IF YOU ARE A BUDDHIST, PLEASE ANSWER THIS QUESTION?

What is your name and what part of Buddhism do you practice?
I do not give out personal information on the internet.
I practice Tibetan/Vajrayana Buddhism daily. For 15 years now. Including weekly lessons in person with one of the Dalai Lama's monks who lives and teaches in my city. And other teachings occasionally from other monks and nuns (both Vajrayana and Theravadan).

What influence has Buddhism had on how you live and communicate with others?
After about 7 years of practicing, I started to become happier and less afffected by negative things hat happened in my life. This has only become stronger and stronger with each year I have practiced.
Communicate: I now always tell the truth. I watch against speaking harshly to others. I avoid gossip (usually). And I rarely talk just to be noticed or to impress or to be appreciated.

Do you meditate? Why?
Everyday. All wisdom and insight in Buddhism comes from training your mind for observation. If you are not meditating you are NOT a Buddhist.

Were you converted or born into a Buddhist family?
You cannot "convert" to Buddhism. Obviously you don't understand Buddhism. It is not a belief system, and conversion involves deciding to believe. But Buddha told us to NOT blindly believe, because Buddhism is about self-discovery .. not about belief, not about some Higher Power.
No, my father was an atheist, and my mother practiced yoga (which is a branch of HInduism spirituality).

Is there an aspect of prayer in the religion?
No there is no prayer in Buddhism. Not in the sense that prayer means trying to commune with a higher power, or that it means asking for favors.
Buddhism is about self-discovery. There is NO discussion about God(s) because Buddhism is not about God(s). It is about you learning how and why YOU create your own suffering .. so that you can stop creating your own suffering.
Many villagers treat Buddha as a god, but that is no what Buddhism is about.
And all the ritual is not meant as worship, but as training/imprinting attitudes into yourself.

What symbols are in Buddhism/what do they mean?
Many many symbols. Look this up yourself, because there is no space here.

How do different sects of Buddhists interact with each other?
They don't need to interact with each other. Each sect has a little bit of "I am better than you are", but they all recognize that all sets are on the same page.

Are you ever discriminated because of your religion?
No. You DO Buddhism, and you do it inside. If you walk around saying "Look at me .. I am a Buddhist", then you are not doing a good job of training yourself. People don't know if I am a Buddhist, except for some -- and they don't seem to care either way.

What's your favorite part of the teachings of Buddha?
Buddhism is not about the teachings ... you are not supposed to accept them. You are supposed to TEST tthem out and see if YOU discover the same thing.
If you like an idea from Buddhism . you are not being a very good Buddhist.

What is the role of women? There is no role defined for women.

How do different sects of Buddhists interact with each other?

Different sects of Buddhists interact with each other peacefully. There is no Buddhist war.

But, we do point out anyone who is teaching wrong theory of Buddha dharma. A very famous Chinese sentence: if you do not destroy the evil, you could not disclose the right. (若不摧邪，難以顯正)

Tibetan Buddhism is in fact India's Hinduism Tantra. They do couple practice. Their main goal is to gain sexual happiness, not the Buddha dharma wisdom.

Good morning!

What is your name and what part of Buddhism do you practice?
John. I practice Vajrayāna (Karma Kagyu Lineage) within the Mahāyāna tradition. I also read the suttas in the Pali canon and listen to Theravādan teachings on the Internet. I do not make a distinction between any of the traditions so some have categorized me as a Pan-Buddhist. But titles are merely words (LOL).

What influence has Buddhism had on how you live and communicate with others?
I try to live by the teachings of the Buddha in my dealings with others. As one of my teachers said (and I paraphrase), “It’s easy to practice metta (loving-kindness) as a hermit but difficult in real-life day-to-day existence.”

Do you meditate? Yes
Why?
If one doesn’t meditate, I question their claiming to be Buddhist since it is one of the primary teachings of the Buddha. Meditation puts one in closer contact with one's self discovery.

Were you converted or born into a Buddhist family?
Here we have a difference of opinion. I took formal refuge in the Triple Gem eons ago which is generally considered to be becoming Buddhist. But you have to understand we take refuge a number of times. Each one of the “prayers” (pujas) that I practice begins with taking refuge. It’s not like Baptism in certain Christian traditions that is only done once.

Is there an aspect of prayer in the religion?
Yes but it’s not like prayer in the abrahamic faiths. Buddhist "prayer" (called “smon lam” in my practice translates into English as “an approach”, “a way”, or “a wish-path”) are not specifically directed to any supreme deity or for any personal purpose. It harnesses and directs the power of the mind. My prayers are not a request for me personally for either health, wealth, or material objects. In my practice prayers are viewed as seeds planted in the hope they will grow in producing some good. My prayers are directed as a method of reinforcing the attributes the Buddha exemplified and his teachings.

What symbols are in Buddhism/what do they mean?
See http://buddhism.about.com/od/iconsofbuddhism/tp/eightsymbols.htm for the most common symbols and their meaning.

How do different sects of Buddhists interact with each other?
At one time there was a lot of rivalry between traditions and even schools within a given tradition but this has pretty much gone to the wayside at least officially.

Are you ever discriminated because of your religion?
No

What's your favorite part of the teachings of Buddha?
Practicing metta (Karaniya Metta Sutta) is one of the key teachings in my practice. The Dalai Lama has stated that the primary importance for every Buddhist is studying the writings of the Buddha and texts written by teachers.
"It wouldn't be bad if you didn't have statues, but it has become indispensable to have Buddhist texts which deal with the structured path to train our mind. If you have Buddhist texts, read them for yourselves....to understand Buddhist ideas....Buddha's image alone will not purify us of karmic obscuration…. It is very important to study the scriptures. They are not to be just stacked up on the altar. They must be cultivated in our mind. …[we] take great interest in having the symbolic representations of Buddha's body, speech and mind. I feel it is more important to acquire and read scriptures, the symbolic representations of his speech. You can pay homage to them, you can make offerings to them; above all, you should study them." (from Generous Wisdom: Commentaries by H.H. the Dalai Lama XIV on the Jatakamala Garland of Birth Stories” translated by Tenzin Dorjee edited by Dexter Roberts)

What is the role of women?
That depends upon the tradition and the country. Just as women were at one time relegated to a secondary position in many Western cultures, the same held true in many Buddhist cultures. But, just as this has changed in many contemporary Western societies, the same applies in many westernized Asian/Buddhist cultures. See http://www.khandro.net/Buddhism_women.htm for a greater explanation.

Hope this helps