From time to time, people ask me why I chose to become a Buddhist. I studied religion in college, and I have a pretty good grasp of the basic concepts of the major religions - so why pick Buddhism from all of them?
When I would try to explain my choice to someone, I used to get bogged down in the details of suffering and my desire for a religion that addressed it directly, here and now, not in some afterlife to come. Probably due to my studies, I was never really able to put it in a concise way... until now.
In the prologue of "The Buddhist Handbook" John Snelling explains perfectly how Buddhism addresses root causes of human suffering. And he does it in just 8 sentences:
"If we are honest, these root causes lie in the individual human heart, in our hearts, where a primitive but fanatical self-centeredness holds sway. It is our own personal greed, hatred, and delusion, collectivized and amplified on a massive scale, that cause our planet's grave problems. Yet just to see this is not enough. The dark forces within each of us must be acknowledged and brought up into the light. Then, through awareness and understanding, they can be transformed into the stuff of true wisdom and compassion. Buddhism offers us ways and means of doing this.
So we need Buddhism. And our world needs it as never before."
Yeah. What he said...
No. There is too much. Let me sum up...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
8 comments:
I hate how when a good, but serious post appears, the comments disappear, so I felt compelled to comment - what he said indeed!
I agree with Tessa, that is such a good way to look at the problems in the world, its a shame that so few people will end up taking this post on board and making the necessary changes
This was a very good post. My hobby is Theology so it piques my intrest. (it's natuaral for a preacher's kid to grow up with a "hobby" of Theology)
Anyways, I dig it.
I think this post will ring true with more people than Miss KT believes. Just because the guys joke around doesn't mean they don't get the message.
I hope you are right, Mayren. If you go back through the archives here, you will see quite a few Buddhist posts. I like to think that the lack of comments on them is because everyone is thinking hard about them...
I love this idea. I have always had a bit of trouble with organized religion (probably for many of the same reasons that others have) and I feel like addressing pain and evil in the individual makes most sense. We can't rely on some savior to come and take away our suffering and shouldn't rely on any one else to give us enlightenment. The only source of true enlightenment is finding the love within and sharing that love with the world. Maybe I should consider becomeing Buddist :)
EVERYone should consider becoming Buddhist! :)
If you would like a reading list, just let me know.
I really like how he put that down into words. Thanks Linus.
My favorite way of explaining Buddhism is like explaining a mathematic proof. With suffering as the given, which most can except out of hand. And then the following logical conclusions from the given of "there is suffering" forms the rest of the four noble truths.
What is not explained is why we meditate. But I personally think that that is fairly intuitive.
I like the scope here though. It is important to have a balanced perspective. And it is found here with the both worldly and personal reasons for buddhism.
Post a Comment