Code of Conduct

 

These are The Pause Cause community rules and guidelines. These rules represent the Code of Conduct for all social features of this platform, including but not limited to: the forum, all groups, comments, messaging, and any interactions with other users. Violations may lead to the removal of posting privileges or an outright ban from the platform as a whole, so please familiarize yourself with them before engaging in discussion.

 

 

Purpose

 

The purpose of The Pause Cause community is to discuss, ask questions about, give feedback, and provide support to each other on topics regarding The Pause Cause, its programs, events, features, courses, and meditation in general.

 

The Pause Cause is a community that focuses on the practice of Dhammakaya meditation. As such, this is not a place to talk about other schools of meditation, except on the limited scope allowed for on the "Connection to Other Paths" subforum, in relation to Dhammakaya meditation, or if it happens to be on topic to the discussion. We are not a Pan-Meditation community as tends to be common in the western world.

 

Topics

 

We are an officially secular meditation community, so this is not the place to discuss religious concepts. However, you may discuss religion in regards to how it relates to personal meditation practice, such as how meditation has helped you in your personal religious practice, etc. We also recognize the Buddhist origin of our and many schools of meditation, and allow religious concepts to be discussed strictly in relation to meditation and mindful living. Note that we do have future plans for a Buddhist version of The Pause Cause in the works, so those who are interested in such concepts may discuss them over there once it is completed.

 

The Pause Cause centers itself on meditation practice and community features are designed to be a place where Pause Causers can connect, ask questions, and support each other on our inward journey. Therefore, community features should be used as a helpful and productive tool for meditation practice, it should NOT be used to kill time chatting out of boredom, or to get into debates or arguments with strangers, which is counterproductive to our path toward inner peace.

 

Members are expected to be respectful, being mindful that behavior breeds behavior. Mutual respect and a desire to learn and support each other should be the basis of all interactions. If you find anything objectionable, let the administrators or moderators know using the report function.

 

 

Speech

 

At The Pause Cause, we follow the four guidelines of mindful speech, which are

 

1. No false/deceptive speech

2. No divisive speech

3. No harsh speech

4. No pointless speech

 

Any subject matter that may be off-topic, do not follow the above guidelines, or is intended to cause disruption or harm may be removed without notice and can lead to a ban if violated repeatedly. This includes, but is not limited to:

 

1. Harsh/nasty speech

2. Badmouthing other forums, online programs or meditation groups

3. Unnecessarily explicit language and imagery

4. Disruptive meta-discussion or derailing discussions into another topic

5. Personal attacks, such as mocking or berating others

6. Attacking members or public figures based on personal attributes (i.e. gender, nationality, sexuality, race, age) or a group as a whole

7. Attacking members or public figures based on ideological differences (i.e. religion, political affiliation, lifestyle choices) or an ideological group as a whole

8. Posts that are not mindful of the current topic

9. Fabricating stories, experiences, or attributes about yourself or others

10. Content of a political, antagonistic or divisive nature

 

This is an English language forum, therefore posts must be in English, unless you are posting something in a foreign language and then translating it into English.

 

Action

 

The following actions are not permitted

 

1. Spamming

2. Commercial advertising

3. Solicitation of funds unless related to our goal as a community and is sanctioned by admins

4. Advocating illegal activity or posting illicit content by standards of the laws of the United States, where The Pause Cause is based, or the laws of your country of origin

5. Infringing upon the copyright of others

6. Expressing intentions of self-harm or suicide (if you require assistance, please get professional help)

7. The unauthorized collection and release of personal information

8. Proselytizing and evangelizing, including religious and secular ideologies

9. Political canvassing

10. Wholesale revision and deletion of previous posts in a deceptive matter

11. The generation of multiple and/or fake accounts.

12. Stalking or threatening other people on and off The Pause Cause

13. Impersonating other people, including but not limited to other members and public figures

14. Hounding other members by showing a malicious pattern of following them around in discussion

15. Trolling

 

 

Legal Statement

 

The Pause Cause is owned and operated out of the United States of America. As such it comes under the guidelines of 47 US Code Section 230(c)(1), including the Communications Decency Act, which provides the site owners, administrators, moderators, and members immunity from any content in here posted by someone else. Each individual is responsible for their own posting and The Pause Cause and all related parties have no liability.

 

For more info related to this law see: Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act

 

Use of online community features is free and voluntary. Each poster is responsible for their own posts and one should avoid making statements that will be regretted as the Internet is hard to scrub. The Pause Cause will not alter information posted except for cases of moderation nor use the information for commercial purposes. The Pause Cause shall have no responsibility to protect information posted on the forum. Members may use anonymous names if desired. If they use their real name, that is by their choice and The Pause Cause bears no responsibility. Posters have no ownership of any information they post here and do so at their own choice.

 

Finally

 

We reserve the right to add, amend or delete rules as deemed necessary. We also reserve the right to remove prior content on the basis of new rules if needed.