Ahh Pema Chodron. One of the names I was forgetting earlier for sure. Do any of you listen to Buddhist podcasts, radio, dharma talks etc?
Also just in case there were some who hadn't found it yet. http://www.tricycle.com/
If you ask a hundred Buddhists that question you'll get 101 different answers! I hear ya on the confusion. My answer is that it's both. It is a wisdom tradition that shapes how people live and understand their world with teaching traditions and some ritual (depending on the school of Buddhism, etc). However, it can be usually regarded as atheistic or at least apathetic to diety and for some that doesn't seem religion-y enough. I think it's safe to say that millions of people world wide consider it a religion however. Myself? In conjunction with Paganism I do say that I am a Buddhist if I am asked.
and PM me with any questions!Thank you! I attempted to start it here, but the peeps weren't showing up lol. I appreciate the move. :)
Hi, and welcome to the thread! Glad to have you. Mindfulness is a main approach for me as well. And hard. LOL.
Thank you, I've seen this tossed out a few times recently so I'll have to check it out for sure. I am trying to introduce my partner to Buddhism more lately. I do believe he would benefit so much from the teachings, and he's mildly interested in his "im not sure about this" way. He has a very stereotypical, standard media presentation of Buddhism. My work is cut out for me lol.
Glad to see the thread. I'm a Buddhist mama in a mixed-belief household (DH is Christian). I don't currently participate in a "live" community regularly but usually get away for retreat about once a year and do my meditating and study at home. I came to Buddhism through Yoga and it's been so helpful for me in working with the idea of living with an open heart. Most of my meditation is tonglen or metta meditation, though I certainly don't meditate as often as I'd like. My DD is 3.5 so my mantra for the last few years is that parenting is my Yoga and my meditation. Less asana (yoga postures), more ahmisa (working on non-harming of self and others). 
Hello all! I am a Buddhist mama, with a atheist DH and 2 young Buddhist/Atheists. We would love to go to a Buddhist temple and there is even one not far from us, but DH is not ready to try Buddhism at all, and when we tried it out it really didn't feel like a good fit for our family. So, we compromised and are going to a UU church everyone adores!
I am still a newbie to meditation, it's not easy for me!:p I'm constantly trying to do the mindfulness meditation at the moment. I'm re-reading Thich Nhat Hanh's "The Heart of The Buddha's Teaching" at the moment, for inspiration.
I have really enjoyed that book more than once. 
I wanted to share this link with you all! http://mindful.org/
Mindfulness, interdependence, and impermanence are all big focuses in my practice so I am enjoying the resource. There are sections for parenting I am looking forward to exploring, especially now that my children are young adults and our relationship is morphing yet again.
I plan to get to a Buddhist gathering near me soon. I am in the super early stages of introducing Buddhist teachings to my partner. He practices Northern Cheyenne spirituality, but I think this would benefit him as well. UU fellowship can be so great!
Jataka tales, animated 
http://www.jatakkatha.com/
Some Ebooks are available here at buddhanet
Stories
http://www.sinc.sunysb.edu/Clubs/buddhism/story/index.html
Thanks for the links! I have one to share too. http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Buddhism/2000/11/Transforming-Anger.aspx?p=1 I did a search on anger and Buddhism, because anger is something I really struggle with, and I really liked this short article.
Hi:) I am preacher's kid (Calvinist Presbyterian upbringing) who has been seeking this path for quite a while.
My DH has more time/focus to practice more diligently, but we have mostly been going to zazen at a Zen Center.
I love the simplicity of counting your breath...and sitting still was such a new concept for me, since as mamas, we have only the very rare blocks of time to sit completely still and feel the healing in the body that creates.
enjoythesilence: Thich Nhat Hanh has a wonderful book on anger called: Taming the Tiger Within....
glad to see our little MDC sangha forming!
Fireflies, welcome and we're so happy you're here!
Love Thay's teachings. That's a terrific book too. :)
Back later today with more stuff...
fireflies~for~me-Thanks for the book reccomendation! I will look for that. :) How is everyone doing?
I love that I found this thread. Thanks unschoolnMa for starting it. I am on the vajryana buddhist path. My DH and I are blessed enough to have very similar beliefs (or unbeliefs), and share some practices. My issue these days is getting time to really practice regularly. I have a 15 month old son and wow as you know it turns the world upside down. I love the practice of Chod which has a drum and a bell and a long tantric visualization and now a days I just get to read through it quickly. We meet weekly with our sangha which is toddler friendly, but still it gets hectic with a few of them running around pulling out teachings and ringing bells or what not, so we go less and when we do go we trade off on practices. Next month a wonderful teacher is coming to California from Houston and we missed her last year when she was here as DS was just a few months old, so this year we gotta go see her, but we will once again have to split duty on the teaching. One of us with toddler and one at teaching. Not ideal. I want to to teach my son to be able to be quite and draw and sit and play, when does that happen? Anyone have any experience with this?
On another note my family is pagan and dh is jewish. So DS gets to celebrate many different holidays and practice lots of traditions. We are merging our worlds and ds already knows who Tara is and how to walk a spiral.. well sorta, he can walk lets put it that way..:)
I read through the thread and I loved the blogs mentioned. I am looking forward to looking into them. I also was given a collection of Jataka tales and I highly recommend them. Very sweet stories and kindness and friendships and peaceful choices.
I would like to add a website for you all to look into: taramandala.org
Lama Tsultrim and the sangha have built a gigantic temple the only one of its kind in the US, dedicated to the Goddess. Doing a retreat there is very powerful.
I can relate. I sometimes worry that the two conflict. A lot of Pagan concepts are very dear to me, but so are a lot of Buddhist concepts, and sometimes they contradict one another, and this leaves me pretty conflicted. It's hard to put it into words. Would love to discuss this more, if it is appropriate to the thread.
Also, I wanted to ask all of you what your routine Buddhist practice looks like. There are not any temples in my area, and I don't know any Buddhists IRL.
I can relate. I have been a practicing Pagan for many moons, and added Buddhism around 8 years ago. At first I was really sensitive to the idea that "you can't be both things" etc. As I followed my heart though, it was clear that both paths were mine. I think often the things we need find us. Both paths feed me in different (and often the same) ways.
Paganism has my ties to the earth and nature, and Buddhism tells me that everything is connected, nothing is separate. We are not separate from the earth (Mother) and the elements. This connection also reminds me that the way I treat myself and others (including the environment) matters. The witchcraft I practice reflects that connection as well when I focus on that connection to all things is what makes magic work, and real. I also think the focus on compassion in Buddhism is really sometimes lacking in some Pagan teachings, circles so that's a plus too. I love that I am not the only Pagan Buddhist! lol
I can relate. I have been a practicing Pagan for many moons, and added Buddhism around 8 years ago. At first I was really sensitive to the idea that "you can't be both things" etc. As I followed my heart though, it was clear that both paths were mine. I think often the things we need find us. Both paths feed me in different (and often the same) ways.
Paganism has my ties to the earth and nature, and Buddhism tells me that everything is connected, nothing is separate. We are not separate from the earth (Mother) and the elements. This connection also reminds me that the way I treat myself and others (including the environment) matters. The witchcraft I practice reflects that connection as well when I focus on that connection to all things is what makes magic work, and real. I also think the focus on compassion in Buddhism is really sometimes lacking in some Pagan teachings, circles so that's a plus too. I love that I am not the only Pagan Buddhist! lol
I love that I am not the only Pagan Buddhist! lol
Me too! :)
Buddhism is a very open-minded philosophy in many ways, but how often do you see true Buddhists openly embracing the "Pagan Buddhists"? This is still a concept seen more in Pagan circles. It is also why I have not taken vows as a Buddhist in our local temple. If I was to "officially" become a Buddhist but maintain my connections in the metaphysical community, I would feel like a hypocrite. 
That's what I worry about. I feel sort of guilty incorporating Buddhism in to my spiritual practice when I have the feeling that most Buddhists would not approve that I am not 100% Buddhist. I could be wrong... BUT, it feels right to me to believe in both, despite the conflicts, and I guess that's what it has to come down to in a spiritual practice. Sometimes you have to make your own way. I am still relatively new to Buddhism, but I have not read anything to indicate that Buddha approved of blindly following the rules, just for the sake of it. Seems pretty contradictory to the original teachings, as I understand them.
Follow Mothering