New to buddhism

Introduce yourself to others at Dharma Wheel.
Post Reply
Tez
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2022 10:41 pm

New to buddhism

Post by Tez »

Hi everyone

I'm Tez and very new to Buddhism, just a couple of weeks into my journey. It was something that happened very quickly. I've always been agnostic, but never really felt any sort of pull towards religion. But something happened a few weeks ago that sent me towards Buddhism.

A long time ago, when I was a teenager (I'm 38 now) I bought a small figurine of the Buddha, no bigger than my thumb,, a cheap metal one you can buy in a market for a few pound. If you asked me where I bought it and why I couldn't tell you. It'd been in various boxes and cupboards over the decades, and I'm surprised it never got thrown out. I'm not sure how, but it ended up in my room in London (I moved to London last year as a PhD student) on one of my shelves, just one of many things lying about my flat. one day, almost two weeks ago, I took it down and used it to hold the page down on a book I was reading for university. At some point, without thinking, I looked closer at the small Buddha. I don't know why but it brought me calm and a sense of peace. I have been going through a hard time lately, and seeing the image of the Buddha peacefully meditating lifted some of the sadness I'd been feeling and awakened something in me. I didn't know exactly what it was, but it was a feeling a decided to follow.

After exploring a little bit online, I booked a class at the nearest Buddhist centre (London has a quite a few) for last Saturday, a combination of meditation and a class on buddhism. I was nervous, but I knew I had to follow this feeling. We did an hour of meditation, followed by an hour talk about the buddhism. I left feeling a sense of peace and belonging, knowing this was a path I wanted to walk.

Since then ive been reading a couple of books I was recommended by someone the centre (The Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path and The Ten Pillars of Buddhism, both by Sangharakshita). I did my first solo meditation this morning, and once more on the train back home to Liverpool. I must admit there's a lot to take in. Reading the books has been difficult, learning about things like the Noble Eightfold Path, the conditioned and unconditioned, and understanding attachment and suffering, and I'm nowhere near understanding it all. But the more I read, the more I feel I'm on the right path. I wouldn't say I'm definitely a confirmed buddhist yet and I don't think it's a good idea to rush into this, but I'm confident I'm close. It's amazing buying a cheap Buddha figurine when I was a teenager would lead me to becoming a Buddhist over twenty years later.

Apologies I've written so much, thank you for reading. I have a lot of questions and really happy to have found this community. Come and say hi and have a good day x
narhwal90
Global Moderator
Posts: 3509
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 3:10 am
Location: Baltimore, MD

Re: New to buddhism

Post by narhwal90 »

I get the figurine thing a bit.. I never had a Buddha statue in a long time practicing, but a few years ago I was on an inexpressably tedious work trip for 2 weeks and over the intervening weekend I went through a local market to buy stuff to take home. I bought all the usual chocolate and macadamia nut things, and happened on a little curio stall and they had a few Buddha figurines coarsely whittled out of coconut shells. The primitive and otherwise entirely simple carving appealed to me so I bought one and now run a little auxillary altar with it. I adopted a dish-like object my daughter made when she was in kindergarden as an incense burner. My daughter has since contributed a few things as well, its an wholly unorthodox arrangement and makes me smile every time I walk past it.
Tez
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2022 10:41 pm

Re: New to buddhism

Post by Tez »

narhwal90 wrote: Mon Sep 12, 2022 11:32 pm I get the figurine thing a bit.. I never had a Buddha statue in a long time practicing, but a few years ago I was on an inexpressably tedious work trip for 2 weeks and over the intervening weekend I went through a local market to buy stuff to take home. I bought all the usual chocolate and macadamia nut things, and happened on a little curio stall and they had a few Buddha figurines coarsely whittled out of coconut shells. The primitive and otherwise entirely simple carving appealed to me so I bought one and now run a little auxillary altar with it. I adopted a dish-like object my daughter made when she was in kindergarden as an incense burner. My daughter has since contributed a few things as well, its an wholly unorthodox arrangement and makes me smile every time I walk past it.
That's a lovely story. I suppose you never know what's going to appeal to you. My little figurine makes me feel a connection to the Buddha, more so than any of then ornate sculptures I see as it has a personal meaning.
zerwe
Posts: 778
Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2010 4:25 am
Location: North Carolina

Re: New to buddhism

Post by zerwe »

Welcome!

Shaun :namaste:
User avatar
DNS
Site Admin
Posts: 5268
Joined: Sun Apr 05, 2009 4:23 pm
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, Estados Unidos de América
Contact:

Re: New to buddhism

Post by DNS »

Welcome to DW!

master of puppets
Posts: 1649
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:52 pm

Re: New to buddhism

Post by master of puppets »

hi and welcome Tez.

I'm sure you will love more of Buddhism by reading more.

It may take a while to digest of your reading.

never give up and best wishes on your journey!

🙏
Post Reply

Return to “Introductions”