Guide to the Guidelines and the Terms of Service 2021.
1 Welcome and Introduction
Discuss & Discover (aka the Forum) is an online spiritual community set up to discuss the Early Buddhist Texts (EBT) found at SuttaCentral.net, and which date from the early centuries after the Buddha. Our discussions range from highly scholarly debates to general issues and answering questions from newcomers. While the Forum is not a support group and does not tolerate personal discussion, we enjoy sharing Dhamma ideas and understandings in a supportive atmosphere.
As Buddhists, we believe that Right Speech takes priority over Free Speech. Put simply, Right Speech means abstaining from gossip and talk which is false, malicious, or harsh. We take care to write only what we believe to be true and relevant, voicing our opinion with kindness and patience. By participating in the Forum we agree to
- adhere to the principles given in these Guidelines,
- accept the sanctions implied by the Guidelines, and
- help maintain the Forum as a supportive and enriching place for Dhamma discourse.
2 Seeking help
If you have a question about the Guidelines or need any sort of help, please contact the moderators
- by sending a Personal Message to
@moderators, or - by mentioning
@moderatorsin any public thread.
PMs sent directly to one moderator’s username regarding forum issues are automatically shared with the entire Mod Team, unless marked as Private/ Personal.
3 Safeguarding the Forum
3.1 Please do:
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keep to the thread topic that is indicated in the OP (opening post)
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start a new thread if you feel some aspect of an existing thread is worth further discussion, by using the Reply as linked topic option
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use the search function to read up on pre-existing threads before starting a new discussion
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place new threads in their correct category by consulting the Categories page
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make personal concerns impersonal by rephrasing to (eg) “What do the EBTs say about ….?” or use the Personal Message (PM) feature (this is not moderated) to discuss with like-minded friends
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give proper references/links to all material quoted
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place public announcements concerning upcoming Dhamma courses, retreats, and events, or newly published Buddhist books in the Events & Announcements category (see here for the technical details of how to create such an announcement)
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take time, should your post get flagged, to understand why the community has found your post problematic (if in doubt contact the moderators)
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abide by our Terms of Service
3.2 Please do not:
personally
- post your own or any other person’s personal information (email, telephone numbers, addresses, passwords etc)
- reveal your personal practice, personal medical issues, or personal problems
- offer direct personal medical, spiritual, or psychological advice to anyone
- claim any spiritual attainments or psychic powers
- propagate delusional views
interpersonally
- make ad hominem attacks, use name calling, threaten kammic retribution, psychoanalyze other users, or quarrel head on with anyone
- respond to bad behavior by joining in (walk away and flag it)
- flag without a good reason, or use the flagging system to ‘settle scores’
- express patriarchal, misogynist, sexist, bioessentialist, xenophobic, transphobic, TERF (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist), homophobic, racist, anti-Semitic, or pro-Nazi views or any other kind of hateful views
- espouse radical nationalist agendas or sectarian fundamentalism
- contribute any content espousing anger, hate or violence towards any group
- engage in spamming, sock puppeting, trolling, sealioning, gaslighting, gish galloping, dogpiling, doxing, or other inappropriate online strategies
publically
- request donations or financial/material assistance for any country, cause, organization, or person without obtaining written permission from the Moderators
- post copyrighted material or suggestions for stealing copyrighted intellectual property (text, software, video, audio, images)
- post content which might be reasonably construed as obscene or sexually explicit in any any situation, such as in front of your family and friends or local officials
- share any content from a private message without the sender’s permission
- criticise others
4 Moderation
The Forum is moderated by a small band of unpaid volunteers, who are responsible to, and overseen by Forum Management.
Besides being on hand to give help, the Mods keep the forum functioning smoothly in many ways including editing/hiding/moving titles, tags or contents, or restricting users access to particular threads temporarily or permanently.
When they find content that fails to safeguard the Forum (as in 3.2 Please Do Not:) the Moderators will consult with, warn, or suspend (temporarily or permanently) the poster concerned.
Your private messages are private and not moderated but remain subject to the Terms of Service and Guidelines. Moderators have the ability to review private messages if they are reported by a user for containing violations of the Guidelines (e.g. abuse, harassment). For more information about private messages see what’s a PM?.
You can help the Mods by using the flagging system whenever you see content that doesn’t conform to the Guidelines. If in doubt, please contact the moderators.
Official messages by the moderators are highlighted in staff-coloured boxes, which currently appear as yellow or green on your screen and will show like one of these:
The mods live in different time zones and have personal responsibilities outside the Forum. While they try hard to provide 24/7 coverage, there may be short delays in responding to even routine matters and, as decisions are made by group consensus, it will take a few days to reach decisions on some issues. Please refrain from asking for immediate action or insisting that matters be settled in your favour!
5 Managing your Account
To terminate your account, simply turn off notifications and discontinue posting.
If you wish to have your username changed or suspended, or your past content anonymized, contact the moderators.