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How and why did you become interested in Buddhism?
_BeautifulSpringtime
Veteran
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
A deep bow to you all,
BSF
0
Comments
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.
Reading the story of the Buddha's life moved me deeply. By the time I finished, I was hooked.
::
-bf
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
Love,
Brigid
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.
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...
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!
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.
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
Love, Brigid.
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.
-- just a thought.
Good luck to you in your journey.
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.
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.
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.
Dumb luck I guess.
Jason