I often feel like my ready, willing and able acceptance of digital dharma and online communities sometimes gets me further away from the meat of my practice and study, as it can be much more interesting to read first person accounts of their challenges of being a bodhisattva in a mosh pit as opposed to rubber to the road / ass to cushion sessions and reading the materials recommended by my particular tradition.

Don’t get me wrong, I see a great value in online Buddhism, but can see it’s various pitfalls but like a mirror reflecting my nature, it allows me to see those habitual tendencies of laziness, jealousy and idle chatter. *shakes fist at monitor*

I grew up online. I have a great respect for what can be done when communities assemble in the online space. I also have been hurt online and have seen many people get hurt in the space. This happens in ‘meat-space’ too but perhaps the anonymity of being behind a computer can make us more likely to be arseholes. Studies suggest maybe.

A quote I particularly like from Dzogen Ponlop Rinpoche is

“The Buddhadharma is like genuine water, which has no color or shape. It is pure and natural. This is genuine wisdom. All the world’s different languages and cultures are like the container for this water. Without the container, the water cannot be preserved. Without water, there’s not much use for the container. The container may change from language to language and from culture to culture, but the essence of the water is always the same — something we share universally. That essence is the words of wisdom, the words of the Buddha. The container is only a support to allow us to receive and enjoy the contents, the authentic Buddhadharma.”

I think that blogs, forums and online communities are in essence, new containers for this wisdom but it’s worth using discriminating wisdom to ensure that you are drinking or pouring from the right cup.

Buddha tea bowl - found on etsy

Purveyor of hotness and bestness

John over at Sweep the Dust, Push the Dirt has been blogging up a storm over at the venerable Elephant Journal and is running a poll for folks to vote for the Hottest Male Buddhist Blogger (but there are way too many too choose I say!!)  as well as the Best Female Buddhist Blogger.

It reminds me of Homeless Tom’s previous blog Blogmandu round ups that he used to do way back…  which I always loved as a means to discover new Buddhabloggers.

Check out the site to discover some new voices and if you see someone not mentioned, be sure to add them. Oh and do stay a while on the site. There’s lots of great content to keep you well occupied.

The radiant Marguerite over at her blog titled Mind Deep recently left a comment on this old blog and a link to hers so I’ve been spending some time catching up with her posts. Her recent post on 15 Great Women Buddhist Blogs was a thrill to read as it helped me to discover more ladies dabbling in the digital dharma. I’ve thouroghly enjoyed reading about her experiences along the way and each of her posts shows such human-ness and honesty. I’m delighting in the discoveries she’s making both on and off the cushion and I really enjoy seeing her visual collages which have made me think about doing one of these to kick off 2010 with this kind of mindful scrapbooking as a way for me to add a bit of energy to my altar.

Marguerite-  Thanks so much for sharing via your blog and count me in for any future plans or projects with this new gaggle of girlybuddhabloggers that you’ve uncovered.

I’ve already given a bit of my perspective on this issue so I won’t put you all through a rehashing of that tale, but I would like to give kudos to the Shambhala Sun Foundation for their willingness to work with social media, digital communications, new technologies and for engaging and creating conversations with Buddhists and non-Buddhists of all stripes. One need only to read this article on Dharma 2.0 in their January issue to see that they get it. I’ve been a longtime fan of the Shambhala Sun but this issue seemed like it had a shot of espresso in it and I was buzzing after I devoured it. There was a great balance of embracing the new and espousing the foundation provided by the teachings and teachers that have brought us to this point.

As mentioned in a related post, I work in the social media space. I’ve made a living out of connecting people, creating and managing communities. I am thrilled when I see people connecting online (I met my husband this way- so yes, I really do believe it can be used for good and not evil). What is different in old media transitioning into this new space is that there is a need for conversations to occur. Editors can no longer sit as gatekeepers of information and content. Readers want to play, create, consume and comment. Those who understand this will be able to connect with the new generation and can harness this for their mutual benefit.

Check out this post to see who’s been paired up and discover more Buddhabloggers for yourself.

This blog post also pointed me to some additional blogs that I haven’t heard about so many thanks to Nate for this inventive idea.

Doug from Philly is of the Dharma Punk ilk and is beyond cool. (I just sounded like Sassy magazine all of a sudden).

Seriously people.

I’m so happy to have another suffering punk rock Buddhist added to the mix. The world needs more of us.

Welcome Doug.

I’ve been waiting for something like this ever since I’ve been a Twitter-er.

I decided that for me, it would work best to “separate my no self” and create a different account for Buddhist Tweets and keep my personal account for those day to day zany meanderings relating to my day job/love of comics, music, pug dogs and horror flicks.

I must admit I’m excited to see the start of some conversations around Buddhism on Twitter. Add me if you are a current Buddhist Twitter user and if you aren’t using Twitter and are looking for a quick way to connect with other Buddhists, maybe it might work for you?

Here are some blogs you really should check out… Thanks to Barry for mentioning these along to me, for all the comments recently and for the great work in blogging such engaging and diverse materials.

www.oxherding.com
Barry’s efforts to ‘herd the ox’ (love the juxtaposition with the Worst Horse, another one of my favourite blogs!)

www.godrinktea.com
Interesting and obscure Zen koans ‘for everyday use’. I’m going to start my day off with these.

www.zenwomen.com
Entertaining and engaging stories of female Zen practitioners (Tang Dynasty China)

Walking the path with an iPod and laptop in hand – digital dharma is where it’s at.

I found the smile I needed at Big Red Buddha…

Thanks to Blogmandu and lotusinthemud for posting the link to this light take on enlightenment.