Reason for picking the name you have on here...

YogaMama

Just curious...what was everyone's reason for picking their username on this forum? We have some interesting ones, so I am just being nosey!

Mine is somewhat obvious......I do Yoga and I am a mommy, but the reason I chose "YogaMama" as my username is because doing Yoga is what led me to Buddhism. And the "mama" part...well, I am just so proud to be a mommy!

Jason

"B'reshit bara' elohim et hashamayim..." -- "In the beginning God created the heavens..."

My children,

It is my idea that conditioned things are unequally equal.

(Unequal because there are distinct differences in the size, shape, make-up, and characteristics of things [i.e. a sun is unlike a planet, a man is not exactly like a woman, a bird is different from a squirrel, etc.]. They are equal in the fact that all conditioned things are made of the same building blocks, matter, and have their place in the chain of causation.)

The Elohim implant in us the teaching that conditioned things are equally unequal.

(Equal in the fact that everything is separate. They create and we are the created. Unequal in the fact that they claim to be unconditioned while we are merely conditioned phenomena expressing their divine existence [i.e. we are here for "God" to know "Himself"].)

We are the Elohim, and they are us. It is my idea that the Elohim are just as afraid of the unknown as we are. To hide the Truth, they think, will keep us with them. They are afraid of the True Unconditioned.

We are also afraid of this unconditioned. We play along in this game and hide the Truth from ourselves as well. Avijja (ignorance) does not rise on its own. One of the causes of avijja is our own bhaya (fear). We do not understand the Unconditioned for what it is.

The Unconditioned is not the separating annihilation that they/we fear. It is the freedom from even the subtlest stresses and limitations of existence in space and time.

.....are you buying any of this yet?

In the Gnostic view "God" is the True Unconditioned. What rules this material plane is not "God", but an abortion of Sophia (wisdom):

And the Sophia of the Epinoia, being an aeon, conceived a thought from herself and the conception of the invisible Spirit and foreknowledge. She wanted to bring forth a likeness out of herself without the consent of the Spirit, - he had not approved - and without her consort, and without his consideration. And though the person of her maleness had not approved, and she had not found her agreement, and she had thought without the consent of the Spirit and the knowledge of her agreement, (yet) she brought forth. And because of the invincible power which is in her, her thought did not remain idle, and something came out of her which was imperfect and different from her appearance, because she had created it without her consort. And it was dissimilar to the likeness of its mother, for it has another form. - Apocryphon of John

So, through gnosis (knowledge) they believed we can have an enlightenment to the Truth and reclaim our place with/in the Unconditioned. It sounds strangely similar to a what a Buddhist style of Christianity might be like, if such a wisdom tradition were to impregnate a theistic mysticism. If I were to be Christian, I would most certainly choose to be a Gnostic.

Either I am giving you a hint of truth, or I am continuing this charade of mis-information.

In conclusion, I must state that I really do not have much of a point to this. I am talking pure nonsense. I cannot believe you even read it this far. That is the power of the Elohim! Either way believe what you want, but the truth is out there.....or is in here? Mwuhahahahahahaha!

You---> :bowdown:

Me ---> :PWNED:

You---> :wtf:

Me ---> :rarr:

You---> :grr:

Me ---> :rockon:

You--->

YogaMama

Elohim = CRAZY

Simonthepilgrim

My mother called me Simon and I chose to be a pilgrim.

Jason

Me = :crazy:



The real answer is:

I just happened to be reading a lot about Jewish mysticism at the time I signed up. I was reading the Zohar, the Bahir, the Sefer Yetzirah, God is a Verb, and various other Kabbalah-related literature. I find religion a fascinating subject.

Elohim is a name for God in the Hebrew Scriptures, and it's etymology is prehistoric. It appears some 2500 times in the Torah, which is the first five books of the Hebrew Bible (from where the Christian Old Testament originates). Many people have argued that it is a plural name of El ('Sons of El' or 'the gods'.) This gave rise to the belief that Yahweh was one of many such 'Gods', however, others say that the masculine plural's construction is usually singular. Perhaps it was made such to denote respect, or "one God with many attributes"......blah, blah, blah.

Whatever the true meaning and history of said name, I have found it very intriguing. I happened to think it a very appropriate at yet strangely ironic name for a Buddhist forum.

Jason

Simonthepilgrim

Jason, itself, is a name with wonderful mythic overtones for any European, realting, as it does, to the penetration of the pre-Hellenic Greeks into the Pontus Euxinus (Black Sea) for the first time. Memories of the heroic past.

Mind you, one of our great poets, Les Barker, wrote a poem entitled "Jason and the Arguments":

Jason was a golden youth
Who lived in the city of Troy;
He went in search of the Golden Fleece
Though he never quite said woy.
Jason's gang went with him
When he went off on his wanders;
He rode a Grecian 2000
But the rest of the lads had Hondas.
"It's Jason and the Arguments!"
"Argonauts! that's what we're called;
no we're not; yes we are; no we're not;"
So arguments they were after all.

Jason's parents were vegetarian,
Voted SDP,
And had Trojan Horse No Thanks stickers
On the back of their 2CV.
But Jason was not like his parents;
Where they preached love, he would hate;
he superglued the cat to the record player
And played it at seventy eight.
But who are these valiant Greeks,
Sailing off in a pea-green yacht?
Jason and the Arguments;
No it's not; yes it is; no it's not.

They sailed in search of the Golden Fleece
That shone, as with sun-given rays;
Sheep are all like that round Sellafield,
Though it was called something else in those days.
Through the uncharted Irish Sea,
They sailed through the night, all alone
The Isle of Man hasn't got a lighthouse
'Cos it glows quite enough on its own,
And who are these valiant Greeks,
Who navigate by the Pole Star?
Jason and the Arguments;
"Yes we are; no we're not; yes we are."

By the light of the Morecambe Bay prawns
They knew their destination was near;
And when they saw Cerberus, the three-headed dog;
"This must be Sellafield; we're here!"
"Are you sure it's safe?" they asked,
In the purple light of the bay;
"Don't worry; it's perfectly safe,"
Said a spokesman from a long way away.
They were met by a two-headed maiden
Herding a four-headed cow
At a village just south of Workington
Or Not-workington as they call it now,
"Welcome to Excremont," she said,
And very appropriate too;
"Do you call yourself Jason and the Arguments?"
Yes, we do; no, we don't; yes, we do."

Though she'd two civil tongues in her heads,
Jason thought she was two faced;
She had far more breasts than he could handle
And her dress had a low-level waist.
WAre you sure it's safe?" asked Jason,
Perturbed by the two-headed spinster;
"Don't worry; it's perfectly safe,"
Called a voice from the Palace of Westminster;
"Shepherds never lose their flocks;
They can see them, lit up, on the peaks,
And as for market gardening,
We're famours for our leaks,
You must face the cross-eyed Cyclops
Who lives in a cave on the moo."
The wind was strong as they climbed the hill,
As they made their way up to his door;
It was around force 8 on the Windscale,
Though you mustn't call it that now;
It's nothing to do with Sellafield
And neither's the four-headed cow.

The giant fixed them with his baleful stare,
Which no one seemed to like.
He said: "I am the Cyclops;
My friends all call me bike;
My name is Polyphemus,
Rocks and boulders I hurl;
Mr and Mrs Phemus
Called me Poly 'cos they wanted a girl,"
Poly wasn't too bright;
Poly, in fact, was quite dim;
Which makes it all the more surprising
They named all those colleges after him.
He was no match for quick-witted Jason,
Whose longsword flashed twice in the sky
The Cyclops' ears lay deaf on the floor
And his hat fell down over his eye.
"Nothing can stop us!" cried Jason;
"Whatever tries, we shall kill!
What do you say, me brave arguments?"
"Yes, we will; no, we won't; yes, we will!"

The arguments were spoiling for a fight;
It seemed nothing could stand 'gainst their wrath
Until they saw the terrible beast
That lay, like a curse, in their path.
The fearsome seven-headed Nolan
Guarded the Golden Fleece;
Jason looked for an argument;
They were suddenly halfway to Greece.
The seven-headed singing Nolan,
A sight no man can face;
And whenever one head got married,
Two more grew in it's place.
The ultimate fast breeder;
Jason called it a day.
"It's nothing to do with Sellafield."
Said a voice from a long way away.

The mythology may be all wrong but I laughed so loud when I first heard Les that I actually fell off my chair. I do recognise, however, that it is very British in its references.

Brian

I had to think long and hard about mine.....

Abraham

Me too :-/

thedreamingtree

THE DREAMING TREE IS A FAVORITE SONG OF MINE THAT WAS PLAYING WHEN I FELL IN LOVE WITH MY WIFE AT A DAVE MATTHEWS CONCERT.....lyrics are as follows

Standing here
The old man said to me
Long before these crowded streets
Here stood my dreaming tree
Below it he would sit
For hours at a time
Now progress takes away
What forever took to find
Now he's falling hard
He feels the falling dark
How he longs to be
Beneath his dreaming tree
Conquered fear to climb
A moment froze in time
When the girl who first he kissed
Promised him she'd be his
Remembered mother's words
There beneath the tree
No matter what the world
You'll always be my baby
Mommy come quick
The dreaming tree has died
The air is growing thick
A fear he cannot hide
The dreaming tree has died
Oh have you no pity
This thing I do
I do not deny it
All through this smile
As crooked as danger
I do not deny
I know in my mind
I would leave you now
If I had the strength to
I would leave you up
To your own devices
Will you not talk
Can you take pity
I don't ask much
But won't you speak
Please
From the start
She knew she had it made
Easy up 'til then
For sure she'd make the grade
Adorers came in hordes
To lay down in her wake
She gave it all she had
But treasures slowly fade
Now she's falling hard
She feels the fall of dark
How did this fall apart
She drinks to fill it up
A smile of sweetest flowers
Wilted so and soured
Black tears stain the cheeks
That once were so admired
She thinks when she was small
There on her father's knee
How he had promised her
You'll always be my baby
Daddy come quick
The dreaming tree has died
I can't find my way home
There is no place to hide
The dreaming tree has died
Oh if I had the strength
Take me back
Save me please

YogaMama

thedreamingtree wrote:

THE DREAMING TREE IS A FAVORITE SONG OF MINE THAT WAS PLAYING WHEN I FELL IN LOVE WITH MY WIFE AT A DAVE MATTHEWS CONCERT.....

Awwwwww! Now that's sweet!!!

federica

....It's my name.... but I'll probably be changing it to my name sometime soon..... :scratch:

buddhafoot

It's my band's name.

Just gotta put a "www." at the front of it and a ".com" at the end of it.

-bf

KBuck

It's just my name.

MoonLgt

MoonLgt is a short english version of my Native Name which is Sv-a-yi Ta-wa-di( Translation- Night Hawk)

comicallyinsane

Ok you are all probably wondering where I got comicallyinsane. Ok here goes. When I was 14 years old I wanted to own a comic book shop. I actually wanted to own a chain across the nation. The name I picked out was Comically Insane. At age 23 I bought a comic shop that I had my first job at and funny enough I got fired from. The girl that owned it at the time bought it from the original owner. She and I worked together there in high school. The funny things is that from time to time I still talk to the owner who fired me. He shops at the same ocmic shop I do here in Vegas. I actually hired him at Dominos about 5 years ago. Funny how things change around. We get along just fine now. LOL Of course all this happenned 12 years ago.

inchoate

I picked mine quit by accident. One night as I was contemplating what user name I would choose when I signed up and wishing to appear intelligent I opened up the dictionary and there it was Inchoate-just begun and not fully formed. Perfect as I'm just starting out in Buddhism.

federica

Yes thank you Inchoate, I too just looked it up to check the pronunciation...It's In-Ko-Ait.... I see it's the origin of the word 'incoherent' or confused, too....



Could I borrow it occasionally......?

NirvanaNoob

I picked mine because I am new to buddhism hence the name "NirvanaNoob"

DharmaKitten

Well, I love kitties. I have three, including that one in the picture, though she's more of daddy's girl. I'll have to show you guys pics of my other two sometime, including MY kitty. Anyways, I kind of see myself as a kitten when it comes to Buddhism - new, very curious and playful.

Dharma because KarmaKitten was actually taken when I was coming up with the name for another service. Not that there's anything wrong about Dharma, either.

bushinoki

In Japanese:

Bushi- Noble Warrior

no- Possesive particle

Ki- Spirit

So bushinoki= Warrior's spirit

I'm a pacifist by nature, but I'm a martial artist. I have a Westerner's sense of individualism, but I see alot of good in the attitudes and beliefs coming out of the East.

Frizzer

My surname is Frisby so my friends call me Frizzer (amongst other things!)

Sabine

Sabine's a really pretty French name. And I'm a obsessive Francophile, so ya. :rockon:

ajani_mgo

Ajani Mgo isn't really my real name... Just my online name and self-nicked nick...

I got "Ajani" from some quiz online on what name I'd be suited for... Then MGO comes from my real name Lim Zhong Hao, where m,g,o are the last characters of each word... So Ajani Mgo becomes my nick... And ajani_mgo becomes standard for any Internet account...

Padawan

My username comes from the Star Wars universe, (Like you didn't know!:p ) and was given to me by my wife. When I decided to follow the Buddhist path, she would often say to me in tense situations 'Patience, young padawan!' or 'Be mindful of the moment, padawan.' as affectionate fun, and since I can't speak Pali, Sanskrit or Tibetan, and haven't been given a Dharma name, Padawan seemed to be right on the money for me. It's appropriate, and I'm sure many will understand it- I mean, who hasn't noticed the parallels between Star Wars and Buddhism?

zenmonk_genryu

Mine was simply because I've found that Genryu on it's own is taken in many forums and other places online already, so it's simpler to just put it as I do here.

harlan

Harlan Ellison...one of my favorite writers.

Brigid

It's my name. My Catholic parents named me after St. Brigid. I use it as often as I can but when it's taken I try it's nicknames; Bridie, Biddy, Bride or Brides (pronounced Breed(s)) or I try some of my own nicknames; Boo, Bird, Birdy or Bid. (Boo is the one most people use.)

I want to be as truthful as I can without compromising security. I would feel like I was pretending if I didn't use it or something close to it. (I don't feel that anyone else is pretending when they use a name different from their given name.)

Brigid

MartinofNorwich

My name is Martin. I work in Norwich, England. Julian of Norwich (a medieval mystic)was my introduction to the mystical tradition in England. I pass her Chapel often.

Martin.

Magwang

::
::
Magwang (pronounced Maw-GWONG) is the dharma name given to me by Samu Sunim at the Toronto Zen Centre - it means Polishing & Burnishing. Everyone's names were prefixed with Ma - some people were name Maya and Maitreia - got some laughs!

And no, it doesn't mean large (mag) member (wang)...
::
::
BTW, my bunny avatar represents the human condition: driven by craving to reproduce, we discover the objects of our desire are insubstantial. Repeat.
::
::

YogaMama

Magwang, your new avatar is killing me! LOL.

Airmech

Mine is due mainly to do with my job, im an aircraft engineer hence Airmech. Its a little odd using my job as a username but im proud of achieving it.

Hanna

I was looking for a new username to use at another site, found this in a latin dictionary meaning small stream or a little water, and liked both the word and the meaning (and liked it enough to use on other sites than just the one I was looking for a username for).

HermanHesse

HH is for..........Christ, who cares anyways.

YogaMama

LOL! You are a piece of work!

HermanHesse

That''s the sweetest thing you have ever said to me.

HH

MrsKarmadillo

My online nickname is normally MrsArmadillo (just because I like armadillos *shrug*:) )

Threw in a K for good measure, specially for you!

Brigid

HH,

I want to know. Tell us..... please?

Magwang,

I second what Yogamama said. I love the avatar and I love the meaning. Absolutely hilarious!

Brigid

YogaMama

HH - you know I love ya! Even when you are irritating me!

HermanHesse

"Even when you are irritating me".

Just remember you are just one of the people. Like me, no better no worse. Except when you are wrong.

HH

buddhafoot

HH,

You mean Yoda is just one of the people that you irritate?

-bf

HermanHesse

Err... actually you are completely right BF.
HH

Xrayman

Okay I thought mine was reasonably obvious. I am interested in many things particularly Human Biology, Electronics, Medical Imaging (Magnetic Resonance Imaging, nuclear medicine, Xrays etc.) I used to repair and maintain those machines. They are kind of like my babies (LOSER-I know). So I use the moniker, Xrayman.

There is also a double entendre (is that the French word?) it is also to represent or even invoke the idea of being Insightful. Does this make sense?

regards,
Xrayman

Brigid

None whatsoever.

Just kidding, bro.

Makes all kinds of sense.

Brigid

KungaTashi

mine is very obvious as to why I chose it. I am still Looking For Answers and will be for a long long time.

KnightofBuddha

Mine is not too difficult. When I arrived here, I was fascinated by medieval times and especially sword fighting. (still am) So I called myself Knight and then since Knights are usually dedicated to something I put of Buddha down to show my dedication to meditation and the path. Thus creating Knight of Buddha. And now recently...Good Sir Knight!

Brigid

I also like the "Peaceful Warrior" part. It's very Shambhala.

YogaMama

Herman Hesse wrote:

"Even when you are irritating me".

Just remember you are just one of the people. Like me, no better no worse. Except when you are wrong.

HH

But I'm never wrong. The sooner you learn that, the better we will all get along.

Balder

My name does not mean I'm losing my hair!

It is a play on my name, combining parts of it. Years ago, in high school, I used to kid my friends that I would name my son "Oswald Balder" because it would make a rhyming mess with my last name.

It also echoes the name of a kindly Nordic god, Baldr.

sharpiegirl

I am the youngest of 4 and the only girl. With a last name of Sharpe, as children, friends of my brothers used to (and still do) refer to them as 'Sharpie'. I being the girl became, "sharpiegirl"

Brigid

LOL!! Sharpigirl, you know what I thought it was?
This is going to sound silly now but I thought that you being a teacher (grade 1 is it?) that you liked the felt tipped pens called "Sharpies". LOL! I'm an idiot!

Love,
Brigid

sharpiegirl

Brigid wrote:

LOL!! Sharpigirl, you know what I thought it was?
This is going to sound silly now but I thought that you being a teacher (grade 1 is it?) that you liked the felt tipped pens called "Sharpies". LOL! I'm an idiot!

Love,
Brigid

LOL!! Thanks funny!!!! I love it! Thanks for sharing that!

PS I do indeed have my stash of sharpie pens! and yes, it is first grade....
I'm in the middle of 'playing' leprechaun! kids are having a blast today! such imaginations!