Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Examples: Monday, today, last week, Mar 26, 3/26/04
Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.

better forum categories

patbbpatbb Veteran
edited February 2011 in NewBuddhist.com
People come here with very little ideas of what Buddhism is, and are often regarding this website as some kind of authority in the subject.

I believe that many are mislead into thinking all kind of random things by other people who have no, or very little idea what they are talking about.
There are some good advices but very often they are often buried under piles of nonsense.

The problem with this is that people are looking for solution to their problems, sometimes real problems and they could actually possibly change their lives for the better, putting behind them years of misery and opening up a whole new beautiful chapter of their lives.

But what happen when someone get misled may very well mean that this person will greatly delay or even put aside Buddhism forever and doing so abandon virtually all hope of finding peace and love in their lives.
Which is obviously a terrible prospect and the direct opposite of what anyone would wish to happen in here.


I believe this got worse lately, somehow this website had a pretty good balance of more advanced members in the past but now the balance have shifted.
I see people left and right asking questions about the most basic teachings of Buddhism in one thread, and going into another to advice someone on very important subjects.


My suggestion would be to change the forum categories to add categories such as "what is Buddhism", Buddhist philosophy compared to other philosophies, or simply re-direct most of the "Buddhist for beginners" subjects into the "general banter" subject because most of the threads in the beginner section are not related to Buddhism at all.


I'd like to get the opinion of other more advance members on this if you would like to share.

ps: The website have grown, and became a strange creature where people do not come to learn but to speculate enormously with very little understanding of Buddhism and Buddhism practice while giving advices that have nothing to do with Buddhism.

Thank you

Comments

  • I don't think what you want can ever happen on a website like this where everyone is free to post as they wish. You can change categories and that might meet some of your goals so go for it, but that part wasn't clear to me.

    What I think you want is for a member to have a title bestowed upon them 'advanced practitioner' and only these people can post in certain areas. That isn't ever going to happen. And you are never ever going to control who posts what.

    Your concern that people give bad advice is very real. I don't agree that it is a problem for people of varying experiences to post their opinion. I feel they should always state it as their opinion, in their reading, according to their teacher, in their experience. Rather than present it as truth.

    Some of the responsibility for giving bad advice is fully on those asking it. This is not a therapy or counseling facility and expecting good advice from 100% of the members is even MORE unreasonable than expecting a professional therapist give good advice. The first professional therapist I had suggested my friend hit golf balls or go to the beach in response to her serious depression. Even some therapists give bad advice much less a forum. Some of the responsibility or perhaps causality and common sense rests squarely on the shoulders of those asking to take everything with a grain of salt and make up their own minds.

  • ...
    I'd like to get the opinion of other more advance members on this if you would like to share.

    ps: The website have grown, and became a strange creature where people do not come to learn but to speculate enormously with very little understanding of Buddhism and Buddhism practice while giving advices that have nothing to do with Buddhism.

    Thank you
    This implies you are one of the “more advanced members”. Good for you.
    I’m not. I only started practice as recently as 1990 and my understanding of Buddhism is minimal.

    I just hope that when you talk about “people with little understanding of Buddhism and Buddhism practice” you are not confusing them with people who have a different understanding.
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran
    edited February 2011
    I think its a matter of opinion who is more advanced than whom. In the antidepressants thread I thought you overstepped your expertise in criticism of psychology and drug therapy. But thats just my opinion. Now isn't it great that this forum was open to your expressing your view? God bless the internet!
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited February 2011
    "I believe this got worse lately, somehow this website had a pretty good balance of more advanced members in the past but now the balance have shifted."
    I'm sure most members would be very flattered that you dismiss them amateur.
    Care to give an example of what you consider to be'advanced'?
    Because we don't discriminate here. This isn't some club for the elite....


    "I see people left and right asking questions about the most basic teachings of Buddhism in one thread, and going into another to advice someone on very important subjects."
    Yes, that's right. it's an internet forum. That's what it's here for.
    For like-minded people of all shapes, sizes, types, genders and persuasions, to share their opinions, views and experiences.
    it's not a university.....


    "My suggestion would be to change the forum categories to add categories such as "what is Buddhism", Buddhist philosophy compared to other philosophies, or simply re-direct most of the "Buddhist for beginners" subjects into the "general banter" subject because most of the threads in the beginner section are not related to Buddhism at all."
    I must admit, this is one of my personal little rants. I do wish people would consider which forum they want their thread to appear in, because the automatic default seems to be the beginner's forum. So I see where you're coming from, on this one....


    "I'd like to get the opinion of other more advance members on this if you would like to share."

    Name one......other than your self, of course...... ;)
  • Maybe we (Lincoln) could rig it so that there is no default category. In other words if you do not specify it gives an error 'you must specify a category'.. Just like it gives an error if there is no title?
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    I believe that's in the pipeline....
  • In my opinion this is a place for anybody to discuss buddhism. And there is off topic banter. But the main topic is buddhism. From that people can learn and share and all of the things of a community.

    But there isn't any particular spiritual master or any particular method of teaching here. It does not serve as a surrogate for finding a spiritual friend to guide you or to decide for yourself what the helpful traditions and teachings are.

    Therefore the concern that the buddha's message be diluted does not apply to this website, because it is not a primary source of the buddha's message but rather a marketplace to exchange ideas. There are no core values to this site defining what buddhism is and is not. There are only core values on norms of behaviour which includes putting things in appropriate topics for organization.

    Its an open forum to discuss buddhism and any advices are not professional therapies or authentic teachings of a spiritual master. The best we have are our personal experiences, quotations, and so forth.
  • edited February 2011
    I think the problem here might be that "more advanced members" might just become the people who think they are! Who can look into another's heart on the internet and know the true level of that person's awareness and inner understanding? Probably very few, if any of us.

    There's also always a possibility that if the forum balance starts leaning towards one particular tradition, then those who think they're 'advanced' from that tradition start dominating and dismissing everything else and 'ganging up' on people. I've seen that happen in other places in the past.

    Open exchange and sharing different views is best...as well as remembering that all we have is the written word - which sometimes isn't always adequate to express the inexpressible. :)
  • Well said Dazzle :)
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    'Animal Farm' quotation springs to mind..... :shake: :hrm:
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran
    edited February 2011
    4 legs good 2 legs bad (from Orwell's animal farm, chant of animals)
  • Wow. Let me just share this: I keep and raise chickens, and so I'm a member of an online chicken forum. Like this site, it's a message board where people ask questions about chicken care; health issues, housing, raising chicks, eggs, etc. People ask all kinds of questions and then there are also sections for random chicken-chat, where people share funny stories about their chickens or share mistakes they've made while raising chickens.

    I know chickens have nothing to do with Buddhism, but my point is this: I see all kinds of answers to posted questions. There are many members that have been raising chickens for a long time and are very knowledgeable and then there are newbies who have barely started owning chickens, and some don't even have chickens yet and are just looking for info.

    It's the posters' discretion to determine if advice sounds right to them or not. I've seen good advice and I've seen ridiculous advice. It's a message board/forum, it's free for people to share opinions and opinions and expertise will vary. As was said in the above replies, who is to really know an "advanced practitioner" from another?

    Also, you mentioned some people asking very basic beginner questions and then posting somewhere else advice to others. I guess I would be one of those people. There are some basic concepts that I am still learning, but then there are questions that I feel confident giving my opinion on. So what? I think everyone knows a little in some regards, and have more knowledge in other areas. We all have our strengths and weaknesses.

    Your very complaint is not very Buddhist-minded, in my opinion. When I go to a Sangha meeting, they don't seat the newcomers in one section and the advanced practitioners in a special section. Everyone is considered welcome and included.

    I'm kind of offended that you seem somewhat "snobbish" about who's an advanced practitioner and who's a beginner and how they should be separated. Plus, there are so many levels of knowledge between 'beginner' and 'advanced'. Isn't this an open forum on Buddhism in general for ALL to ask, share and express? There have been times when I have posted, and some of the answers don't sound like good advice, while others make more sense to me. That's what message boards are, different people expressing different views.

  • ...
    Your very complaint is not very Buddhist-minded, in my opinion. When I go to a Sangha meeting, they don't seat the newcomers in one section and the advanced practitioners in a special section. Everyone is considered welcome and included.
    ...
    Hope this not taking us off topic too far, but I’ve seen it.

    Experienced mediators were more or less separated from the beginners so the beginners (who maybe were unable to sit very quietly) wouldn’t disturb the depth of their realizations, ha-ha!

    Also at some occasion when there was an important teacher in the house, the people in robes got to sit in front.
    But I don’t know the exact reason for it. Maybe the teacher spoke with moist, and the people in robes where there for our protection.

    :)
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    'Animal Farm' quotation springs to mind..... :shake: :hrm:
    4 legs good 2 legs bad (from Orwell's animal farm, chant of animals)
    Actually, I was thinking of -
    "All animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others".....

  • I was wondering who was going to get to be snowball and who napoleon. Look it up on the wiki folks if you are curious.
  • Maybe, the moderator or the participants themselves could check themselves. Step on the brake by interuppting: This has nothing to do with Buddhism! You may find that rude though.
  • Well this is in the newbuddhist.com section of the forum which purpose is to discuss the website. For example if I was having trouble making smiley faces I could ask how to do that in this section.
  • By the way I thought I was special because all my posts are in yellow and everyone else is in white :)

  • ...
    Your very complaint is not very Buddhist-minded, in my opinion. When I go to a Sangha meeting, they don't seat the newcomers in one section and the advanced practitioners in a special section. Everyone is considered welcome and included.
    ...
    Hope this not taking us off topic too far, but I’ve seen it.

    Experienced mediators were more or less separated from the beginners so the beginners (who maybe were unable to sit very quietly) wouldn’t disturb the depth of their realizations, ha-ha!

    Also at some occasion when there was an important teacher in the house, the people in robes got to sit in front.
    But I don’t know the exact reason for it. Maybe the teacher spoke with moist, and the people in robes where there for our protection.

    :)
    zenff; I've seen that too, in the instance of beginners that are newcomers and want a "guided" meditation are told to do a guided meditation first in a separate room, them join the regulars, therefore joining in later and sitting separately. Or, at retreat sangha meetings, I've seen beginners deliberately sit in the back so they can observe what happens by watching everyone in front of them.

    And yes, some traditions do have special guests or ordained sitting in the front.

    I guess using Sanghas was a bad example, but you know what I mean. This is a public forum message board. No one here knows who is "advanced" and who isn't, it's impossible to know that. To start picking who isn't "advanced" enough to post in certain sections is absurd.

    The OP said they see people ask basic beginner questions and then give advice on important topics. I still say "so what". Everyone has the right to give and receive opinions here, even beginners.

    And Jeffrey, we don't need to wiki it silly, we know what you are referring to. Well at least I KNOW what you mean, maybe that makes me more advanced!

    ;)
  • LincLinc Site owner Detroit Moderator
    There are too many beginners on a site named NewBuddhist?
  • Perhaps the categories aren't diverse enough so people, especially newbies, out of confusion or insecurity will use the beginner category as a default.

    Maybe we could ask for the popular opinion, maybe good ideas will present themselves.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited February 2011
    There are too many beginners on a site named NewBuddhist?
    maybe Brian should replace the "Don't worship the fat guy!" T-shirt with
    a similar one bearing the legend:

    (Front) 'I am a virgin.'
    (Back) 'PS: This is a very old t-shirt.'

  • edited February 2011


    It's the posters' discretion to determine if advice sounds right to them or not. I've seen good advice and I've seen ridiculous advice. It's a message board/forum, it's free for people to share opinions and opinions and expertise will vary. As was said in the above replies, who is to really know an "advanced practitioner" from another?
    "Caveat emptor" is always good advice. If anyone is assuming that all, or even most, answers and advice given here are expert, they're making a mistake. Does this mean the forum should go to the absurd measure of posting a warning label? I think that, as laurajean indicates, most people know a forum is made up of members representing a variety of levels of competency.

    I take issue with the idea that ALL answers should be based in Buddhism. Sometimes the best thing is to refer someone to a qualified medical or mental health professional. There have been a couple such "emergency" cases on this forum that I could cite. Compassion, I think, would require that we do our best to suggest the most appropriate remedy, and not be bound by "spiritual correctness".

  • to advice someone on very important subjects.

    advices that have nothing to do with Buddhism.
    By the way, Patbb, if you're going to be elitist, at least learn how to use English properly. The verb form of the noun, "advice" is "adviSe", and there is no plural form of the noun.

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    Sorry CW. Wait until you can speak his language as well as he speaks English.
    Only then, will you have the right to criticise his efforts while communicating in English.


  • By the way, Patbb, if you're going to be elitist, at least learn how to use English properly. The verb form of the noun, "advice" is "adviSe", and there is no plural form of the noun.

    Uncalled for and not really your style.
  • edited February 2011
    Oh, is he not a native English speaker? Sorry. What is his native language?


    ok, I tried to eliminate the offending comment, but wasn't allowed to, even though the edit function was still available.
  • Who has once tasted a bit of real buddhism in his or her heart will eventually come back to it anyway. No matter what anyone on this website says or how it is organized.

    Love,
    Sabre :vimp:

  • You would have to ask him, but when you start lecturing on proper english grammar its all Chinese to me.
  • edited February 2011
    (no, robot didn't say that, I did, and I'm still having trouble accessing the edit for corrections.)
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    The edit function button never disappears.
    There are only 5 minutes for you to edit your own post, however.
  • The edit function button never disappears.
    There are only 5 minutes for you to edit your own post, however.
    Right, but I was within the 5 minutes (the countdown was ticking away). And on my computer, the edit button does disappear.

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    Buzz lincoln.... :aol:
  • I think there are many relevant points here including patbb's ones.
    I am probably considered to be an expert in my profession and its sometimes frustrating when others purport to being experts but they are clearly not.
    The source of my frustration is,however, my own ego as the intention of others is usually good.
    I can continue to try and influence......but I cannot control others.

    The same goes for this forum. Many don't know much of Buddha's teachings, me included but most of us have good intention and life experience that can benefit others.
    In my experience, the more expert some buddhists become, the more their language becomes complex and less accessible to us beginners. Imo experience does not always equate to the distance on the path to enlightenment travelled.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited February 2011
    @compassionate_warrior:
    Ok, I still see the Edit Icon/function button, because as a Mod, I have to be able to edit people's posts at times....
    Maybe you don't see it....
    But as to the time-frame, Lincoln put it down to 5 minutes because really, people could go back and alter virtually the entire direction of a thread, even a day after posting.
    However, you'd still have to ask him about the time-frame.

    Ok, I figure that's sufficient off-topic discussion. :)
  • There are too many beginners on a site named NewBuddhist?
    image

    Good point.

  • patbbpatbb Veteran
    edited February 2011
    Compassionate warrior: french is the answer.

    Before this quickly became a "shoot the messenger" rant fest, (which was almost immediately;)
    and beside the wild speculations about weather or not i was an elitist and what my hidden motives were, I think I've raised some important points that have not really been discussed.

    not that the speculations about me were not interesting ;)

    Again, i believe that adding even only a few categories like "Buddhist philosophy compared to others" could help a great deal to help sort out the discussions.

    Perhaps even adding 3 forums about the 3 trainings would help to indirectly re-focus the forum to an environment where people would tend to speculate less and learn more without even doing anything else (like extra moderating).
    (a forum about Morality, another one about concentration, and one about insight)


    Just suggesting a discussion about something that i see as a situation that could possibly be improved if we all put our beautiful minds together; nothing more.


    PS: I had the same idea as most of you had about the "advanced members" tag, so this is why i did not suggest this as a solution.
  • LincLinc Site owner Detroit Moderator
    In my experience, the likelihood of people ignoring categories increases with the number of them. You think you're improving clarity & organization, when what you're really doing is causing people to give up trying to read them all to pick one.
  • With this new forum software (Vanilla), I don't even use categories. I just go to the home page and see what's new (there's usually a lot of new posts), and every so often I go to my bookmarks and see if I missed something.
Sign In or Register to comment.