Community guidelines

Discussions is a place to talk about practice and the teachings of the Buddha with kindness, patience and respect.

Speak with care

The Buddha taught right speech: words that are true, kind, helpful and spoken at the right time. Please bring that spirit here.

• Be kind and patient, especially with people who are new to Buddhism or to the Society.
• Respect every tradition. The Society is open to people of all traditions and backgrounds. Disagree with ideas, never with the person.
• When you quote a sutta or a teacher, say where the words come from, and quote them exactly.
• Speak from your own practice and say when something is your opinion. Nobody here speaks for the Society unless they say so as a committee member.
• Keep personal details private: your own and other people’s. Do not post phone numbers, home addresses or private messages.

What belongs here

• Introductions, and questions about Buddhism, meditation practice and the teachings.
• Reflections on the suttas and on practice in daily life.
• Conversation about the Society’s gatherings in Sydney. To find out when and where we meet, write to info@buddhistsocietiesofaustralia.org; we do not post session details here.

What does not belong here

• Asking for money. No fundraising, appeals, sales, advertising or promotion of paid courses, retreats or products, including for other organisations. Only the Society’s committee may post about giving to the Society.
• Medical or psychological advice. Do not give medical, psychological or other professional advice, or make claims about what meditation does for the body or mind. If you are unwell or in distress, please speak with a doctor or another qualified professional.
• Insults, harassment, hate speech, or attacks on any person, tradition, teacher or faith.
• Political campaigning, spam, and content that breaks Australian law or someone else’s copyright.
• Images or embedded media: Discussions shows text and links only.

Accounts and approval

Anyone can read Discussions. To post, join with a display name and your email address. A moderator approves each new member before they can post, to keep spam out. There are no passwords: you sign in with a link that works once.

Moderation

Volunteer moderators look after Discussions. If a post breaks these guidelines, use its Report link. Moderators may hide posts, lock topics or suspend accounts. Hidden posts stay visible to moderators so decisions can be reviewed. If you think a decision was wrong, write to info@buddhistsocietiesofaustralia.org.

You can edit your own post for 30 minutes after posting, and delete it at any time.

Your information

Your display name and posts are public. Your email address is never shown to other members. The Privacy page explains what we keep and how to delete your account; you can also delete it yourself from your account page.