Shokai
I remember saying to my friend "It is not possible to
become buddhist" but it is possible to practice Buddhism. After all "Buddhist" is just a word/label and no such thing as "being Buddhist". But for some who might not get it sometimes we do have to say "Im Buddhist" >_<"
What do you think?
It's mainly a problem with language and understanding. We create symbols to help us understand ideals and principles. Language is the greatest symbol we have to connect us to these ideas, and through that we create labels. Buddhism is (in my understanding) partially about the erasure of these labels, which is difficult for people raised in a society such as western culture to understand, because we are based off of nothing BUT labels...to say I practice Buddhism is the same in that sense to say that "I AM Buddhist" because it associates you with that via language and references used in the language. Technically, we are nothing and everything in accordance to what we practice, but this concept is too far to be grasped by people who still follow the idealisms of language and symbols.
smile Sorry, I got very long winded there, didn't I?
There isn't really a problem with that though. Whether you "practice" or "are" Buddhist...as long as they recognize who and what you are.
smile ....I kind of said in a very round about way what the previous repliers said...it's semantics.
biggrin
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