Buddhism in Fayetteville?

[jamesblue85]

Hello, I was brought up in a strict christian religious environment, and while I am not ready to abandon all the teachings I was brought up on, I am looking to Buddhism to help make sense of my surroundings. I grew up near Chicago, but moved to North West Arkansas recently. I know this is really random, but if anyone has any info on where to learn more about Buddhism on a face to face level in my area, please [mod]snip[/mod]

[k8lonberger]

Actually, there is a strong Buddhist community in Fayetteville, although they're not necessarily all on facebook. There are meditation and Buddhist study groups that meet in Fayetteville consistently and have relatively decent-sized membership. One is the group that meets at Arkansas Yoga Center (I saw a link above) that is primarily a mediation-only group. There is also an active Tibetan Buddhist group (Mahayana-Gelugpa tradition) that meets for meditation and study on both Sundays and Wednesdays. This group is led by a Tibetan refugee who attained the highest order of philosophy in the Gelugpa tradition (equivalent to multiple Ph.D's in our frame of reference). Moderator cut: snip This group recently built a retreat center about 20 minutes outside of Fayetteville in the Ozark forest near the White River and was also instrumental in bringing the Dalai Lama to Fayetteville back in May 2011; so sorry you missed it, it was amazing! They also bring visiting monks, tulkus, geshes, and other spiritual and cultural leaders to Fayetteville semi-frequently for talks in the community and at the UofA. As you can probably tell, I'm more familiar with this group than the others... Although they don't currently have a dharma center or temple of their own, they are working on this and there is a significant community of like-minded individuals in this small city.

There is a Theravadan temple that is located in Springdale, the next town up. There is less of a presence in the town for this group, but as there is a sizable SE Asian population in NWA there are quite a few folks who attend meditation and ceremonies there.

I hope you still are interested in moving to my beautiful hometown.

[Ava_539]

I live in Fayetteville now and it "seems" liberal-ish on the offset but as soon as you talk to anyone it becomes quite apparent this is still the South. The schools have some backwards policies and don't do much about bullying either. I do love the climate and it's beautiful in the surrounding areas but I'd like to live somewhere where people don't look at me like I'm completely insane when I tell them I'm a Vegan or a liberal. Arkansans are VERY friendly until either of those two cats jump out of the bag!

[RogMar]

Originally Posted by Ava_539

but I'd like to live somewhere where people don't look at me like I'm completely insane when I tell them I'm a Vegan or a liberal.

Uh....California?

[OldScribe2012]

Originally Posted by cunojo

I lived in NWA many years ago while attending massage school and moved back to Lawrence because I couldn't deal with the in your face Christianity.

It seems like you've already learned everything you need to know about this place. I'm preparing to move as a result of that "In-your-face Christianity". I strongly advise you to find a place where people are more accommodating to new ideas. Arkansas is not it.

[RogMar]

Originally Posted by OldScribe2012

It seems like you've already learned everything you need to know about this place. I'm preparing to move as a result of that "In-your-face Christianity". I strongly advise you to find a place where people are more accommodating to new ideas. Arkansas is not it.

You are probably right.

There is a strong dislike od people moving here and then wanting to immediately "change things".

They may even try to cleverly evade the issue by stating that it is 'progress', and anyone not agreeing is a fuddy-duddy, hillbilly, or the worst accusation, a Republican.

So, the masses that grew up here, or moved here, that love the clean air, the comfort of knowing all their neighbors, the beauty, and the fact that progressive and hipster communities, as such, are limited, and compact, so we may leave the "hills" once in a while and go gawk, then return, do in fact become, in some peoples eyes, the hated and feared "in your face Christians".

Years ago, when I first moved here, I read tales of woe about Little Rock.

I heard how there was nothing to do in Little Rock, and it was entirely inhabited by homophobic conservative hillbillys. A wasteland. Let's nuke it and start again, this time with a high speed train to Dallas and a Macy's.

This intrigued me, a man with little sense and a spirit of adventure. Since I had just moved from Chicago, I still remembered what 'happening' was.

So, I spent far too many weekends, and quite a wad of money, to experience this bastion of homophobic hillbilly cultists.

I found nothing more than a lot of fun, culture, and more than a couple hangovers.

Shoulda got Christmas cards from the Peabody.

So when someone dances across this board singing the blues about backwards we all are, how there's a lack of culture, and...oh....let's really not forget that Harrison was once a sundown town in history, I get one feeling.

That is, "Don't <uh-huh> down my back and tell me it's raining, Bubba".

If ya don't like it, we got some nice paved roads to carry ya out to some dreamland.

Personally, I love to ride a four wheeler down our dirt roads and gaze out at the hills

First person to put up Golden Arches between me and the sunset has got a fight on their hands.