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I'm glad you did that Mike!

posted 4 years, 8 months ago
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[i]Have you found a religion that is different than the one you grew up knowing? [/i]

I was told we were Lutheran. But I can only remember being in church a couple of times. My mom put me in Vacation Bible School when I was five. We weren't religious at all though, except when I was told that God would punish me for what I'd done wrong at the time.

[i]How did discovering that new spirituality impact you? [/i]

The new spirituality I discovered was in the 12-Step programs when I got sober at 22 (in 1984). There they told us we could formulate a Higher Power of our own understanding. During those years I experimented with contemplative/metaphysical Christianity, by teachers like Emmet Fox, and some Hinduism by Paramahansa Yogananda. I finally settle on Zen in the late 80's.

[i]Are you someone who has recently discovered Buddhism? Why was that the faith for you?[/i]

I practiced Zen with my 12-Step program for most of the last 20 years. But I had to reexamine Buddhism through the lens of Tibetan Buddhist teachers, called Lamas. This started around 2005. Now I practice in the Vajrayana traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, along with frequent Zen and regular 12-Step work. Bob Thurman was a huge influence on me in learning about Tibetan Buddhism. He really helped pave the way for me to explore the apparently strange tradition. I'm actually taping Bob at the Interfaith Conference all this weekend here in Portland. We also share the same publisher.

I've written a book about the way this program works for me. It's called [b]the 12-Step Buddhist [/b]. It will be out by Beyond Words/Simon & Schuster in March of '09. Listeners can find articles, resources and podcasts at [url]http://the12stepbuddhist.com[/url]

Thanks for having this topic!

-d

[img]http://the12stepbuddhist.com/img/Logo_Print_FullCover_300.jpg[/img]

posted 4 years, 8 months ago
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I think the Qwest representative failed to recognize that although they bring fiber to zoned businesses in Portland, there is the growing segment of our economy that works at home. Many people who work outside the home still rely on internet service to work at home, as well as those who work exclusively at home.

-d

posted 5 years, 2 months ago
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