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Other good schools!
So do you guys practice or study and other schools or philosophies. I recently read a lot of Don Miguel Ruiz. He teaches some kind of Toltec way but I see lot of ideas from Buddhism in it. There are a lot of critics of this way and we all know that many people still consider Castneda as some cult freak. So what other ways are there to follow?
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Refuge vows where one formally becomes a Buddhist.
Praktimoksha vows...the 5 precepts and so on.
Bodhisattva vows...
8 precept vows...
Vows of a monk of varying degree's
Vows of a nun of varying degree's.
Now, once you decide that "hey, this is it, I'm a Buddhist," then you really do need to start focusing your efforts on the Buddhist path. Not to the exclusion of studying others and finding points of agreement and divergence, but to the point where you don't do things that contradict what you are doing as a Buddhist.
This doesn't mean they can't read religion or philosophy books or general interest books by non-buddhist writers. If that were true then all non-buddhist books should be out of reach as well as all non-buddhist movies lest one be polluted by them. There may very well be some potential for just that and, in a retreat it may be inappropriate to be reading murder mysteries; but few modern teachers would tell students not to read the newspaper; not to go to movies except the ones they certify to be wholesome.
There are many POV's out there. It's good to aspire to understand those which oppose your religious view because you may need to help someone (maybe a family member, for example, who holds these views) or engage in debate; it helps to know what you need to negate. It's also fine to read non-buddhist authors on topics related to breathing, meditation, chakras, etc. You may find something useful in terms of how to sit, posture, breath, etc. You are not taking refuge in their tenets or agreeing with their particular form of religious practice by merely reading their works. My own teacher asserts that, if it can bring you to a deep state of meditation and doesn't require us to assert faith in anything non-buddhist, there's no reason not to try, because getting to Shamatha is so very important for all Buddhists. Another good example is Yoga. Many Buddhist dharma centers now feel compelled to offer yoga; some types of yoga use chanting of the names of Hindu deities. Were I to participate in such an asana practice I wouldn't feel that I've abandoned my refuge for one moment. Yoga helps open vital points of the body and makes meditation work better. In fact the express reason for Hatha Yoga, as expressed in their major text (Hatha Yoga Pradipika) is to enable practitioners to achieve "Raja Yoga", which means meditation.
There are also spritual teachers who are kind of neutral in terms of espousing a particular religion. They're really marketing an approach which makes pursuing a spiritual path easier and perhaps more meaningful. And, yeah, they're marketing themselves too. I don't follow any of these people but I see no harm in listening to an Ekhardt Tolle type, just so long as one does this with the sense that they are practicing a mindfulness technique that has been shown to be effective, and which can and should and MUST be used to then examine Buddhist objects, do analysis on Buddhist topics, etc. I know people who listen to these kinds of teachers and have a really good meditation practice and a daily Buddhist practice and are firm in their beliefs regarding Buddhist tenets. Far be it for me to criticize them. I rejoice in their progress.
When that study shifts to a desire to follow another system to achieve what that system promises in terms of spiritual goal that's when the line is crossed. When a system other than a Buddhist one becomes equally or more attractive than a Buddhist one, or even when one considers that the spiritual goal presented by this non-buddhist system is attractive and perhaps constitutes a desirable path---that's when the practitioner must pull back or Buddhist refuge is naturally lost. They no longer fit the definition of a Buddhist if they believe that some non-buddhist system might lead to the highest and best spiritual state.
Now I agree with you when you talk about following teachers, if, by that, you mean committing yourself to undertake a spiritual career in which this non-buddhist teacher's philosophy and religious practice instructions are given equal or greater primacy to those of your Buddhist teacher (or the Buddhist source materials you use for your practice).
Lastly...
If you currently haven't committed to any religion it may be best to sample what many of them have to say and see which one makes the most sense to you, before you commit to any of them.
Perhaps taking the refuge vows would be beneficial. Taking my marriage vows was certainly a very profound experience and helped to make the commitment to my partner into something larger and more important than myself. Maybe the same would be true for refuge vows.