Re: Can you practice without a sangha?



<crillx4@xxxxxxx> wrote in message news:1190525792.884538.103190@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I have recently become interested in buddhism but I don't really have
any support system available to me. I have read quite a few books
that stress the importance of a teacher and sangha and I would love to
find one. My situation is that I don't personally know any buddhists,
I live in a small town and the nearest Zen Center is far enough away
that I can't leave my young children long enough to visit. Does
anyone feel that it is possible to practice with any amount of success
without a teacher?

Thank you,
Jennifer


I did for many years, Jennifer. Buddhism, as you will discover, is a philosophy, an attitude, a way of looking at life, as well as a practice. It would be nice if you could make it to the official center at least for some first instructions, but there are so many online resources if you really can't.

Here are a couple of links (admittedly there are many, many more that might be helpful). Both of these have lists of centers. With luck there might be one close to you, so it is at least worth a look.

http://www.kagyu.org
http://www.fpmt.org

This is a link where all the Pali Canon is available online to study.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org

I am sure there are other resources that will be recommended to you as well.... Good Luck!

--
Best Regards,

Evelyn

.

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