What was your first memory of Buddha?

DaftChris

I remember when I was younger, my mom used to have her friend's mom (who was Japanese) look after me when she went to work or school. She was a nice woman, lived in a good neighborhood and had plenty of stories to tell. I liked going over there...except for one thing.

I was not a very tall child and the first thing you see when you enter her house is a very tall, VERY frightening, laughing Buddha statue. When I first entered her house, I had my back to the rest of the house; and when I turned around, I was taken aback and just froze in my place. I was a little scared of it, but also very fascinated by it. I guess it was the beginning of my interest in Buddhism and of eastern religion in general.

How about the rest of you?

Cole_

Knowing nothing about it, I one day saw a statue of Buddha at a Chinese 99 cent store by my home, and for no reason picked it up and insisted that it be purchased so that I could take it with me. My mother who was very confused by this, asked why? To which I had no answer. I was probably 8 or 9 at the time so she of course didn't wish to upset me and went ahead and got it for me. I proudly placed the mysterious statue in my room, and forgot about it completely until I returned to my childhood home for unrelated reasons at age 16 or so, right around the same time I had found out about buddhism. Upon entering my old room, I looked over to see the statue of Buddha, surprised, I picked it up and went on my way. Not until years later did I actually study Buddhism. The statue now sits on my desk, a reminder of what I've learned and have yet to learn, chipped foot and all, just as the day my mother bought it for me.

MaryAnne

I was about 12 or 13 when I went into my friend's home and came face to face with a beautiful, wall mounted shrine cabinet in a little nook along a long hallway, all intricately carved and painted....
I asked what it was. She told me it was her mother's "Buddha cupboard" where she kept her mala beads, her Buddha statue and incense burner. Her mom was Japanese born and came to America just before my friend and her sibs were born. I was intrigued with the cabinet and the whole "Buddhist thing". Her mom taught me my first Buddhist chant a few weeks later. (Nam Myoho Renge Kyo)
That was the beginning of a life-long interest in Buddhism for me-- even if I did spend many many years on another spiritual path; I always mixed in a little Buddhism - for flavor.

Dakini

4th grade Sunday school. Our teacher that year was a university student majoring in Comparative Religion, so she gave us a course on that. She taught us to take lecture notes, and had us draw the Wheel of the Dharma and taught us about the 4NT and the Eightfold Path. Then the Yin-Yang symbol of Taoism, and what that was about. I was hooked. After that, I read everything I could find on Buddhism, and took a vow not to kill sentient beings. I kept that vow for over 30 years, until termites started to eat my house.

BhikkhuJayasara

I have no clue, it was most likely not until my late teens or early 20s.. I have memories of monastics like the DL much earlier. I always thought " what are these guys who have nothing always smiling and so happy about"... only now through my practice am I coming to understand

Cole_

Jayantha said:

" what are these guys who have nothing always smiling and so happy about"

I remember thinking the exact same thing when I was younger.

Silouan

I came from a non-spiritual secular home. We celebrated the major Christian feasts without Christ. When I was twenty one my father passed away just a few weeks before Christmas after having suffered for a few months in a hospital. My uncle came out to help my family in our time of need, but I remember over hearing him speaking to my aunt on the phone saying that there was no God here.

Anyway, after a few days I had an image of the Buddha stuck in my mind, and then declared myself a Buddhist. I didn't know anything about Buddhism at all, but the image was serene and peaceful. My sister gifted me the "The Three Pillars of Zen" that Christmas.

Buddhism had not permeated our pop culture as it has now so exposure to it was limited back then, but I obviously I had seen an image or heard about it before somewhere, and the experience pulled it out of my memory.

vinlyn

Well, probably a silly thought here. I was visiting Thailand for 3 weeks and happened to be at Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) in Thonburi, across the river from Bangkok. At that time you could still climb the central chedi. I was, was at the highest level, and as I took my first step down I fell. I barely caught myself from falling to certain serious injury (the steps are remarkably steep and short). It flashed in my head that Buddha protected me.

Yes, silly, but it made me focus a bit more on what I was seeing at Buddhist temples for the rest of my visit.