Saying My Peace

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

To Each Her Own

After reading a couple of blogs regarding Halloween I am struggling to remember that each person has to find his or her own path to enlightenment. There is something so wrong to me about people passing judgement on others for celebrating a holiday that today consists of little more than playing dress up and then getting candy from neighbors, in the name of their religion. Most of us, yes even those of us who are *GASP* not Christian, do not make our children sacrifice pets to Satan or go around naked on Halloween trying to raise the dead. And for those of you who chose to not celebrate because of Halloween's origins, how is celebrating the end of the harvest season offensive you? Of course there are groups who do see Halloween as a satanic ritual, but there are also groups who are self proclaimed Christians who have sex with teens and have many wife's in God's name. Both groups are small and not the norm.

Sigh.... there is so much more that my head wants to say, but I think that it would do better for my heart to just know that in the end anger is like taking poison yourself and then wishing your enemy ill, it does no one any good. I can only hope that those who are so closed minded will find their path somehow.

A Little Bit of Faith

From suffering comes great compassion. Great compassion makes a peaceful heart. A peaceful heart makes a peaceful person. A peaceful person makes a peaceful family. A peaceful family makes a peaceful community. A peaceful community makes a peaceful nation. A peaceful nation makes a peaceful world. ~Venerable Maha Ghosananda, the Supreme Patriarch of Cambodia, to Cambodians on the genocide of the Khmer Rouge

Now that I am home and not working full time I have had a chance to being meditating again. This is something that I did a lot in college when things got stressful or I just needed to find my center again. I have begun reading some great articles on Buddhism and am trying to right myself after getting so far off the path of enlightenment. Gabby is very interested in meditating with me and learning about Buddha. We read a great book called Peaceful Piggies by Kerry Lee Maclean that explains meditation to kids in a very easy and fun way. One of my goals for the summer is to meditate daily and to have a more mindful acceptance of the present.

My house is a bi-faith household which confuses a lot of people. My husband is Christian, was raised Christian, and his family is pretty religious. My family was the opposite with little instruction outside of a Catholic baptism and First Holy Communion. During high school and especially college I was exposed to a lot of other walks of faith and naturally gravitated toward Buddhism and other Eastern religions. The concepts of karma, rebirth, and most importantly zen appealed to me and left me with a very calm and peaceful state of mind, so that is the path that I chose. I never felt the need to question or dissect the values- it was what it was.

I am excited to continue learning about Buddhism and how to incorporate the concepts into my daily life. Even though I differ from all of my friends in this, I have faith that I am on the right path just as they have faith that they are on the path meant for them. (Although I did have an interesting conversation with Klint about Yoda versus Buddha!)

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.