The Friday Night Buddhist Chat
Newsletter

Vol. I, Issue 1: June 1998

Contents

1. The Monthly Quote
2. The Chat
3. This Month's Topics
4. Links



1. The Monthly Quote

"As in planting, happiness and misery
Result from the deeds performed.
How can a bitter seed
Yield a sweet fruit?

Seeing this universal truth,
The wise should think:
Evildoing brings painful results,
While good deeds always lead
To peace and happiness."

-- The Discourse of Bodhisattva Surata, fr. the Maharatnakuta Sutra



2. The Chat

The Friday Night Buddhist Chat is held weekly on Friday nights from 10-11PM Eastern Standard Time on the Front Porch, the interfaith chatroom of the Religion and Beliefs Forum (keyword: religion), which was recently absorbed into the Lifestyles Channel on AOL and is now called the Spirituality forum.

The Friday Night Buddhist Chat is the oldest of the three Buddhist Chats on the Front Porch. It is a place for Buddhists of all stripes and denominations to come together and share insights and information about there religion. Because the Friday Night Chat has this diversity of tradition, there is always the potential of misunderstandings or open conflicts over the differences between traditions (Zen, Nichiren, Tibetan, Theravadan, etc.), and so we ask that attendees to be especially mindful of this hazard when chatting.

Currently the regular hosting staff for the Friday Night Chat includes Charlie Patton (RBCF Daofa), Ray Hendrickson (RBCF Ray H), and Sissy Potter (RBCF Yoda). Charlie is the lead Chat Host, coordinating the other hosts, developing topics, and writing nice looking newsletters like this one. Any comments, wish lists, topic requests, etc., should be sent to Charlie. To add someone to the mailing list (a friend or a different screen name), send the request to Ray, our mailing list keeper.

The Friday Night Chat has a regular monthly pattern it follows for chat topics. This helps regulars anticipate a little better what we're doing a given week and also helps us hosts develop topics every month without burning quite as much glucose thinking about it.

The pattern is this:

First Friday of the month: Scripture of the Month Chat
Second Friday: Open
Third Friday: Random Set Topic
Fourth Friday: Buddhism 101
Any additional Fridays: Open

The Scripture of the Month Chat is an attempt to present a scriptural text or excerpt from one of the many Buddhist traditions.

The random topic chat is a slot for us to have set topics that don't involve a scripture or a Buddhism 101 topic. It is a sort of 'potluck' topic slot.

The Buddhism 101 chats are designed to help educate people about basic tenants of the Buddhist religion, and to present it in a traditional manner. The topics are designed to help stimulate study among serious Buddhists and expose newcomers to the basics.

Open chats have no specific topic, besides Buddhism in general. These chats are times for the attendees to sit back and discuss whatever topics about Buddhism that may come up.



3. The Chat Topics for June

June 5, 10PM EST: Scripture of the Month: The Burning House Parable of the Lotus Sutra.
June 12, 10 PM EST: Open Chat
June 19, 10 PM EST: Friday Night Buddhist Chat Trivia Night
June 26, 10 PM EST: Buddhism 101: Dependent Origination and Emptiness

Is there a topic you'd like to see discussed in the future? Email Charlie with your ideas. We welcome your participation in the Chat's topic scheduling!


4. Links

The Front Porch
The Buddhist Forum on AOL
The Buddhist Chats on the Front Porch
Access to Insight
The Zennist
eDharma
The Gateless Passage
The WWW Virtual Library: Buddhist Studies