Greetings of peace, Alistair and wonderful community members! I am looking for your recommendations for a beneficial Mindsprings video, post or suggested reading about the topic of suffering. I am an Imana and coordinator of a Mosque in Canada (near Toronto), and I have recently found that many of my beloved Mosque members are suffering from life challenges, loss, grief and heavy burdens. I am happy to respond, support and bring love to all of these members, but I find that at the end of the day, I feel overwhelmed with sadness and the weight of human suffering. Would you mind recommending to me a Mindspring video, post, or a reading on suffering with a Buddhist or mindfulness perspective that you have found helpful? Thank you, and blessings! xx

Peaceful greetings, fellow Mindspringers! It will be my birthday in 2.5 hours, and as a "Leap Year Baby" who only celebrates her birthday once every four years, I feel this is a magical time for me to contemplate matters that are, at their root, divine and spiritual. I hope you will allow me these musings and questions, for I am seeking your input on questions that have arisen in my addled brain after attending Mindspring live sessions in Mindfulness and Buddhism. I think all of us in this beautiful community have come to this site from various backgrounds, with deep and different lenses through which we view the world and spirituality. I initially perceived all of the new ideas provided by wonderful Alistair and this site through my personal lens as a progressive Muslim, fervent feminist and queer ally. Believe me, it was challenging to cotton on to some of the ideas expressed here! LOL But recently I have come to this site with a more simplistic approach, a more open perspective. Still, I have questions that run round my heart and soul, and I wonder if any of you have approaches to them, or answers that have provided you with peace and clarity. Here are three of my most pressing questions, with thanks for considering them! Firstly, I understand that Buddhism does not have hard and fast rules concerning how a person should live (unlike Abrahamic faiths). But what about the precepts? Are they not rules for living? If they are broken, is there judgement? Are there consequences? And is one of the consequences additional suffering? Secondly, Buddhism talks about the importance of "no-self", but in this universe, how can there be "no-self" without there being "self"? And thirdly, I understand that Buddhism does not perceive there to be a Creator Deity - a Supreme God - but isn't the goal of meditation and mindfulness to empty oneself of everyday thoughts and endless suffering to come to a place of ethereal emptiness, where there remains (in words from the Qur'an) "only the face of God"? I'd like to end this epistle (!) with a million thanks to you all, and blessings, salaams and lasting peace!

Salaams and peace to everyone! My name is Fran, I am a new Mindsprings member, and a progressive Muslim living near Toronto, Canada. I am wondering if the following two topics have been addressed in a video lesson or podcast here on the Mindsprings site: (Topic One) Gender Identiy, Sexual Orientation and Sexual Expression in Buddhism; and (Topic Two) Death - is it a transition to a new experience in Buddhism? I would be grateful to learn about Buddhist teachings on these topics. Thank you and blessings! Fran