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Hello friends, I need help!
I'm seventeen years old and i live in the remote poverty stricken portion of east tennessee. I've recently been reading about buddhism and i'm very interested in what i can learn and how i can grow by applying buddhism. i dont have a temple or sangha anywhere near where i live, and being a high schooler i caan't drive those distances. so all i'm asking for is some help, some guidance, some wisdom. thank you friends 
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Comments
Regards
You are a very special person! Finding Buddhism at age 17 in a remote region of Tennessee is not an everyday occurrence. To me that says you've been given a rare gift, and indeed you may have a very special destiny in life.
Thankfully, many very valuable Buddhist treasures are freely available to you online, so poverty does not have to be a hindrance to you. This online "sangha" (group of Buddhists) can be very helpful, and there are also many online resources you can use, such as the Dhammapada, the sayings of the Buddha, which contain much wisdom.
If you can find a used bookstore, go to the Buddhism section and look through the books there. You may find one that speaks to you for just a few bucks. Carry it around with you everywhere.
One of the greatest of all free gifts is meditation, which you can start practicing any time you like. All you have to do is find a quiet place, sit with your eyes closed, and calm your mind. (Many people find it helpful to focus on their breathing--that's what I do.) The idea is to practice quieting your mind, which will become helpful to you in many ways in your life.
Feel free to ask any questions in the Beginner's Forum, for there are many kind and compassionate people here, who are willing to help you. If you would ever like to ask me a question, just send me a message.
Welcome to this wonderful path, glow-worm! You are a very special person, and you can create anything you want in life. As the Buddha said:
Make your world a beautiful one, glow-worm!
Welcome to the forum!
Visit this link, and then this one too!
The second one was a wiki page compiled entirely by a young Buddhist friend of mine, and is very detailed, accurate and in-depth.
It's an extraordinarily intricate profile of Buddhism, so there's much that may fly over your head.
I know this for sure, because it does with me, too!
But don't let that worry you - just keep it as a bookmarked reference page on your google.... it's fascinating to dip into!
I hope you find what you need here!
You're on the cusp of adulthood, and undoubtedly you will eventually find your way to someplace that has a sangha that you can be a part of. There is something indescribable about group meditation to me. But in the mean time, as suggested above, start reading and walking the path on your own.
Peace,
Mtns
Welcome to the site. It's lovely to meet you.
I too find it wonderful and quite amazing that you've found Buddhism at such a young age and in such a remote location of the U.S. Like Mountains, I wish I'd found Buddhism at your age instead of in my 40's (or late 30's really....). Once you really get into it you'll probably see how advantageous it is to start young because there is a lot to learn and practice. Having said that, don't worry about how much there is to learn. Just go at your own pace. A lot of stuff won't make sense at first but when you come across it again at a later date you'll see that it has started to sink in. It's an amazing process and it has the potential to change your life forever in the best ways possible.
I'm excited for you. You've truly discovered the way to end your suffering. You're on the path to genuine peace and joy and everything you learn is going to help you every day of your life.
Fede gave you two fantastic links to get you started. You'll be referring to them a lot so you'll probably want to save them.
You might want to start your journey by learning about the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, the Five Precepts, the Three Characteristics of Existence (or Marks of Existence, or Seals....), and breath meditation (look for instructions for beginners). That should keep you busy for quite a while.
If you're doing research online and you come across something that you're not sure about, like a Buddhist website or info that seems strange, feel free to run it past us. There are some pretty experienced Buddhists around here and with the bunch of us acting as checks and balances in regard to Buddhist resources, it's more than likely that you'll be steered in the right direction.
Finally, don't worry about sounding stupid. We have all sounded stupid and some of us still do. *blush* You're allowed to sound stupid. When you're not sure of something, look it up. Try to find the answer yourself first because that way you're more likely to remember it. But if you get really stuck or just want some opinions about things, use us as a resource. I can't guarantee that you'll always get the right answer but I can guarantee that you'll get lots of different perspectives. Ultimately you're going to need to find the truth of things for yourself. Don't believe anybody or anything until you've examined it to your own full satisfaction.
Again, it's lovely to meet you and I hope you find this site as helpful and friendly as I have.
http://www.buddhanet.net/library.htm
More info than you shake a stick at.:D I also recommend highly Federica's links. Definitely enough info to get you well on your way.
Best wishes to you in your journey along the middle path:bigclap::cheer:
Nanimo:om:
In buddhism its not all so easy. Like you read 2 books and then your just the happy walking smiley face. So a big part of what you'll find in meditation probably is some dissatisfaction boredom with mixtures of some good feeling and some sense of easing up a bit. Meditation has a lot of gifts and the first one is to persist and just not have a knee-jerk escape reaction to some thought we don't like. Another gift is to be gentle as you drift off you find being hard on yourself just makes you space out even more! Thats part of the balance you'll find that you can learn about in books but ultimately you only learn from your experience. Another gift of meditation is to see things. As you persist and ease up a bit you will have more courage to see yourself and your mind. Things that are scary. But a lot of meditation is having the right touch so to speak. Try to remember what in the first place motivated you to practice. In frustrating times sometimes just remember that part and take a break from whatever is not working.
I can link you to a site with some free audio/video teachings if you PM me. I hesitate to link in the post for various reasons.