Why did you choose Buddhism?

General discussion, particularly exploring the Dharma in the modern world.
Ghid
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Re: Why did you choose Buddhism?

Post by Ghid »

Buddhism caught my attention because I learned about Aristotle. The book I read, Aristotle for Everybody by Mortimer Adler, said that Aristotle thought the world is like it appears, which sounded like the First Step in which Buddha says that we should see the world as it is.

But after I have thought about it, I think the two ideas are different. Knowing what is because I see it is not the same as knowing what I see is what is. Calling a thing was it is different than a thing being what it is because I call it.
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Sherab
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Re: Why did you choose Buddhism?

Post by Sherab »

I did not choose Buddhism.

When I was in primary 3, my teacher in one of the history lessons, taught that Buddhist monks would carry broom to sweep the path ahead of them as they walked so as not to step on even an insect. As a result, I thought that the religion was rather silly and never bothered about it anymore.

That is, until many years later, when I was in my late thirties, I was researching the topic life after death and wondered what Buddhism has to say about the topic. So I went to a bookstore and picked up a book by Christmas Humphries called The Wisdom of Buddhism. In it were a number of quotations that I could not make any sense of. I did not believe that I was that stupid (pride of course) and thought that by reading the quotations in their context that I will be able to understand what was being said. So I ended up buying one sutta/sutra after another and reading them.

The rest as they said is history.
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RedFox
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Re: Why did you choose Buddhism?

Post by RedFox »

I chose it after a friend of mine told me he practiced Buddhism.
I was curious what people who worshiped the jolly fat man that you rub his stomach for luck believed.

After reading the 4 noble truths for the first time I felt instantly connected with it. It just made sense to me.
That simple...it made sense
Ghid
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Re: Why did you choose Buddhism?

Post by Ghid »

RedFox wrote:I chose it after a friend of mine told me he practiced Buddhism.
I was curious what people who worshiped the jolly fat man that you rub his stomach for luck believed.

After reading the 4 noble truths for the first time I felt instantly connected with it. It just made sense to me.
That simple...it made sense
Hi,

I'm trying to learn about Buddhism. I'm a sixteen year old high school student, and I'm nervous about asking people questions because I wonder if some questions might be impolite. So if my question is inappropriate, I apologize in advance.

I’m asking because for a long time, I thought that pain and suffering were different words for the same thing. Even now, I think that I’m not clear about it.

After you learned about the Four Noble Truths, did you understand the difference between pain and suffering?

Ghid
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avisitor
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Re: Why did you choose Buddhism?

Post by avisitor »

Ghid wrote:Hi,
I'm trying to learn about Buddhism. I'm a sixteen year old high school student, and I'm nervous about asking people questions because I wonder if some questions might be impolite. So if my question is inappropriate, I apologize in advance.
I’m asking because for a long time, I thought that pain and suffering were different words for the same thing. Even now, I think that I’m not clear about it.
After you learned about the Four Noble Truths, did you understand the difference between pain and suffering?
Ghid
Hello sixteen year old high school girl who asks the adults in her Jewish family about Buddhism,
(there is no attack here. Just stating what I believe is true about Ghid)

So what is in Buddhism that draws people to it?
I believe that Buddha found the truth about life or original nature or enlightenment.
And that enlightenment isn't only for him. But, everyone who tries .. already has Buddha nature in them.
So enlightenment is possible for others. So we can learn the truth for ourselves.

No, I didn't understand, after reading about the four noble truths for the first time, what the difference was between pain and suffering
That understanding took a little more learning and practice sitting in meditation.
For me, pain is what hurts and suffering is what normally goes on in the mind as one feels pain.
If there was a choice between feeling, crying and thinking about the pain
Or, feeling the pain, and moving onto something else
I would think that the second choice involved less suffering.
Ghid
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Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2014 10:48 pm

Re: Why did you choose Buddhism?

Post by Ghid »

avisitor wrote:
Ghid wrote:Hi,
I'm trying to learn about Buddhism. I'm a sixteen year old high school student, and I'm nervous about asking people questions because I wonder if some questions might be impolite. So if my question is inappropriate, I apologize in advance.
I’m asking because for a long time, I thought that pain and suffering were different words for the same thing. Even now, I think that I’m not clear about it.
After you learned about the Four Noble Truths, did you understand the difference between pain and suffering?
Ghid
Hello sixteen year old high school girl who asks the adults in her Jewish family about Buddhism,
(there is no attack here. Just stating what I believe is true about Ghid)

So what is in Buddhism that draws people to it?
I believe that Buddha found the truth about life or original nature or enlightenment.
And that enlightenment isn't only for him. But, everyone who tries .. already has Buddha nature in them.
So enlightenment is possible for others. So we can learn the truth for ourselves.

No, I didn't understand, after reading about the four noble truths for the first time, what the difference was between pain and suffering
That understanding took a little more learning and practice sitting in meditation.
For me, pain is what hurts and suffering is what normally goes on in the mind as one feels pain.
If there was a choice between feeling, crying and thinking about the pain
Or, feeling the pain, and moving onto something else
I would think that the second choice involved less suffering.
Just in case anyone really cares, my family is Irish Italian Catholic, and my boyfriend's family is Jewish. My birth mother was very likely an Ifugao headhunter. I am really embarrassed that I so completely missunderstood about the nature of suffering. Thank you very much, for explaining.
uan
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Re: Why did you choose Buddhism?

Post by uan »

Ghid wrote: Just in case anyone really cares, my family is Irish Italian Catholic, and my boyfriend's family is Jewish. My birth mother was very likely an Ifugao headhunter. I am really embarrassed that I so completely missunderstood about the nature of suffering. Thank you very much, for explaining.
thank you for sharing, it's very humanizing - you're not just a random poster, but a real person and that's refreshing on any forum! :)

And there is zero reason to be embarrassed by misunderstanding anything. We are all learning, and short of being enlightened, at some point we all are misunderstanding something.

:anjali:
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avisitor
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Re: Why did you choose Buddhism?

Post by avisitor »

Ghid wrote:[Just in case anyone really cares, my family is Irish Italian Catholic, and my boyfriend's family is Jewish. My birth mother was very likely an Ifugao headhunter. I am really embarrassed that I so completely missunderstood about the nature of suffering. Thank you very much, for explaining.
I am sorry. My mistake. Your family is Irish Italian Catholic.
Which makes me ask, Coming from such strong roots, how did you get interested in Buddhism??

Anyway, you should never be embarrassed to ask questions.
Please, don't be afraid to ask.
People here want to answer any questions you may have about Buddhism.
Ghid
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Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2014 10:48 pm

Re: Why did you choose Buddhism?

Post by Ghid »

[quote="avisitor
… Coming from such strong roots, how did you get interested in Buddhism?[/quote]
Last edited by Ghid on Thu Jul 24, 2014 2:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Ghid
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Re: Why did you choose Buddhism?

Post by Ghid »

avisitor wrote: … Coming from such strong roots, how did you get interested in Buddhism?
I posted a short explanation on this thread. Thank you again.
Ghid
Posts: 60
Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2014 10:48 pm

Re: Why did you choose Buddhism?

Post by Ghid »

avisitor wrote: … Coming from such strong roots, how did you get interested in Buddhism?
I posted a short explanation on this thread. Here is my convoluted attempt at an explanation.
Ghid wrote:Buddhism caught my attention because I learned about Aristotle. The book I read, Aristotle for Everybody by Mortimer Adler, said that Aristotle thought the world is like it appears, which sounded like the First Step in which Buddha says that we should see the world as it is.

But after I have thought about it, I think the two ideas are different. Knowing what is because I see it is not the same as knowing what I see is what is. Calling a thing was it is different than a thing being what it is because I call it.
Probably my explanation makes no sense, but the two views are something like how umpires call strikes. An inexperienced umpire will say that he calls them as he sees them. A more experienced umpire knows that they are what he calls them.

I get involved in these convoluted philosophical comparisons because I have a philosophical friend. He is a teacher at my school, and he is the advisor to my study group. I formed it back in the seventh grade because I wanted a safe place to make goo-goo eyes with boys. Like I said, I was terrified that I would the only girl with no dance partner.

I thought of it as objective and stratagem, but in Buddhist terms, it could be pain and suffering. The pain (no boy to dance) motivated me to find place where I could show boys that my dangly earrings and clinkly bracelets make me look like Tarzan’s Delilah, but I am really Ali Baba’s Morgiana. I lured them with pizza or other treats, like for example, other girls. Then I or we would say, “I (or we) have homework; do you have homework?”

I had one rule, no video games. The teacher enforced that rule, so I was not the bad guy on that.

As I learned about Buddhism and suffering, I thought that Buddha said that if I have pain, then I should meditate. To me, that seemed crazy. If I had done that I would still be the girl with no dance partner.

I am delighted to learn that if I have a problem, following the Dharma does not relieve me of the responsibility of finding a stratagem to solve the problem.
avisitor wrote: Anyway, you should never be embarrassed to ask questions.
Please, don't be afraid to ask.
People here want to answer any questions you may have about Buddhism.
Yes, I understand that I should ask; but before asking I need to know that I don’t understand.

It is something like how I never suffered before I was adopted. I was lonely and hungry, but I did not know that life could be better, so I didn’t know that I was supposed to suffer.

In a back handed sort of way, I did ask. And you provided a very excellent answer.
ugetsu
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Re: Why did you choose Buddhism?

Post by ugetsu »

I kinda posted how in my intro thread,
Met girl. Gave me the best time of mutiple lifetimes,,,,and.really after a girl like that who's name was dharma id be the biggest fool alive if i didnt want real deal dharma,
So i became a buddhist contrary to the mocking off friends who thought i was crazy as im not asian,.and i told all of em neither was buddha so knock it off or ill fed em ham sandwich,,and they eventully just accepted it. its been alrright. i dig it,
Its helped me in many ways buddha was a stuendous bad ass in my opinion, and bieng the buddha was enlightened which is far more then what i am so,,,
Thats the nutshsll
Punya
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Re: Why did you choose Buddhism?

Post by Punya »

It would be great to hear how some of our newer members got into Buddhism.
We abide nowhere. We possess nothing.
~Chatral Rinpoche
Saoshun
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Re: Why did you choose Buddhism?

Post by Saoshun »

I choose buddhism because it's true. All buddha says it's based on experience and with proper cultivation other can realize it too, so I would not say I choose buddhism, the buddhism choose me.
cjdevries
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Re: Why did you choose Buddhism?

Post by cjdevries »

I was interested in finding a spiritual path because I needed some food for my soul. While I was meditating, I had a period of sustained calmness of mind followed by an image of a Buddha filling my third eye. With it came a transcendent feeling of peace and joy and I quickly knew that this holy being had answered my call and was showing me that this could be the path for me. From then on, it feels like going home again. Anytime I am at a Dharma center or temple, listening to teachings, I feel a sense of wholeness. It feels the part of me that couldn't be filled before. I listened to a professional golfer recently say that his life before Christianity was a dark period and I feel the same way with Buddhism. Now I have more of a sense of peace that I can bring into my life.
"Please call me by my true names so I can wake up; so the door of my heart can be left open: the door of compassion." -Thich Nhat Hanh

"Ask: what's needed of you" -Akong Rinpoche

"Love never claims, it ever gives. Love ever suffers, never resents, never revenges itself." -Gandhi
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srivijaya
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Re: Why did you choose Buddhism?

Post by srivijaya »

Unlike many people here, I was raised in a totally atheistic, materialistic household with zero religious content at all. As a kid though, I always had a strong feeling that there must be more to life than the lame stuff I could see happening around me. So I began to explore Christianity and over time other theistic religions. But try as I might, I just couldn't "believe". The idea of a creator made no sense at all.

My principal hobby was archery and the only book in the college library on the topic was called Zen in the art of archery. It was a big disappointment, as I was hoping for some solid archery tips. It was full of other "weird stuff" that made no sense but subversively began to ferment in my mind. A few years later when I found myself nervously sitting in a Buddhist group reading the Heart Sutra I was hooked.

Buddhism continues to answer my questions but in ways I never expected.
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Lobsang Chojor
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Re: Why did you choose Buddhism?

Post by Lobsang Chojor »

I remember in primary (about 10) we learnt about Buddhism in RS (we even visited Samye Ling), at the time I was too young for philosophy but I liked the mindfulness and meditation.

Then at 13 my martial arts training lead me to Zen and from there I was lead to the Gelug school (mainly because am a very intellectual person).
"Morality does not become pure unless darkness is dispelled by the light of wisdom"
  • Aryasura, Paramitasamasa 6.5
ༀ་ཨ་ར་པ་ཙ་ན་དྷཱི༔ Oṃ A Ra Pa Ca Na Dhīḥ
A Ah Sha Sa Ma Ha
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Re: Why did you choose Buddhism?

Post by A Ah Sha Sa Ma Ha »

I was mesmerized by a Black Buddha statue when I was very young...
I had a Chinese Godmother...
Then always searching for truth growing up...searching ..searching..searching for the Ultimate Truth...
Then reading about a Tibetan nun that was tortured in a Chinese prison, dying, then her sky-burial...
I was compelled to study Tibetan buddhism after that...
I am still mesmerized by it all...

:heart:
Saoshun
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Re: Why did you choose Buddhism?

Post by Saoshun »

Because I experienced it the way buddha told about things.
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