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 Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 11:24 am
Hey, If you were Christian, How did you choose Buddhaism over the Christian path, I 'm still a Christian, But I 'm asking.Thanks.
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 2:33 pm
I was, to be honest, kind of a miserable Christian. I was always very good at the being nice to people part; I was terrible at the believing in God as the source of all life/requirement for existence part. Or really, believing in God at all. I did try, sort of halfheartedly, for a few years. Went to church, hoped I'd be touched by something that made me believe.
I had a big crisis of faith at age 10 though (my dad committed suicide at the time, and the church wasn't a big help due to me having been told that would mean he'd be in hell for eternity) and pretty much gave up all hope entirely at reconnecting with what little belief I held. It put me off religion entirely for a good length of time.
I discovered Buddhism, strangely enough, in a high school religion course. Fell into the idea of it, looked at it from without for some time, and eventually started looking much closer at it when I hit my early 20s. After much reasoning and consideration, here I am. 3nodding
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Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 10:54 pm
The one thing I really couldn't handle about Christianity was the fact that they never want you to question. The bible is true, Jesus was son of god, Adam and Eve came first...to question this is to question god, and that would lead to the devil. So I went on a search for something that fit me, instead of me having to fit the belief. Buddhism is that for me.
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Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 4:00 pm
I'm currently a Christian who believes in God, and who also believes in and adheres to the 4(Noble Truths), the 8(fold path) and the 5(precepts). I'm also trying to pick a school to go with, to clarify the Buddhist half of my practise a bit.
Applying the philosophy of Buddhism to my Christianity really helps to enhance my practise and my life.
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Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 11:29 pm
i found that catholosim had lost its meaning to me since i've realized a couple of things. it said that jesus left the world with no earthly materials or money, yet the vatican makes the most money on religious art books furiture etc. it talks about trying to convert non-christians and their cultures intead of leaving people alone. it told you that if you questioned god, then you questioned christianity itself and you would go to hell for it. Christianity started wars IN THE NAME OF GOD. how much more hypocritical can that be? god wouldn't want you to start war in his name, he'd want peace for all people. christianity tells you not to worship other gods, yet it wants you to worship the saints.... isn't that the same thing?? Christianity says in big bold letters, YOU WERE BORN EVIL BECAUSE OF YOUR GREAT GREAT GAMMA AND GRANDPA BECAUSE THEY ATE A PEICE OF FRUIT SO YOUR ETERNALLY DAMNED UNLESS YOU BELIEVE THAT ME AND MY SON EXIST. i'm not trying to criticize christains or any one else for the matter, its just how i feel i do believe that there is something greater than us out there that created us, and i do believe that jesus existed, but i don"t believe that he can walk on water, turn water to wine, or bring the dead to life, let alone himself. jesus was just one of the many massagers that the big guy sent to earth to help us poor, deranged humans just like Mohammed, and buddha are (at least thats how i see it). i feel that buddhism is more realistic because it shows you the world as-it-is. suffering exist because we CHOOSE to be evil and do evil things NOT because we were born like that from our ancestors. buddhism teaches you how to conquer evil by obtaining enlightenment, through meditation, and prayer. it teaches you how not to ask for things from god (ex. let me win the lottery, let me become famous, etc.,etc.). Plus, buddhism is more of a philosophy and a way of life than a religion. you dont worship buddha you just study his teachings and try to obtain enlightenment and break away from samsara like he did. even though christanity has some of the same morals, those morals were lost in the scriptures because of how other people interpeted the scriptures. now to me, its all twisted around, backwards, and upside-down and i dont understand it anymore. buddhism is my true calling. i'm glad to have finally found a belief that fits me than having to change my self to fit the belief. mrgreen
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Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 9:34 am
Technically I suppose I am still a Christian (LDS/Mormon) to be exact, however it's been years since I have actually attented any type of service. I believe in a God or Higher Power and I believe Jesus was a prophet and his teachings were.... I can't even put a word to his teachings.
In all honesty though I have always felt like I was on the outside looking in. I never felt at home there, if that makes any sense. I had always felt a pull towards Wicca/Paganism/Nature Religions.
As I grew up and lived on my own I started to really do research into other religions and found that the ones that I had listed above were not the horrible "devil" worshipping cults that I had always been lead to believe. Also I became disinfranchized (sp) with most organized religions because of their views on women holding any type of "power" not to mention the fact that eventhough most will deny it, they have subtle ways of promoting hate.
Looking at the world today and the fact that most of the worlds religions are now involved in one war or another, and that some of them, promote hate as part of their religious teachings.
I became interested in Buddhism because of the "spiritual" and "calming" aspects of it. Also because of my therapist who introduced me to the Goddess Kwan Yin (Quan Yin) and I felt an immediate connection with her. For those of you that don't know Kwan Yin is the Goddess of Mercy and Compassion. She came to me at a time in my life when I needed both. I am still learning, trying to become a better person with more empathy and compassion. I hope as each day passes I will continue to learn more.
Skye
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Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 10:22 am
everyone's reasons are so compelling and make my heart happy. ^_^
anyway I was a catholic, and now i'm a buddhist. why? ... i could list hundreds of reasons why I find buddhism more appealing, but in the same sense i could non objectively find the same reasons in christianity. I could rationalize it if i wanted but again i could rationalize christianity too.
I just kind of realized that i don't want to define my spirituality between the two, and i just kind of floated my faith around contently. I think it just so happened that buddhism floated into my life at the right pace and right time and now i feel like it was meant to be.
ah love.
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 4:54 pm
Byaggha I was, to be honest, kind of a miserable Christian. I was always very good at the being nice to people part; I was terrible at the believing in God as the source of all life/requirement for existence part. Or really, believing in God at all. I did try, sort of halfheartedly, for a few years. Went to church, hoped I'd be touched by something that made me believe. I had a big crisis of faith at age 10 though (my dad committed suicide at the time, and the church wasn't a big help due to me having been told that would mean he'd be in hell for eternity) and pretty much gave up all hope entirely at reconnecting with what little belief I held. It put me off religion entirely for a good length of time. I discovered Buddhism, strangely enough, in a high school religion course. Fell into the idea of it, looked at it from without for some time, and eventually started looking much closer at it when I hit my early 20s. After much reasoning and consideration, here I am. 3nodding I was exactly the same way.
Going to church and just sitting, letting my mind wandering off just became routine, not spiritual for me.
I have been a vegetarian for about 1 year and a half and the Christian people at the church I go to always fuss at me about it.
Then I decided I couldn't run along with Christianity any more.
It was way too stressful and kind of fake, for me.
I just happened to remember about Buddhism, and started looking up things about it a lot the next few days.
A few of very nice people also answered my questions and helped me further my research on it.
So I gradually edged into the teachings and lifestyle of Buddhism and I have became so much happier. I wasn't the best person before, so I've also became a lot nicer to people (;.
To sum it up, it's changed my life and helped me a lot.
[Also, Byaggha, I'm very sorry about your dad]
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Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 4:47 pm
I like how Buddhism allow one to be more self responsible instead of depending on a God and/or clergy to define things for them all the time. To many people tell me they are Christian and that way they don't do stuff. I can ask a minister and they have personal reasons as well for not doing certian things. What I have a problem with is people absuing religon to not take any repsoabisible or to justified thier judgemental behavior. It just so happen that I Christians are what I know most in such a sad state. (I have ill feelings with Islam as well mainly in relation to oppsite gender friendships and being emotional and sexually mature but still responsible. Running away from the oppsoite sex doesn't teach self control it teaches cowardice.)
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 3:43 pm
To me there are a lot of flaws in christianity , and the religion didn't seem to fit with me. I became interested in new religions and found refuge in Buddhism. I look at Buddhism as a way of life rather than a religion, the analogies and basic beliefs really spoke to me. Its made me a deeper thinker and a better person in whole.
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Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2009 6:21 pm
Darke Skye Technically I suppose I am still a Christian (LDS/Mormon) to be exact, however it's been years since I have actually attented any type of service. I believe in a God or Higher Power and I believe Jesus was a prophet and his teachings were.... I can't even put a word to his teachings.
In all honesty though I have always felt like I was on the outside looking in. I never felt at home there, if that makes any sense. I had always felt a pull towards Wicca/Paganism/Nature Religions.
As I grew up and lived on my own I started to really do research into other religions and found that the ones that I had listed above were not the horrible "devil" worshipping cults that I had always been lead to believe. Also I became disinfranchized (sp) with most organized religions because of their views on women holding any type of "power" not to mention the fact that eventhough most will deny it, they have subtle ways of promoting hate.
Looking at the world today and the fact that most of the worlds religions are now involved in one war or another, and that some of them, promote hate as part of their religious teachings.
I became interested in Buddhism because of the "spiritual" and "calming" aspects of it. Also because of my therapist who introduced me to the Goddess Kwan Yin (Quan Yin) and I felt an immediate connection with her. For those of you that don't know Kwan Yin is the Goddess of Mercy and Compassion. She came to me at a time in my life when I needed both. I am still learning, trying to become a better person with more empathy and compassion. I hope as each day passes I will continue to learn more.
Skye She is not a goddess like Teseringma/Saraswati she is the female buddha of compassion, in chinese culture, but in middle asia, Kwan Yin is male, and known as Chenrezig/Avalokitesvara.
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Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2009 6:24 pm
Byaggha I was, to be honest, kind of a miserable Christian. I was always very good at the being nice to people part; I was terrible at the believing in God as the source of all life/requirement for existence part. Or really, believing in God at all. I did try, sort of halfheartedly, for a few years. Went to church, hoped I'd be touched by something that made me believe. I had a big crisis of faith at age 10 though (my dad committed suicide at the time, and the church wasn't a big help due to me having been told that would mean he'd be in hell for eternity) and pretty much gave up all hope entirely at reconnecting with what little belief I held. It put me off religion entirely for a good length of time. I discovered Buddhism, strangely enough, in a high school religion course. Fell into the idea of it, looked at it from without for some time, and eventually started looking much closer at it when I hit my early 20s. After much reasoning and consideration, here I am. 3nodding In the vajra-akshobhya sutra, it says that anyone who recites Akshobhya mantra 100,000 times can liberate one being from any realm. Also, it is best if one sponsors an image of Akshobhya to be made... the mantra is om akshobhya hung - anyone can recite this, because it is from a sutra. Best of luck.
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Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2009 7:07 pm
I believe it was Gil Fronsdal who said that a person could be both a Christian and a Buddhist. Obviously some of the ideas, like that of reincarnation, you can't also follow, but if you follow the 8 fold path and the 4 noble truths, they should coincide with the "good Christian" attitude a lot of people have.
I actually envy those who have Faith. I lost mine gradually at a very young age and I always wished I had that much faith in something. I'm very glad I found Buddhism.
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Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 5:44 am
I used to be Catholic, and although i was very strong in my beliefs
I never thought once that any good being was deserving of hell. And, I was
quite fond of all lifestyles and religions.
Eventually, i decided that I needed to follow a path that would help me
overcome my personal issues whilst at the same time, help me find some
sort of resolution in my life.
Buddhism has done this for me.
Peace.
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 12:14 pm
I grew up in a heavily christian home. I was never allowed to ask questions about anything and never really did. I was a humble, god-fearing little girl until my father died of cancer. The church was 'there for us' but it didn't help that all they kept telling me things that didn't make any sense. We moved from where we lived and my mother... went insane. One month she was like Carrie's mother(Stephen King's movie/book) and forced religion down our throats; the next she couldn't care less if we died. All around she was abusive towards me alone, and just neglected all of us. I couldn't understand why God let all of that happen. I still went to church, I prayed to God and no answers came, no help came. No one was there and I was forced to deal with all of that on my own for several years. After a very long time of day and night torture I just gave up in believing God and came to an understanding through a book I read. Buddhism gives me a peace that I never knew before. Where I was afraid and hungry I am now fulfilled and brave. I see things with such calmness and realize the reason for all of that suffering where Christianity would only make it worse. I do believe there are Gods but they don't control what we choose to do. I realize that the suffering we go through isn't a 'test' of our faith but a way for us to get stronger and learn to see the truth with our own eyes and not someone else's.
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