Gothic BC

As there aren't any postings in this section on eastern religions, I thought I'd contribute something while I have time.  I lived in a Buddhist monastery in the U.K. for a year when I was in my early twenties.  It's called Cittaviveka, which translates as living heart, I believe. It was established in the early seventies by some western monks who had done their monastic training in Thailand in the late sixties.  Two of them were Vietnam vets, one was in the Peace Corps and one was a Brit. No nonsense people.  If you want to know more about how Buddhism evolved in the west, type in Ajahn Sumedho, and you will come across it through links or whatever.  It was a very austere environment; up at four every day, one meal a day , meditation, tree planting and so on.  It was a good place to be at the time.  A fortunate experience.  That was in 94/95, if I recall correctly.  There are three main schools of Buddhism; Hinayana or Theravada (core teachings/traditionalist), Mahayana (Zen, the Far Eastern trip...and how martial arts fits into it and so on) and then there is Vajrayana (Tibetan Buddhism; with all its tantric teachings and complex rituals on top of the basics).  So, I studied Hinayana Buddhism...and I think that was enough for me to handle.  If anyone's interested in hearing more, please reply to this posting. 

Regards,

W.W.