This thread is similar (but not quite the same ) as @Lee82 's Thread I guess it's also similar to @eggsavior 's Thread too...
However this is more along the lines of how we see ourselves when it comes to Buddhist practice,,,,Ie, somewhat "blended" or "pure" ...
Over the years I had flirted with different spiritual beliefs ( no doubt other members here have too)...Then finally found my "self" immerse in Buddhism...
I guess for many of us Westerners we might dabble in a bit of Spiritual Tourism
...explore the different spiritual paths-some might even prefer the Omnism path where all the different spiritual beliefs merge/blend ... ( I guess the New age movement is somewhat similar)
Others might decide to become either a Permanent Resident (Settle on one particular path, but freely travel between states/schools/sects eg, Theravada, Mahayana "Zen" "Tibetan", even at times venturing into Hinduism & Taoism) or we might become Naturalised ( When one settles for a particular school of Buddhism and feels no need to travel) ...
Do you see your self as a Spiritual Tourist ? Or Permanent Resident ? Or have you become Naturalised "settled down" ?
(Personally I'm a Permanent Resident of Buddhism ...I took up the Buddha's kind offer of "Ehipassiko" it seems to be quenching the thirst )
Comments
For me I found where I belonged with Buddhism and there is no dabbling in other belief systems as far as my own beliefs go. The only tourism would be to serve other objectives (as in my thread) or purely out of interest in how others live their lives.
I did a lot of tourism along the way. I feel at home now. But I do tend to get restless and so you never know what that goes, lol. I have wanderlust in many area of my life. But I find far more value in my practice in Buddhism than I did in anything else and feel I have a multitude of lifetime's worth of practice yet to explore. I do use some rituals and celebrations from my previous tours though.
Buddhist. Atheist. Agnostic. Scientist. Father. Son. Brother. Happy. Free.
The buddha was a man, not a god. To me, finding buddhism has been the best discovery of my life. I gladly and humbly walk the buddhist path.
Without depth, you might as well be a well infirmed atheist - oh that should have been 'informed' not 'infirmed' but I feel the Freudian slip is well placed ...
http://www.atheistrepublic.com/forums/debate-room/what-worst-religion-why
Many of us on the dharma bus are atheists, we don't believe Buddha at face value but look a little deeper ... and are interested in getting from A to B u d d h a
I might write an English gentleman's guide to eastern religions.
I'd read it, if only for the lulz....
I see spirituality as a journey, part of life, directed by a deep impulse to sometimes seek the spiritual life and let your intuition guide you. My stops along the way have been Christianity and Anthroposophy in early youth, Osho a little later, then a long period of non-denominational Agnosticism, re-finding Osho and then Buddhism.
My education made me a poet-scientist-engineer, and I believe in those principles, and Buddhism is a very good fit for that, and also seductive because I'm a sucker for things that allow me to follow a path and make progress... in a way that's what is causing me some difficulty in letting go of the scholarly attitude of Gelug-school Tibetan Buddhism, since progress is often easy, you just read another book and broaden your understanding.
So perhaps I'm not a permanent resident yet, three years is relatively short acquaintance on the scale of lifetimes, but Buddhism did to a certain extent feel like coming home.
I've been a wandering Tourist in the past. Now, Buddhism is my path but it's flavoured by Judaism. I think I'm mainly a cultural Jew, but it does influence my life too.
I set out with a Catholic/Jew background, but neither were by choice.
Just the backpack I carried at the beginning of the journey.
My first stop was Taoism.
Then came Theosophy, which branched out my inquisitive mind to the detours that followed: Advaita Vedanta and Buddhism.
And in Buddhism, my heart nestled and took refuge.
And I keep choosing it every second of my life.
In my responses as well as in my reactions... ??