Be Moderate, or Be Moderated

Buddhism is famous for its Middle-way — avoiding the two extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification. Moderation and tolerance is recommended, though we shouldn't misunderstand that to mean that making extreme efforts and unrelenting diligence is not the right path. The Middle-way is a straight and narrow path between extremes, not a liberal path where anything goes. Those of liberal views dislike any rules and regulations, but good people appreciate their value in maintaining harmony.

The Buddha laid down many thousands of rules and regulations for the administration of his communities of monks and nuns. The rules were made:

  1. For the excellence of the community.
  2. For the well-being of the community.
  3. To control wicked individuals.
  4. For the comfort of well-behaved monks and nuns.
  5. To restrain present defects.
  6. To prevent the arising of future defects.
  7. To arouse faith in those who lack faith.
  8. To strengthen faith in those who have faith.
  9. To establish the true Dhamma, and
  10. To support the Buddhist monastic discipline.

Every forum I have ever been a member of has rules that members are expected to observe. The rules vary from one community to the next, and how strictly they are enforced also varies from one moderator to the next, but it seems that nearly everyone recognises that some rules are beneficial to the community.

I do what I can to maintain the harmony of the community. If I see someone being disruptive by SHOUTING, ranting, or trolling, I advise them to cool down, modify their post, and focus on the issues. Since I am not a moderator, and don't wish to be (as I wish to remain impartial), I cannot moderate posts or close threads.

I make every effort to keep threads open and to move discussions forward if they are worth having. Since I have been a member here for nearly ten years, I have a fairly good idea of what kind of behaviour is tolerated, and what leads to threads or posts being moderated.

If you are moderate in the way that you express your opinions, it is unlikely that your posts will be moderated.

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