Tezia Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 I have been interested in doing a secular form of Buddhism, but I have come across a few obstacles. There is a Buddhist center in town, but no hours or phone number is listed on their web pages so I will literally have to go in person and hope someone is there. The other thing is that this is a Theravada focused group, which I have no problem with since it is a type of Buddhism ideal for atheists. The other thing is that the closest temple is one hour away and I do not have gas money to go back and forth for that trip. So I figure I would have to be a solo Buddhist for awhile. Any advice is much appreciated :3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deva Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 There certainly are many obstacles to Buddhist practice in the U.S. I wish I could be helpful, but I have only studied Tibetan Buddhism and I would not describe that as remotely secular. I think you are correct that the Theravada is a better type for atheists, or you might want to look into Zen. It would depend on the emphasis the teacher has who has that particular group, and could vary greatly. I think it is odd that there is no information for the Buddhist center. Nothing at all online? No schedule posted for meditation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tezia Posted June 15, 2014 Author Share Posted June 15, 2014 Nope. I really tried to look and found zilch. But given that this is the only Buddhist center in town with the next one being over an hour away, I suppose it won't hurt to look. This place is literally 2 or 3 minutes from my home conviently. And this sounds silly, but I took a few 'what religion are you?' quizzes and two results came up for Theravada Buddhism. I'll look further into zen, although there are supposedly sects of Zen Buddhism that have some form of supernatural belief. Thanks for the answer :3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deva Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Yes, Zen can have all the trappings of the supernatural. But its possible to gather some information online, then just meditate on your own. There are also online groups - here is one of them: http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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