I would like to introduce myself in brief, knowing that I plan to use these forums on a regular basis to help me transition into Buddhism.
Basically, I am a young adult, in the final year of college, but for pretty much my whole life I have had a spiritual inclination, a tendency to see patterns in people and to trace things back to their root source.
I have always been fascinated with religion in general, and also philosophy, because they attempt to tackle some very interesting and difficult questions.
I have gone through phases of Christianity (it is the most popular religion around here, with many open doors) and phases of no particular religion, only personal spiritual practice.
I started learning about Buddhism about two years ago, and I have to say that I agree with everything I've learned, but I hesitate to use the term 'learning', because any real progress must come at the visceral and not cognitive level.
Essentially, I am not quite at the point where I would feel comfortable calling myself a Buddhist, because I simply don't know enough, and haven't really become part of the community, and that is really why I have joined the DW forums.
My goals for this relationship (because really that's what it is) are to 1) overcome the knee jerk "second dart" reactions that the mind imposes 2) become more comfortable with exploring and engaging the mind, whether it be through education (history/ science), imagination (literature), or meditation (music and/or silence) and 3) gain a greater knowledge of my internal landscape to create a personal refuge and place to begin the graceful ascent
I welcome all opinions, from folks with a variety of backgrounds, from disperate communities, as we can create a rich and complete foundation upon which to live.
-Tanmart 22
