I can't take it any more

[James the Persian]

Peer pressure has won! You can ask me anything you like, but if I reply with short bursts of Romanian you'll know that you've asked something I'm less than happy to answer.

James

 

[Simon Gnosis]

Are you socialist or conservative?
Do you feel the current world order and economic system is fair?
How would you change the world if you could?

Hehe..some biggies for ya!

 

[James the Persian]

Are you socialist or conservative?

Not really either. Somewhere in the middle. Economically speaking I'm rather left leaning, morally rather conservative. But what do you expect from a Christian?

Do you feel the current world order and economic system is fair?

Not really, see answer above. I'm not sure that there's any kind of quick fix for it, though.

How would you change the world if you could?

If I could magically redistribute the resources of the world fairly, I think that would be a good start in solving most of the problems there are. Unfortunately, I can't.

James

 

[Simon Gnosis]

Not really either. Somewhere in the middle. Economically speaking I'm rather left leaning, morally rather conservative. But what do you expect from a Christian?

Not really, see answer above. I'm not sure that there's any kind of quick fix for it, though.

If I could magically redistribute the resources of the world fairly, I think that would be a good start in solving most of the problems there are. Unfortunately, I can't.

James

So you are an authortarian communist type?
Hehe
I am an anarcho communist myself according to www.politicalcompass.org

 

[MysticSang'ha]

Knowing that you used to practice nearly identically to what I practice now, what do you embrace from the Kagyu tradition in your life? What do you reject?




Where were you 9/11/2001?




What is your favorite cuisine?




How have you come to so much knowledge of early church history? Are there any books you could recommed for me?




Peace,
Mystic

 

[michel]

You gave me a real fright.....................please don't start threads off in that way!*wipes sweat off his brow*

 

[James the Persian]

So you are an authortarian communist type?
Hehe
I am an anarcho communist myself according to www.politicalcompass.org

No. I'm only slightly left of centre in terms of economics and slightly right in the rest. I pretty much fall dead centre. I have to say that I hate party politics and tend to vote for whoever seems to have the most reasonable policies at the time, regardless of which party they belong to.

James

 

[James the Persian]

Knowing that you used to practice nearly identically to what I practice now, what do you embrace from the Kagyu tradition in your life? What do you reject?

Which shool are you a part of (just out of curiosity)? I'm not sure I embrace anything of the Karma Kagyu school any more. There are certain aspects of the practice that I think laid the groundwork for my becoming Orthodox (actually, they helped me overcome certain protestant hangups). These would be such things as reverencing images of the Buddha, prostrations, mantras etc., which are not wildly dissimilar to certain Orthodox practices, but my faith is wholely Orthodox nowadays and not at all Buddhist. I still have a great deal of respect for some of the Rinpoches, however. It's just that Christianity is, I feel, the truth.

Where were you 9/11/2001?

I was at work watching the whole horifying thing unfold on the internet and television (we had a TV in one of our conference rooms).

What is your favorite cuisine?

Now that's difficult. I love Indian, Mexican, Thai, some Chinese, Italian, Greek, Romanian (actually Balkan in general). All sorts. The one thing I can't stand is fruit in savoury dishes.

How have you come to so much knowledge of early church history? Are there any books you could recommed for me?

A long and abiding interest that was sparked by my realisation in Religious Education at school that I was getting at best half of the story (probably less). I can't even think of all the books that I've read on the subject but one that I'd recxommend as somewhat redressing the east/west balance would be The Orthodox Church by Timothy (now Bishop Kallistos) Ware. I believe that you can even find it online for free.

James

 

[James the Persian]

You gave me a real fright.....................please don't start threads off in that way!*wipes sweat off his brow*

Sorry. Didn't mean to give you a heart attack - made you look, though, didn't it?

James

 

[Djamila]

What religiously-themed or motivated action in your life, that you've undertaken yourself, are you most proud of?

 

[Simon Gnosis]

No. I'm only slightly left of centre in terms of economics and slightly right in the rest. I pretty much fall dead centre. I have to say that I hate party politics and tend to vote for whoever seems to have the most reasonable policies at the time, regardless of which party they belong to.

James

If I could magically redistribute the resources of the world fairly, I think that would be a good start in solving most of the problems there are. Unfortunately, I can't.

Sounds like commie talk to me..

 

[James the Persian]

What religiously-themed or motivated action in your life, that you've undertaken yourself, are you most proud of?

That would have to be my going to work as a volunteer in the Neuropsychiatric Children's Hospital in Siret, Romania (that's the literal translation - a more truthful one would be 'Dumping Ground For Children With Disalbilities Who we Don't Wish To Care For'). Of course, I was a Protestant back then as was the charity I worked for but since my conversion, marriage and the births of two children I have less time and resources to engage in such work, though I wish I still could.

James

 

[James the Persian]

If I could magically redistribute the resources of the world fairly, I think that would be a good start in solving most of the problems there are. Unfortunately, I can't.

Sounds like commie talk to me..

Yeah, I can see that. Though to make it authoritarian communism I think you'de need to replace the magic with rifles and tanks. I would just point out that ideals and practicalities rarely meet up.

James

 

[Simon Gnosis]

Yeah, I can see that. Though to make it authoritarian communism I think you'de need to replace the magic with rifles and tanks. I would just point out that ideals and practicalities rarely meet up.

James

Because we live in a dirty old world where millions of children are still starving and dying of curable diseases or warfare every year?
Its just the way it is?

I would drive a tank or march with a rifle to change that....if it was the only way..and sadly at the moment it would be the only way..

 

[MysticSang'ha]

Which shool are you a part of (just out of curiosity)?

I practice mainly the Gelug school, so I am officially "too intellectual and political" for my own good. I contribute, study, and volunteer specifically with FPMT (Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition) in our area. Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche and Venerable Lama Thubten Yeshe are both founders.

There are certain aspects of the practice that I think laid the groundwork for my becoming Orthodox (actually, they helped me overcome certain protestant hangups). These would be such things as reverencing images of the Buddha, prostrations, mantras etc., which are not wildly dissimilar to certain Orthodox practices, but my faith is wholely Orthodox nowadays and not at all Buddhist. I still have a great deal of respect for some of the Rinpoches, however. It's just that Christianity is, I feel, the truth.

I'm very happy for you. You are a great example of your faith. :flower2:

A long and abiding interest that was sparked by my realisation in Religious Education at school that I was getting at best half of the story (probably less). I can't even think of all the books that I've read on the subject but one that I'd recxommend as somewhat redressing the east/west balance would be The Orthodox Church by Timothy (now Bishop Kallistos) Ware. I believe that you can even find it online for free.

James

I have the website bookmarked now. Thank you very much! I skimmed through the first chapter and am looking forward to reading it in depth.




Peace,
Mystic

 

[James the Persian]

I practice mainly the Gelug school, so I am officially "too intellectual and political" for my own good. I contribute, study, and volunteer specifically with FPMT (Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition) in our area. Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche and Venerable Lama Thubten Yeshe are both founders.

That's good. I met some of our lamas at a big conference in London once. I was actually initiated into the school then (can't remember if there's a proper name for it) and given the name Tenzing Dorje. I genuinely can't remember who they all were but one was the Karmapa (you know about the division in the Kagyu school? - this was the Indian rather than the Chinese one) and the Danish convert Lama Ole Nydahl was another. The rest (well, including Karmapa) were all Tibetans living in exile. I also visited the centre run by Sogyal Rinpoche once, though he isn't in the same school.

I'm very happy for you. You are a great example of your faith. :flower2:

Thank you very much. I fear that you are rather over-exaggerating how good an Orthodox Christian I am but I do try my best.

I have the website bookmarked now. Thank you very much! I skimmed through the first chapter and am looking forward to reading it in depth.

I hope you find it interesting. It's not purely history but it is a reasonably easy read and one of the books I generally recommend to people who aren't too familiar with our Church. If you want something a bit heavier, let me know and I'll see what I can dig up.

James

 

[James the Persian]

Because we live in a dirty old world where millions of children are still starving and dying of curable diseases or warfare every year?
Its just the way it is?

I would drive a tank or march with a rifle to change that....if it was the only way..and sadly at the moment it would be the only way..

Whilst I appreciate the sentiment, and when I was working with those horribly abused kids in Romania I was roused to (verbal) violence more than once, I'm afraid that I cannot see the ends justifying the means. I'm not a pacifist by any means but the violent imposition of an unwanted regime on others is beyond the pale for me.

James

 

[Bishka]

Peer pressure has won! You can ask me anything you like, but if I reply with short bursts of Romanian you'll know that you've asked something I'm less than happy to answer.

James

How do you know Romaian?

 

[James the Persian]

How do you know Romaian?

Well, I learnt a little when I went on holiday in Romania in the 80s, I worked for a charity there for just over a year, I learnt yet more because I was intending to do a Ph.D. in psycholinguistics comparing Welsh and Romanian pre-school language acquisition (funding fell through at the last minute), I married a Romanian, converted in the Romanian Orthodox Church, attend a Romanian parish (I'm one of only two non-Romanians), and currently sing in the choir (99% in Romanian) and am on our parish council responsible for the translations our parish has to make into English. The bizarre thing is that I grew up speaking German and now my Romanian is 100 times better. All things considered, I'd be a pretty poor human being if I hadn't picked up some Romanian by now.

James

 

[MysticSang'ha]

That's good. I met some of our lamas at a big conference in London once. I was actually initiated into the school then (can't remember if there's a proper name for it) and given the name Tenzing Dorje. I genuinely can't remember who they all were but one was the Karmapa (you know about the division in the Kagyu school? - this was the Indian rather than the Chinese one) and the Danish convert Lama Ole Nydahl was another. The rest (well, including Karmapa) were all Tibetans living in exile. I also visited the centre run by Sogyal Rinpoche once, though he isn't in the same school.

I'm a little familiar with the lineage of Karmapa. One of the books I have recounts his death in Zion, Illinois in 1981 and discussed how he impacted the ICU staff there. I have a lot of respect for Sogyal Rinpoche and his work with hospice care (he's in the Nyingma school, isn't he?) That's awesome that you were able to visit his centre.


I can't remember, but I believe the current Karmapa is 17 years old or so? And as far as I know, Penchen Lama still hasn't been found.

Thank you very much. I fear that you are rather over-exaggerating how good an Orthodox Christian I am but I do try my best.

You're very welcome. I sincerely do not believe I am exaggerating your exemplary behavior because I have seen you challenged by a few members on the forum and you have many times responded with dignity, patience, and kindness (and throw in a good measure of scholarship).

I hope you find it interesting. It's not purely history but it is a reasonably easy read and one of the books I generally recommend to people who aren't too familiar with our Church. If you want something a bit heavier, let me know and I'll see what I can dig up.

The site does look interesting. Ever since discovering you practiced in the Karma Kagyu school and then learning of your journey into Orthodoxy, I have been very curious of the faith itself. Quite frankly, so far, I can see why anyone would be drawn to Orthodoxy with the little bits and pieces I know. I can't promise I'll be done with reading the entirety of the site soon, but eventually I will, and I most likely will be asking you for more references.




Not exactly questions, just idle chatter. But I'm glad you started your own thread, James.



Peace,
Mystic