|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 8:48 pm
I have a very questioning nature and I was finding that, increasingly, Christianity wasn't able to answer my questions or address my concerns. When deep in suffering, being told that it's all part of God's plan didn't do it for me. I went searching for answers and I found them. So, for me, it worked out very well.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 10:29 am
Hi all. My name is Gediminas (yeah I know it is unusual name, but that because it is Lithuanian) and I am from Lithuania. I was a christian (catholic) but I was also open-minded so I tried to get as much knowledge about Christianity as I can. Well instead of being good christian I became not interested in this religion at all. Then I studied as much other religions as I could in order to find my true "way of the life". After long search I read book "365 zen/ daily readings" by Jean Smith. In this book actually shocked my intelligent and logic minds. This was a book full of zen koans (kongans). So I realized, that the best mind is to realize and fell the present moment and everything around us is already perfect. This was my first step towards Buddhism. Because zen teaches not to attach to anything, I decided to learn about Buddhism as much as I can. After that I found that zen fits me the most because I liked idea to fell the beauty of the present moment. In my search for teacher I found 3 Buddhism schools in my country and one of them was Kwan Um school of zen, so I decided to join. I never felt sorry about that and finally I am in the process of discovering inner peace in myself.
P.S. I am 18 years old and sorry for my poor English.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 8:57 pm
My parents had me ba[tised and I had my first communion. I remember thinking as a kid...why was I christian? I saw other religions and wondered...am I the right one? At that time I felt that my parents wouldn't have chosen the wrong one. I truly believed they knew best. As I grew older, we moved and stopped going to church. A few years later, I liked to say I had no religion. I now realized I never truly believed in what my parents said was my religion, and I decided I needed to do some soul searching and find one that I agreed with. I did some research and decided buddhism was the closest match to what I believe in. I chose it and couldn't be happier!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 9:20 pm
xxHaleyBaileyxx My parents had me ba[tised and I had my first communion. I remember thinking as a kid...why was I christian? I saw other religions and wondered...am I the right one? At that time I felt that my parents wouldn't have chosen the wrong one. This is the exact same situation with me. My entire family is hardcore catholic, but i just dont want to be it anymore. my parents still dont like me saying i am of no religion, because to them, i am still a christian, because i was baptized. but inside, i am buddhist. My parents want me to be confirmed, but i am trying to put it off as long as i can. Buddhism is more philosophy, and less blind faith, and thats why i have turned buddhist.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 9:44 am
Throughout my childhood, I wasn't very religious, but then in high school I decided to be a christian. I figured that although other religions were interesting to me too (one in particular), my family was christian, and so that is what I thought I should be. That lasted up until a couple years after graduation, when I began to question some of the beliefs of christianity. Then I began exploring other religions, and then for a while I was a spiritualist. After a while, I lost interest in that too, and then I rediscovered the religion that I found most interesting when we learned about the religions of the world in a high school world history class (Buddhism). It fits perfectly with my beliefs, except for the concept of rebirth, as I still have retained some of my beliefs about the afterlife from spiritualism.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 12:26 pm
XxRaven_AzarathxX xxHaleyBaileyxx My parents had me ba[tised and I had my first communion. I remember thinking as a kid...why was I christian? I saw other religions and wondered...am I the right one? At that time I felt that my parents wouldn't have chosen the wrong one. This is the exact same situation with me. My entire family is hardcore catholic, but i just dont want to be it anymore. my parents still dont like me saying i am of no religion, because to them, i am still a christian, because i was baptized. but inside, i am buddhist. My parents want me to be confirmed, but i am trying to put it off as long as i can. Buddhism is more philosophy, and less blind faith, and thats why i have turned buddhist. Just before becoming a Buddhist, I was trying to date a girl who is Christian. Since I wanted to be polite and make a good impression on her parents, I went to church with them and I heard the smartest thing come out of the pastor's mouth, he said and I quote"Do you see the ring on my finger? The ring doesn't make me married, it is only a symbol that I am married. Do you see these people being Baptised? This does not make them Christian, it is only a symbol." Now, combined with Buddhist teaching, all things are impermanent, including such "symbols", so therefore, your symbol of being a Christian is only as permanent as long as you are a Christian. If you yourself no longer feel you are a Christian, then the symbol no longer means anything. Parents are hard to get through when it comes to religion, but as long as you can assure them that this makes you happy and that you are a morally upright person, they should be able to accept it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 4:44 pm
I mainly found that I didn't agree with a lot of the things that Christians said. I never understood how Jesus was "brought back" as the same person and how a lot of hardcore Christians seem very narrow-minded. it just seemed like there was so much more out there. I sought out a different religion after I read about a religion in a book that was called Wicca. it said that it was about harmony in nature and a lot of other things like that. I found that I was very wrong, as it is a secret fertility religion. yikes. but I joined the Fluffy Pagan Rehabilitation Center, and I found Byaggha. 3nodding I read about her path, because I really didn't know anything about Buddhism except for statues that I had seen. I was fascinated, like a cat with a ball of yarn. tada. here I am, and I have learned a lot and I love the peace and just great feelings that I get.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 7:15 pm
a n n i v i I found that I was very wrong, as it is a secret fertility religion. yikes. For some reason this gives me the mental image of Lenny and Carl (Karl?) from The Simpsons every time I see it. "I...it's a secret!" "Shhhhuut uuup!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 7:21 pm
I was raised in a very scientific family, although we were devout catholics. Well, my brains got the better of my faith, and I began to question the stories and beliefs of christianity. I looked for a religion that was based more on [my passion] philosophy, rather than faith. Buddhism had just recently been introduced to me, as my local art museum was the first in the WORLD to house authentic tapestries and statues and such from the monasteries in Bhutan, so I decided to go with it. I did some extended research on it, and liked it. Although I am still forced to go to church very sunday, my mom has recently begun taking me to her yoga class, and i enjoy it very much. I even got a vision out of it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 8:30 pm
卍 The quieter you become, the more you can hear. I wasn't actually "Christian," per se, but I come from a family of Christians. Some more devout than others (My immediate family is quite secular). So I basically grew up with Christian teachings.
After I got into high school, I began to look at some of its doctrine and followers and thought, "this is way to closed-minded for me." So I began my search for a suitable religion. Atheism wasn't an option, because I still believed in a "god," but not a specific religion*. I found deism (simplist explanation: a belief that God exists, started the universe, then stepped back to watch it unfold without interfering), but I still felt... empty, I suppose. So I continued to look around and stumbled upon Buddhism. Specifically Zen. I realized that this fit best with my beliefs, and started practicing a little over a month ago. So now I'm a Deist-Buddhist.
*This almost gave my step-grandma--a person I'm quite close to--a heart attack. She's a devout Christian. I assured her that I at least believed in God, and she calmed down. May you attain enlightenment. 卍
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 10:31 pm
I've been raised as a Catholic/Christian/Methodist girl. I Still believe that there is God and Jesus is his son, but a lot of the things that most of the Catholics at my church say seem...wrong. Such as I don't believe that humanity is inheritantly evil, nor are homosexuals condemned for something they did not willingly choose.I think God is different than that. I'm currently in a youth group(aka catholic disscusion group) and they had a survey where they said there was no wrong answer. It was called 'what is God to you'. one of the various options was that God is something humans could eventually evolve into.I raised my hand and said I believed that we could if we achieved full understanding we can become closer and more similar a being to God. They looked like they were going to pass out and said 'that's a paegan belief which a cult of heretics believe in' needless to say I have much differing views and I don't consider myself a heretic. I'm very open minded and accept many religions.I was also wondering if it makes me Buddhist if I believe in most all of their principles, but still retain what I truely believe from Christianity.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
