Please suggest subforums here!

[Wonky Badger]

  Thanks for brightening my morning, Monkey Mind!
It feels like it's going to be a good day.

[humanitas]

  I love that story Monkey Mind.  Debate is a particular thing.  It can serve to sharpen some people's intellectual tools while completely frustrating others.  It's like any tool, most have preferences towards or against it.   

[pickledpitbull]

Could you add NKT to the Traditions section?  Then these folks can be part of the forum, as well.  If it's listed as its own tradition, the Tibetan followers shouldn't get upset...

[humanitas]

Could you add NKT to the Traditions section?  Then these folks can be part of the forum, as well.  If it's listed as its own tradition, the Tibetan followers shouldn't get upset...

Should I make that separate from Gelug or a sub section in Gelug?  What would be appropriate?

[Yeshe]

Could you add NKT to the Traditions section?  Then these folks can be part of the forum, as well.  If it's listed as its own tradition, the Tibetan followers shouldn't get upset...

Should I make that separate from Gelug or a sub section in Gelug?  What would be appropriate?

I think it is best placed under 'Mahayana' as that is how it describes itself.  It is not Tibetan other than in the origin of its founder.

A couple of other suggestions for subforums:

Buddhist Iconography  (To explore the meaning of Buddhist images and symbols, shrines etc)

Buddhist Dharanis and Mantras  (To explore the rich diversity of Buddhist Chants)

Maybe these, together with Yoga, could go under something like Practice Resources or some similar catch-all heading. LOL:)

[Dharmakara]

Mahayana already has two sub-sections in use, Mantrayana and Paramitayana, so placing it as a sub-section there wouldn't work because of existing material.

Most forums have done one of two things:

1. Banned NKT
2. Separate Section

When all is said and done, both choices are far from impartial because they're catering to one party or another. What will be next? Do we then separate the parties involved in the Thai forest tradition because one party had the courage to ordain females?

Of course not.

Solution:

Place it under Traditions as a sub-section of Tibetan, don't cater to either side of the controversy.

I have one question for our Tibetan brothers and sisters: "Where are the true heirs to Atisha Dipankar when one needs them?"

[Yeshe]

Instead of 'Tibetan' rename the group 'Vajrayana'.

After all, it is not excluseively Tibetan, being Indian in origin, and fits Tibetan sects and the NKT neatly. ;)

[Dharmakara]

I was kind of surprised there wasn't a Vajrayana section, but kept my mouth shut 

[Yeshe]

I was kind of surprised there wasn't a Vajrayana section, but kept my mouth shut 

Well, 'Vajrayana' is a better choice than 'Tantra' or we'd have to include those weird Chinese and japanese types! LOL  

[Cadfael]

I have one question for our Tibetan brothers and sisters: "Where are the true heirs to Atisha Dipankar when one needs them?"

an (edited) extract from Wikpedia makes this clear:

"Atisha remains an important figure in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition for several reasons. He refined, systematized, and compiled an innovative and thorough approach to practicing the path in his text  'A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment' which became the basis for what is now known as the Lam Rim tradition.Through his example and teaching he also established the primacy of bodhichitta to the Mahayana tradition.

Atisha is said to have emphasised the importance and necessity of pratimoksha vows as the foundation for Mahayana/Vajrayana practice and his closest disciple, Dromtönpa, is considered the founder of the Kadam school, which later evolved into the Gelug, one of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Although lam rim teachings were of greatest centrality to the Kadam/Gelug, they were incorporated into the other three schools—the Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya--as well."

[Tsongkhapafan]

"Where are the true heirs to Atisha Dipankar when one needs them?"

I'm here!    Any follower of Je Tsongkhapa is an heir to Venerable Atisha.

From Buddha ----> Atisha = Old Kadampa Tradition
Tsongkhapa and his followers were the New Kadampa Tradition although they used 'Gelug' instead (the Virtuous Ones)

[humanitas]

So is the placement now agreeable as it stands?

Also I have revised the Foundation of FreeSangha here.  Let me know if you have any feedback.