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How and why did you become interested in Buddhism?

edited February 2006 in Buddhism Today
I am interested in the way in which the sangha members became interested in Buddhism. Please vote in the poll and add any remarks that you may have.

A deep bow to you all,

BSF

Comments

  • BrianBrian Detroit, MI Moderator
    edited February 2006
    Became dissatisfied with my previous religion after voluntarily becoming educated about it :)
  • XraymanXrayman Veteran
    edited February 2006
    I was always interested. But after much soul-searching found truth in what was written.

    Perhaps that's it really. And Im not living in fear of burning in hell for my sins when I die-it will happen a lot sooner-Karmically speaking!-so I better watch my P's and Q's-right now! forget about repenting, it's too late.

    "Instant karma's gonna get you, Gonna get you right between the eyes."
    (the original J.Lo-John Lennon)

    regards,
    Richard.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited February 2006
    Being a catholic for over 40 years, it still crept up on me like a gentle surprise... but then I began to correlate certain events to the way I think now... and it all slots in.... :)
  • edited February 2006
    I became interested in meditation at the age of 14, for all the 'wrong' reasons and after an experience I had, I found the only thing that even came close to providing any sort of real explanation was Buddhism, which then stimulated my interest in Buddhism rather than just meditation alone.
  • edited February 2006
    The psychological trauma of sleep paralysis eventually got me into thinking about life in a way that i later found was quite similar to buddhism
  • MagwangMagwang Veteran
    edited February 2006
    A sad marital breakdown forced me out of my comfort zone and started me questioning my outlook on life and my own personal state of suffering.

    Reading the story of the Buddha's life moved me deeply. By the time I finished, I was hooked.

    ::
  • buddhafootbuddhafoot Veteran
    edited February 2006
    Mine was, I believe, from a dissatisfaction with religion, as I knew it, from my entire life. And, I believe, my disagreements with it had some basis in Buddhism before I really realized it. I honestly feel that I've been a practicioner for years - but never knew it. I remember reading the Kalama Sutra years ago and it just ringing like a bell of truth in my head. A bell that contained much more truth than anything I had had force fed into me in my previous years.

    -bf
  • edited February 2006
    Same goes for me...a dissatisfaction with other religions that did not make any sense to me. I was "searching" for something spiritual, and when I started doing Yoga, I was introduced to Buddhism, and it all just makes sense to me.
  • edited February 2006
    Ditto, but with me I was introduced to Buddhism through an Open University course I was studying and then even more so when I started doing my reiki training.
  • BrigidBrigid Veteran
    edited February 2006
    I was thinking in a Buddhist way for as long as I can remember. I remember someone telling me when I was seventeen that I was not a Christian, I was a Buddhist. At the time I was a bit of a Jesus freak but instead of being angry I only felt relief, but didn't really know why. I've always felt that I was waiting until a certain time in my life to go back to something and pick up where I left off. I thought it was some sort of way of life and it was only a matter of time until I came across it again. When I was a child I thought it was being a nun and when I learned how to read I went through my father's library and found books on the lives of the saints and became engrossed. He didn't have any books on eastern religions, being a Catholic. I left all thoughts of religion behind for years but always felt like those days were numbered. In my adult life I avoided marriage and children and when asked why all I could think of was that it was not for me. When I finally felt that I had strayed too far off the path I came back to Buddhism and it all felt very familiar, like the bells that Buddhafoot wrote about.
    I feel like it's always been there in the back of my mind just waiting. I get frustrated sometimes when meditating or trying to figure out some point because I feel like I should already know all of this, or DO know all this and that I've let my brain become so untrained that I have to retrain it all over again.
    The familiarity of Buddhism was exactly the same feeling I had when I went back to the U.K. in my teens. I'd been to Scotland when I was very young, but the second time when the plane was landing at Heathrow I had this huge feeling of relief, like all this tension went out of me and I was finally coming home. When I had the opportunity to go back 5 years later I jumped at it and the familiarity came right back. I really hated having to come back to Canada. I love it here but I'm a different person when I'm in the U.K. It's difficult to put into words but I find I have a deep sense of contentment and that everything is just as it should be when I'm there. I feel stress but not the way I do here. Buddhism feels just like that.
    I never feel that I waited too long to get back to Buddhism. I feel like I went back when I was supposed to. And even though it looks like I may not get the opportunity to be a nun because of my physical condition, I don't regret not getting married and having children at all. I feel like everything is unfolding just like it should and that I'm back on the right path.

    Brigid
  • edited February 2006
    Your physical condition will not prevent you and it may well give you a solid grounding that takes many of those who ordain some time to develop.
  • BrigidBrigid Veteran
    edited February 2006
    Thank you for offering me hope in this direction, Genryu. I feel that it's going to have to be done eventually but perhaps there are things I need to experience before, or maybe I'm just putting stumbling blocks in my way, procrastinating. We'll see. I will get in touch with the Abbey soon. I need to grapple with quitting smoking as an immediate priority and then go from there. I'm grateful for your continued support. I'm falling nicely into Tibetan, by the way.

    Love,
    Brigid
  • edited February 2006
    I got put off Buddhism from quite an early age through knowing someone who claimed to be a Buddhist but didn't appear to practice anything at all. The joss sticks and the Buddha statue were there but that was it!

    But this was in the early seventies and I think this person just wanted a nice label to be different and interesting. It's such a buzz isn't it to stand in the pub getting blind drunk and telling people you belong to a rather exotic religion? Well, this poor soul had quite a few problems so feel kindly towards them.

    I was entirely wrapped up in my own path for some time (several decades) and, as Brigid said - all things happen when they happen because they should happen then. I was getting pissed off with the way my religion seemed to be going in the Big Wide World when a Dharma practitioner came into my life.

    The more we talked about it, the more it made sense and I felt I had probably been practicing some of the teachings for most of my life without knowing it (as I should imagine do most reasonable human beings). From there it was a logical step to ask to borrow some books and find out what it was all about .... which is what I am doing.
  • edited February 2006
    I was born in a family who followed a secular version of Buddhism.

    My first actual interest in Buddhism was in the late 80s when I suffered a personal tragedy (loss, and depression) which led me to ask questions on life and death. This led me to explore the Dhamma in depth.

    I'm still barely scratching the surface. I still suffer depression, fear, anxiety, and every emotion a person can. But something has changed for me over the last 10 years - I've experienced a shift in my view of the world, and I believe my understanding has been enhanced...
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited February 2006
    Welcome to the club Hope! I would say that almost everyone experienced a shift of some kind, or we wouldn't be here... !

    I'm no expert either, but feel free to ask all of us any questions too... we'll help you in any way we can, should you ever need it! :)
  • PadawanPadawan Veteran
    edited February 2006
    I pretty much gave my reasons in another topic, so I'll say it again here but with further elabouration. I had always been interested in religions, yet until recently I hadn't found one that really spoke to me- like many of you here, I was raised in a mainly Christian society, yet I think I was blessed in that my father was open-minded about many faiths, and so had copies of the Bible, the Q'uran and the Bhagavad Ghita in his bookcase, so that we could choose any faith if we wished, based upon the merits of the scripture in question.

    That said, my first marriage was to a Roman Catholic, so I was indoctrinated into all that stood for as a condition of the marriage (Religious instruction in Catholicism by a lay-preacher)- yet despite all this, I couldn't find the answers to many of the questions I had. Just 'trusting to faith' didn't cut it with me, and I found there to be much hypocrisy in the church and among the churchgoers I met. This became most evident when my marriage fell apart, as the church offered no support to me, yet there was no end of support for my ex-wife, simply because she was a baptised Catholic, and I was not. This despite the fact that I had remained faithful to her throughout the marriage, and I had since discovered afterward that she had not. (She had even teased me during the marriage that I would be unfaithful before she would, as she was a Christian!)

    When my marriage fell apart, I began to look inside myself for the answers to what had happened in my life- I had lost my job and my house, my wife had left me, and my one remaining parent- my mother, died- all within the space of two months. (My father had died when I was aged seven, so the bond with my mother was VERY strong.) How I survived this period of my life, I will never know- many people I have known in similar situations tried to take their own lives, but I found some kind of inner strength to carry on despite everything. I read every self-help book I can think of, in an effort to make sense of my life, and I began to read about the various faiths, as I had when I was very young, in an effort to bring some kind of meaning or purpose back to my life.

    I was convinced that there must be some underlying principle that embraces all religions- some deeper truth that cut through all the hypocrisy, and didn't contradict all the things like evolution and big-bang theory that I knew made more sense than having a bearded man in the sky knocking together the whole universe in seven days. Of all the faiths I had studied, I found that Buddhism seemed to resonate with me the most- it put the emphasis on the person, instead of blind faith in a God, yet was able to accept other faiths on an equal footing, free of prejudice and hypocrisy. My studies led me to all kinds of books, until a friend pointed me towards Helena Blavatsky. I began to read some of her work- particularly the way she compared the various faiths, and I realised that this was what I had been looking for by way of making sense of things.

    I began to see that all faiths had the same underlying tenets- unconditional love for ones' fellow being, compassion and tolerance, yet it was adherence to dogma and trivial differences that seemed to underpin many of the conflicts between most faiths, and caused the hypocrisy that had seemed so obvious to me. When I discovered that Blavatsky herself converted to Buddhism later in her life, I then decided to look at Buddhism more, and found that it had answers to many of the questions I had previously had about religion and the nature of the universe, and- more importantly- showed me that it was all right to question, and inspired me to look further for the answers I didn't have. What's more, it also gave me the necessary tools to be able to begin looking, and showed me where to look- inside myself! I'm still looking, but I feel much better equipped to find those answers now than I have ever been.
  • edited February 2006
    Brigid wrote:
    Thank you for offering me hope in this direction, Genryu. I feel that it's going to have to be done eventually but perhaps there are things I need to experience before, or maybe I'm just putting stumbling blocks in my way, procrastinating. We'll see. I will get in touch with the Abbey soon. I need to grapple with quitting smoking as an immediate priority and then go from there. I'm grateful for your continued support. I'm falling nicely into Tibetan, by the way.

    Love,
    Brigid

    Brigid lovie - just a view from outside here but one of my main considerations when any candidate is up for ordination in our tradition is - do they feel ready? If the answer is Yes then I usually have to go away and think about it. People who are jumping up and down screaming Priestess, Priestess, I gotta be a Priestess are often very far away from the commitment and responsibility this entails. They need to go a bit further down their path before they realise what it actually means. When a candidate is genuinely not sure that they are ready for it but willing to put their all into living up to the vows they make, then I have no hesitation in recommending them for it. And I would add that nine times out of ten, people who put themselves forward for it are not ready - their teachers and fellow coven members are better placed to judge how much progress they have made.

    But that is just in my wee corner, if it helps. BB
  • BrigidBrigid Veteran
    edited February 2006
    I think you're right, Knitwitch. I've never felt perfectly ready, and maybe I never will. I think about it a lot and ask myself a lot of questions. I have to ask myself if I'm waiting for the perfect time which may never come and at the same time there is this slight sense of urgency that life is short and I really must take advantage of the life I've been given. I've thought a lot about how I would feel if I couldn't actually become a nun, testing to see how attached I've become to the idea over the years and concluded that if, for some reason, it was going to be impossible for me, I could live as happily as an un-ordained nun. But I don't know if that would be entirely true either. So, amidst all these thoughts I've decided to take baby steps, all well thought out and see where they eventually lead me. The one thing I have to admit that I truly long for is a teacher, my teacher, whoever that may turn out to be. Right now I'm using everything as a teacher, but I'm the kind of person who does my best work with the guidance of a good teacher and I must admit this is something I do long for. I feel just a little lost with out one. We'll see. You never know who your teachers are going to be. But I'm completely determined to live in happiness every moment of my life regardless of my circumstances. I find that happiness is much closer to reality than anything else and I won't suffer anything less when I have the control not to.

    Love, Brigid.
  • NirvanaNirvana aka BUBBA   `     `   South Carolina, USA Veteran
    edited February 2006
    "Became dissastisfied with my previous religion." Close enough, although not completely accurate. "Realized many shortcomings in the mentality promulgated by my religion of birth." The chief shortcoming perhaps being too much attachment to incidentals.

    From the first time I read anything about Krishna or Buddha I realized the shallowness of the conventions in which I was raised. I have been interested in the eightfold path and have reverenced it ever since I heard of it, around age 16.

    Basically, I just want to be truly happy and to build a life based on the Truth and not on mere convention. That's what drew me to exploring Buddhism and now pulls me to the feet of Buddha.


    May All Creatures Everywhere Be Drawn to Bliss!
  • edited February 2006
    Hmm.. IMO Buddhism isn't necessarily about finding a path to happiness, rather it is about deliverance and freedom from suffering..

    -- just a thought.

    Good luck to you in your journey.
  • edited February 2006
    I was lacking something in my life, direction. I had always believed in treating others well and was aware of karma but not the full extent of Buddhism. I started studying and have come to the realization it's one of the best things i have done in a long time. I have a long way to go but i know this is the way I want to go to better myself and those around me.
  • edited February 2006
    Hello all,
    Well I'm somewhat of a mixture of the choices above. Though I was born in Australia, I "grew up" mostly in asian countries. ie China, HK, Japan, Thailand, etc because of my father's business. I was sorta home schooled by mum who took me into the most amazing temples and I was even allowed to eat with some of the monks.
    Around the age of 13/14 after returning to Australia and going to Catholic school where I was brutalised, I decided to explore other religions as I had earlier. Firstly with Taoism, though then into Buddhism. My family firstly thought it was a passing faze and that I would loose interest. However as I grew so did the Buddhism, at this time my father decided a "family" intervention was needed to save me from making a mistake!!!!
    I met my first teacher who was Mahayana and I learnt the basics from him....very cool guy. As he wished me to ordain and I didn't we parted company. Many years later I decided to kick start my practise again and I found my second teacher, this time Theravadin and eventually joining the order and becoming a Bhikhu. Again years later I have gone onto work and advocate for the mental illness/aged care/vision Australia, my family still gets a little weirded out at times, but they accept it as part of me.
  • SimonthepilgrimSimonthepilgrim Veteran
    edited February 2006
    I ticked the "dissatisfied" box because it is nearest to my truth.

    Reaching an active and ongoing study and practice of something like Buddhism is a bit like reaching a peak in a mountain range. The way has been so long and winding, up to heights where I could see and down into dark valleys that never see the sun, that I have never been sure where (if anywhere) I am going.

    Dante woke in a dark forest. So did I. And sitting still just wasn't an option. As I formed one certainty, it was undermined and became worm-eaten. Thus I became a great 'joiner' but a very poor 'stayer'. Philosophies, theologies, cosmogonies, all in search of some understanding of what the f*ck I was doing here and what I was supposed to do.

    Buddhism contained, for me, the example of a person who had been as puzzled as I am. That was enough for me. This was worth exploring. This might be the path through the forest.
  • edited February 2006
    In brief, I had Christianity pushed down my throat so hard in my early years that I rejected it all and was really an atheist for a long time. I was doing well in the company that I worked for, good salary - directorship a strong possibility if I stuck it out. One day our MD was lecturing on about successful people and unsuccessful people, going on to point out that the cleverest people at her university had not become successful people. It dawned on me that success to her meant success in the corporate world of wealth and power and that those she condemned were probably the real successes in life. The clever ones with families and time to spend with them, people who valued other aspects of life. At this point I was working day and night putting the company before my family, convincing myself that I was being a good bread winner. To the horror of the company I took all my leave (when I said I would) and decided to review my lifestyle. I bought a book called "Chop wood, carry water" full of new agey type stuff, anyway it was just enough to tip my thinking in that direction. After a few years of eclecticism Buddhism has percolated out. I am now self-employed, after a couple of years of not knowing where the next pay cheque will come from the terror subsides a bit, and you do get to life on your own terms to greater extent.
  • edited February 2006
    I was confirmed Protestant, but never felt any sense of belonging to Christianity. It didn't make much sense to me, and it was hard for me to find any validity in it. It seemed so hypocritical to me. Now I am just generalizing here, so please don't take anything to offense. But, I got tired of these so called "good" Christians who go to church every week, only to gossip about the congregation. Then they come to work and gossip about co-workers and be nice to your face and stab you in the back. I'm sorry, but I work with a lot of people who behave like this. Going to church does not make you "better" if you don't take any of your teachings and put them to use.

    I think the greatest part of converting to a different religion is that you take it more seriously than just being born into it. I question every thought and action I make, trying to make sure that I follow best what I have learned.

    Anyway, before I start a completely different topic here, I wanted a sense of something I could connect with. Plus, I was do for a personality makeover ("I hate everyone, I hate people, people are stupid...." syndrome). I 've been studying Buddhism for only three months but I feel that this is where I belong.
  • edited February 2006
    I was in a depression treatment centre in Seattle Washington in 1976. My therapist noticed my interest in the gestalt psychology that was being used and he suggested that if I was interested in gestalt, I might be interested in Buddhism. The rest is history....
  • JasonJason God Emperor Arrakis Moderator
    edited February 2006
    BSF,

    Dumb luck I guess.

    :)

    Jason
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