Zen training manual ...
http://www.mondozen.org
I have lived on the lip
of insanity, wanting to know reasons, knocking on a door. It opens.
I've been knocking from the inside.
~ Rumi
Sanghas like treeleaf are online, monks Skype, lamas email ... and here we are ...
How has Dharma evolved to help you?
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Comments
In the relatively short time I have followed the Dhamma, I can't say it has evolved to help me.
I have evolved to LET it help me.
Meditation timer apps, dharma podcasts and You Tube clips. I first encountered Buddhism back in 1994 so pretty much anything internet/computer Dharma.
Dharma has evolved to be more digestible to my western mind, more experienced western teachers to translate the insights.
Living in rural Illinois, I can say that without the internet I never would have been able to learn about the dharma or talk to Buddhists as I do now. I think accessibility is what's helped me the most
I'm reminded of this....
"Everything evolves will come to mean that nothing is true!"
~ Nietzsche~
The more there is, the more there is. And now that Al Gore has invented the Internet, the more I can find. So it has evolved in quantity, quality, and accessibility, which has helped me greatly.
Well, now that I'm on this forum, I'm part of a Sangha for the first time.
Before I only had the Buddha and Dharma. Now all 3 jewels are mine. Woot!
Thanks guys.
I found this comment particularly pertinent:
Those of us living in liberal, tolerant areas are likely to have Buddhist Sangha access. Thereby providing friendly advice, teaching and support. However some may be surrounded by oppressive Christianity with no outlet. Some may have to be closet-Buddhists.
We are I guess, a lay sangha. We regularly provide links to more in depth guidance and basic dharma.
Recently I have been more active on https://insighttimer.com which is very broad in its range, including meditators from other tradititions.
Youtube has a broad range of teachings and teachers. I tend to favour teachers raised in UK or USA. As @person says they are more accessible if familiar with these cultures.
My first serious encounter with Buddhism was via Osho's lectures, first when I was young and more recently a couple of years ago when I listened to a long series on the Dhammapadda. That convinced me to make a more serious study of Buddhism.
I started listening to talks on YouTube, from Thich Nhat Hanh, Ajahn Sumedho, Ajahn Amaro, Ajahn Brahm. I joined here. I've been reading books, the most influential so far being TNH's The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching. Though people call it unreliable I've found Wikipedia's articles on Buddhism a great help. I've read quite a bit through Access to Insight. I've been studying with a local sangha, who I found on the internet.
So you could say most of my access to Buddhism has been mediated through technology, augmented by some old-fashioned techniques.
I was going to start a new thread on New Age Dharma ... let us see how we get on here ...
I value New Age Dharma, increasingly. It permeates many 'spiritual' formats. A vague alignment to dharma. A statue here. A mantra there. Not eating our friends the animals ( I am a cannibal incidentally
) a liking for incense and the Dala Lama.
Many of us start with Choprah Winfrey dharma before becoming hard core. Any fanatics yet?
'Enlightenment or Death!'
Good plan! New age dharma lite, how to approach and what can you gain...