One of the wonderful things about living in this country is enjoying the freedom of religion. The freedom to believe what I want to believe without fear of being stoned to death, burned at the stake for witchcraft, or being put in jail for heresy. However, sometimes I think that people forget that they are intruding on someone's freedom when they impose their own religious views. Even though that person has the best of intentions, it isn't sharing (or very appealing) when the offending party is made to feel guilty, shame, or that they are just outright wrong when their views are different. I would think that this tactic would be the opposite of what your religion stands for.
When I was reading about Buddhism and their set of values, I was also really curious as to how Buddhists deal with people of other religions, especially Christians, who feel the need to "share" their religion even though the Buddhist is secure on his or her path. This response made so much sense to me, it was like a light went on in my head. Someone once asked me to come to church on Sunday with an open mind, that there was really God and that Jesus wanted me to be there. I replied, "Ok, but could you come to Buddhist Temple with me, with an open mind that there is no God, no Jesus who died for our sins, etc?" Of course not, because we each believed, on faith, that we were on the right path.
Now, that I found my path I feel a great sense of peace. Before I found Buddhism I felt like I was always searching for something, never found answers to my questions, and nothing felt "right". And even better, even though I know that I am on my right path, I feel no need to pressure others because one of the main principles is that everyone has their own path. I just wish every religion realized this. =)
Here are some interesting resources on Buddism in comparison to other religions, if anyone is interested. Namaste!
Age of Sage
Wikipedia
Comparative Religion
No comments:
Post a Comment