Thread: Groups to train with...

Don't drink the Koolaid. Actually there really is an old saying that goes "never accept anything to drink in strange temples".

Depends how big of a town or city you live in. I have a buddhist pagoda a few blocks from my house and from the outside it just looks like people going to church. You might want to look up some Theosophy of Reiki groups. Probably best to check out all your options in person, get to know the people a little before you decide on one.

I have an aunt who has taken up several Reiki courses and workshops, she's one of the wisest and most inteligent persons I know.

You want to go to Tibet to train with Buddhists? But you don't want to be affiliated with any religion...I don't understand, isn't Buddhism a religion? Also, I don't think you want to go to Tibet, considering most of the Tibetan monks are refugees in places like India, etc.

Perhaps I'm not sure exactly what you are asking.

I would consider bhuddism more a way of life

Hmm maybe you could narrow it down yourself a bit? Do you identify more with the Theravada tradition or are you more attracted to Mahayana/Vajrayana?

Theravada's more of a southern tradition, in places like Burma, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, and Thailand. Mahayana's more commonly found in areas like China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. The more esoteric Vajrayana traditions are the ones found in Tibet and Himalayan areas.

Think about where you're moving too. I don't know much about Eastern current events or anything like that, but Tibet's been wrapped up in tense political struggle for decades now. As far as I know Buddhism and native traditions are kind of on the ass end of the Chinese occupation.

And if Buddhism sounds more like a way of life to you than a religion now, you might be disappointed when you get there. Its more dogmatic than many people tend to believe. Start here, and do some research. See what you think. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_Buddhism.

thanks, yeah tibet is politically unstable, and if what you say about the dogma in bhuddism is true then I'm not sure, it's not nesecsairly bhuddists I would want to train with they just seem like the most advanced spiritually. I would love to find a group of people that train spiritually that aren't a religion but it is hard to, and I'm definitly not getting involved in any cults

Your best bet is to advertise locally for like minded people, and try to find somewhere to meet regularly. If you are looking to do retreat type things, find someone with some land you can borrow and hold the retreats there.