Help finding Secular Buddhist community

[Samuel]

I’ve been using Sam Harris’ waking up app to practice/learn about mindfulness and meditation. I’m pretty dubious about many of the Buddhist practices that are around my area. A Vietnamese friend informed me that his “temple” had introduced the idea of sin which disappointed me to say the least. 
 

If anyone in the ex-Christian community is familiar with what I might be looking for I could use some help. I feel as if I may have advanced my mindfulness/meditation practice as much as I can individually and am looking to find a group to go further and possibly tune up my practice while skipping as many of the shortfalls (such as a Buddhist practice that introduces the idea of sin) as possible. 
 

Are there any groups that you would recommend?

 

What should I look for?

 

Is Sam Harris wrong about Buddhism? 
 

These are some of my questions. 

[Astreja]

I practice insight meditation, which uses Buddhist terminology such as "dharma" and "sangha," but the practice itself has Theravada roots and is fairly uncluttered - no blatant supernaturalism, no fancy bling like mandalas or scrolls or statues of bodhisattvas.  (I also don't consider myself Buddhist anymore - I did in the 1990s, when I was with a different group.)

 

Perhaps check out the Insight Meditation Society (https://www.dharma.org) - they have a good assortment of online resources.

[◊ Weezer ◊]

The Unitarian Universalist church where I live has Buddhist led meditation sessions.  You might check with them in your area.

 

I'm not into that kind of meditation, but with any kind of "spiritual" group, or movement, in my experience, different ideas come up.  And if you don't like it, sometimes if you just wait awhile, it wlll go away.

 

I gave up on group stuff.  My "meditation" now is a 2 mile walk after dark, by myself in a fairly isolated area. No agenda.  No headphones.  Just walk.  And it helps keep the weight off. 

[TheRedneckProfessor]

The first distinction I would draw would be a broad distinction between Buddhist philosophy and the Buddhist religion.  I agree with, and try to live by, the 4 noble truths, the 5 basic precepts, and the 8-fold path.  That is Buddhist philosophy.  Once hungry ghosts in hell come into the conversation, I'm out; I simply cannot believe in the religious side of the coin.

 

As Astreja indicated, Theravada is a much less polluted form of Buddhism that generally focuses strictly on the teachings of the Buddha.  Since Ms. Professor is Vietnamese, we have a lot of the religious and cultural trappings of Vietnamese Buddhism in the house; and we used to go to a traditional Vietnamese temple.  We recently relocated, though, to a different state.  We've visited 3 temples in our new place and the one we decided to start attending has several Vietnamese monks; but there are also monks from Cambodia, Thailand, India, and a few other places.  This temple practices Theravada Buddhism and I am very happy that Ms. Professor likes it.

 

For myself, like Weezer, a good long walk is the best meditation.  But I also try to find time everyday to just sit quietly and clear my thoughts.  Sometimes a bit of music helps.  And I have a book of the Buddha's teaching (no commentaries, footnotes, or interpretations, just his words) that I will read from.  But the most important, and most difficult, practice is to stop myself constantly and consistently throughout the day and force myself to pay attention to the moment.  Without doing that successfully, none of the books, teachings, meditations, or temples are of any use.

[florduh]

Look into Dudeism. Seriously.

[Samuel]

23 hours ago, Astreja said:

 

Perhaps check out the Insight Meditation Society (https://www.dharma.org) - they have a good assortment of online resources.

The website was very helpful. Their resource page had their podcasts and I subscribed to it. I also found InsightLA and subscribed to their email. I’m somewhat local to LA. 

[Samuel]

13 hours ago, florduh said:

Look into Dudeism. Seriously.

Yas… I’m a native Californian and extract cannabis for a living at the moment. It’s great how non-religious the workspace is, and one of my better employment choices on my exChristian journey.

 

But I did check out Seth Andrew’s interview with a dudeism priest and was actually a little disappointed. Probably the Satanic temple would be more me. 

[Samuel]

16 hours ago, TheRedneckProfessor said:

As Astreja indicated, Theravada is a much less polluted form of Buddhism that generally focuses strictly on the teachings of the Buddha. 

It sounds like Theravada is a key word I can use to explain what I’m looking for. 

[TheRedneckProfessor]

5 hours ago, Samuel said:

It sounds like Theravada is a key word I can use to explain what I’m looking for. 

Awesome.

[florduh]

11 hours ago, Samuel said:

But I did check out Seth Andrew’s interview with a dudeism priest and was actually a little disappointed.

I am also a Dudeist "priest." As with most "organizations" you need to talk to more than one person who claims association. Dudeism draws from the Tao and Buddhist principles with none of the religious bullshit baggage. Just saying. 

[TruthFollower]

I think the Quakers sometimes run meditation sessions and courses from a Buddhist perspective.