Maddie

The problem with this statement would be, which spirituality are we talking about? And how can you demonstrate that your statement is correct?

A lot of the TTC needs to be understood in the context under which it was written (as with any other work of literature). It was mostly written during the waring states period in ancient China and it was a competing philosophy with Confucianism as well as several other schools of philosophy that emerged during this time period and were all competing with each other to gain favor with the Emperor. This attack on scholars is most likely an attack on Confucianism as they were considered the "scholars".

If/when I find the reference I'll be sure to let you know. Unfortunately when I read a big collection of suttas I don't always pay attention to the name of them. I did hear that around the time that you mentioned that Buddhism in southeast Asia had somewhat of a revival as a reaction against Christian missionaries from western countries. I think I heard that prior to that, that Buddhism in southeast Asia had a much different character than it does today and it was mainly the monks basically acting as priests and doing rituals for the people.

I've definitely read several suttas that talk about Metta and its virtues although unfortunately I can't think of the references off the top of my head. In one sutta in particular the Buddha was listing various paths/methods to obtain liberation and he listed Metta as an option.

I feel like there were several people like this when I was in acupuncture school. Very interesting to talk to but useless in the "real world"

When I first began my transition and I looked more like a man I used the men's restroom because I didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable. At the point that while using the men's restroom I saw that I was clearly making men uncomfortable with my presence I then began to use the women's restroom. While I am not going to comment on my genitalia I can say that believe it or not no one in the women's restroom has stood on the toilet seat to peek over and inspect my genitalia so far. :-)

First noble truth lol

We don't want special treatment, just to be the gender that we really are.

That sounds like a splendid idea

Can I have access to the current events section please?

no not really I asked because this is the transgendered thread and that seemed to have no relevance to the topic at all, so I was asking you for clarification. If I posted on an internet discussion about auto transmissions, a pancake recipe they might be a bit confused about the relevance of my post.

Yeah I heard about the Lia Thomas decision yesterday. My official position on is it fair for a trans woman to compete in women's swimming is "I don't know". I can only hope that the Olympic committee made its decision based upon actually scientific medical facts and research and was not simply being reactionary but I don't know. I can definitely empathize with her since I quit my jujitsu gym based on being discriminated against for being trans and remembering how awful that felt, but on the other hand I wasn't competing. I'm honestly not even sure if it would be fair for me to compete against cis women or not. I'm pretty sure if I sucked at competitions most people would probably not care but god help me if I won, which is what happened to Lia.

What does any of that have to do with transitioning?

1. I would really suggest watching these videos that I post because in almost every case it's the kids are telling the parents that's how they feel and initially the parents are usually resistant. 2. I can say that I wish I had had the opportunity to transition as a child and avoid male puberty because it would have made things so much easier. 3. Again it comes down to the timing of puberty and the permanent changes that it causes that can lead to gender dysphoria. 4. It's not just my opinion but all medical science and experts agree that if someone truly is transgendered and has gender dysphoria that they always benefit from transitioning. Again I recommend watching these videos I post because they address a lot of your questions.

For those who question if a child can know if they're trans this should be seen.

No it's actually not very common at all but the far right is trying to make a very small percentage of ancedotal examples into their primary argument against transitioning.

I'm sorry about that experience with the TCM practitioner. I find the advice you were given about Metta odd since the Buddha himself listed Metta practice as one of the paths to enlightenment. That does not sound very external to me.

First of all I'm really sorry that you are going through this. It's really good that you started therapy for sure. It might not be a good idea to meditate as in some situations it can actually make things worse. I'm also sorry that you didn't have a good experience with your TCM practitioner. As a TCM practitioner I focus on mental health issues, and it does help a lot of people. If you really want to meditate then at the very least I would NOT recommend mindfulness. Rather I would recommend a LOT of Metta meditation. Again I'm sorry you feel so bad and I do hope that you feel better as soon as possible.

I don't think its necessarily only abusive parents that react not well to a child proclaiming a gender different than that which they were assigned at birth. There are often well meaning parents that for one reason or another do not react in the most supportive way in these situations.

lol that was absolutely the case. When I was a teenager my parents took me to several councilors wanting to "fix" me. Every time the therapist would tell my parents that I was not the only issue and they needed to work on themselves, we moved onto the next councilor.

Actually for most of my childhood (aside from the very beginning) I did not know I was trans. I showed tendencies early on but literally had it beat out of me. Well not really beat out, but I had to deeply suppress it so deeply that even I did not consciously realize it. This leads me to believe that a lot of kids that turn out to be "unsure" of their gender (i.e. think they are trans and realize they are not) might have had a lot of pressure put on them to "not be trans". But then again I am not an expert and don't claim to know the answer in every situation. This is why I do think that if a child does express that they feel that their gender is different than the one assigned to them at birth they should be made to see a licensed therapist.

To me personally at least one of the main take aways from the video was that the kids were not confused at all about their identities.

If anyone has watched the video I posted earlier about trans kids camp it is very enlightening.