1.a)Welcome, this is an international lay Buddhist community website, which has been created for the purpose of friendly and relaxed Dharma discussions between the members - and the language we use is English.

Please be respectful towards your fellow members (including their gender, age, sexuality, nationality & race) , towards the teachings of the Buddha - and towards the main world religions.

b) We do not usually accept members below 16 years of age.

c) We ask that you avoid promoting activities which may be illegal in some countries (e.g. various recreational drugs)

d) Please do not display avatars showing acts of self-immolation, violence, or political messages.

e) We also do not allow the posting of videos, or video links, which show acts of violence, or pornography.

f) Racism, homophobia, transphobia and misogyny are not acceptable here.


2.a) If you are a Buddhist monk, nun, priest, lama or teacher, please contact the administrators first with your details, before registering and posting on the website. (We have no plans in general for anyone to take on an official teaching role with the group.)

b) Usernames implying that a member is an Arahant, a Buddha or a future Buddha, or at a high level of spiritual accomplishment, or using the name of a type of Buddhist meditation ,tradition, or specific practice, or the name of a Buddhist mythological creature, a deity, or a Buddhist teacher from the past, are not acceptable here, nor are the names of fictitious characters, or names of celebrities/famous people past or present. (please see note 2a for applicants who are genuine monastics, priests, or established teachers). Additionally, the names of devils, demons,angels, ghosts, goblins, wrathful deities etc are not acceptable as usernames here either.

3.a)Please read the descriptions and guidelines for the different forums before posting in them.

b) It is inappropriate to post quotes or videos in the forums without any personal input. Please say why you have posted them, or what it is that you want to discuss/debate with others in connection with the quote . (We also don't permit "signature quotes" at the end of posts on the website.)

c)Always give a reference with a URL link to the source of any quote from a sutta, an article, or the internet in general,(or the publishing date, author, title and page, if its from a book). Copying and pasting whole pages from other websites is unnecessary. A few short sentences and a URL link is usually sufficient.

4. Please avoid frequently writing promotional links and/or references to your own or your guru's website, or his/her/your organisation in your posts in the discussion threads here. (See also no.13) We have been regularly spammed by PR people connected to a certain teacher in the past!

5. Please always try to be polite and don't use bad language in your posts. No abuse, no intimidation, sniping,or bullying each other. If discussion gets a little heated, keep the language and interactions civilised. If your conversation wouldn't be accepted at a face-to-face social gathering, then its not OK here.

When disagreements occur, we will expect you to:

a) Focus on the ideas and not the person-and debate rationally without making personal comments to/ about another member of the group.

b) Ignore any remarks you consider inappropriate -and refuse to escalate the situation.

6.Please always keep your comments relevant to the discussion topic in the OP (opening post#1) and don't let threads get derailed with chit-chat, proselytising, meta discussion, or nonsense-trolling.

7.a)The content of forum postings comes from individual members and does not represent the views of the forum management. We try to allow as much freedom of speech as possible, however, members considered to be trolling, posting off topic, disruptive, or nonsense messages, posting personal claims to enlightenment, or submitting material considered to be upsetting to others, may be banned from the community.

b)Please note that "trolling" means the person is provoking other users, or disrupting a discussion with irrelevant comments and/or source material, and "meta discussion" is an off topic discussion of the actual discussion itself (none of these are acceptable).

8. BWB reserves the right to modify or delete any post considered to be inappropriate or off-topic, or to take any action related to user submitted content.

9 a) Please don't use this website for your personal blog, journal, or story writing space. b) Nor for advertising messaging sites, seeking pen pals, or dating.

10. Remember to consider the reader, and use paragraphing if you write lengthy posts, as well as use the spellchecker if necessary .Please also avoid abbreviated /phone-text language, especially as English is not the first language of many of our members.

11. If you have a complaint, a query, a criticism of the website or a member of the staff team, or about the content of one of the forums, about a member of the group, or about a post in any of the topics, please do not write about it in the forums, but contact one of our website management team by PM about it instead.

12.As this is a Buddhist group, please do not join with the intention of converting members to other beliefs .

13. Please do not use the forums or your profile on this website for the purpose of promoting yourself or advertising any products, your own articles or publications, businesses, promoting items you have for sale, to request money or goods, to conduct research or surveys, or to promote other people, organisations, websites, forums, or products, or for spamming in general.

14 a) You are only allowed one user account and ID here. Members using more than one identity will be banned from the community.

b) If you wish to cancel your membership of the group please send a PM or e-mail to an administrator.

c) Previous posts cannot be deleted if you decide to leave the group, because this would cause problems with the continuity of other posts in the topics.

15.Members are requested not to post discussions, media items, or links concerning controversial practices and/or lineage disputes within Vajrayana Buddhism, as these issues can lead to deep divisions within the group. This includes the New Kadampa Tradition/Dalai Lama controversy about a deity and any related teachings, and also the Kagyu two Karmapa lamas controversy.

16. Buddhism Without Boundaries has no official policy concerning beliefs in rebirth/reincarnation. Everyone is very welcome here, irrespective of whether they choose to believe/disbelieve/ or take no fixed position on these matters.

17.a) Please note carefully that we are not a politics discussion website, nor do we allow links being made to politics elsewhere on the internet.

b) This is also not a comparative (world) religions or 'spiritual beliefs' website, nor a place to discuss "magic and the supernatural." Our main focus is the teachings of the historical Buddha and the various Buddhist traditions which arose after his death.

18.English is the only language permitted at BWB.

19. a) The website owner is not responsible for the content of private communications between members using the PM system or e-mails.

b) If you are receiving unwanted messages please contact the website administrators.

c) Anyone posting another member's PM or e-mail on the public forums without their permission may be liable for suspension from the group.

20. If you are a school or college student wishing to ask questions to the Buddhist members here which relate to your studies, please contact the administrators about it first, using our contact details, before registering on the website. You will need to provide your age, your full name, the name of your school or college, your course details and a copy of your questions.

21a) There is no membership fee here, and Buddhism Without Boundaries reserves the right to deny use of the website to any person for any reason.

b) Posters have no ownership of any information they post here and do so at their own choice.


22. Members suffering from mental illness

Members suffering from serious mental illnesses, or who have friends or family with mental health issues are advised to seek diagnosis, treatment and help from health professionals in their country of residence.

Please do not use the forums here to discuss all the details of your symptoms and difficulties, including any intentions of self harm or suicide. We regret that we are unable to provide a professional counselling service nor the specialist help that is required in these circumstances.

In acute phases of mental stress, this website might be helpful:

http://www.befrienders.org/index.asp

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Please note

Failure to comply with the website's Code of Conduct may result in a temporary or permanent suspension.

*We reserve the right to amend, add to, or delete rules as necessary*.


Kind Wishes,

Admin Dept.