who else is buddhist?
 

Am I the only one on Greek Chat? Just curious.

Even though I was raised primarily Catholic [through my mom], I grew up in both a Catholic and Buddhist house [because of my dad]. Still, I only go to the temples on New Year's and on anniversaries.

I'm a Tantrist actually . we have "church services" on Sunday Nights, its extremely well attended. ;)

Back in the day when I ate a lot of shrooms I tried to be Buddhist.

All I really did was read up on it a lot and buy a huge Buddha. Most asian people I talked to about it said he's really just a good luck charm. They didn't really belive in him as an all powerful god per se, like Jews and Christians, but they did say prayers.


I still have the big Buddha in my apartment. Mainly it's there just for people to look at when we're all really trashed late at night. I also have a statue of Shiva for those of you who know a little bit about eastern religions. She has 18 arms, 14 of which are spread out behind her like a peacock's feathers.


I've come to the conclusion that the majority of Americans who are not of Asian decent and who are Buddhist usually do or have done a lot of drugs. Every white American I know who is Buddhist either smokes a lot of weed, has smoked a lot of weed or does LSD/Shrooms.

Were you born Buddhist or did you convert? Just curious. I was born Christian but converted to Islam last year. Any Muslims on the board?

If I'm anything religion-wise, I'm Buddhist. I agree with Buddhist philosophy and all that, but I don't do a whole lot in terms of every day practice -- like I don't meditate, I don't go to a temple (I've only done that once), but I do try (as best I can) to live my life according to my understanding of Buddhist principles. I certainly need to do more reading as well. I really probably should get more involved, because there are many Buddhist temples in Chicago.

I was raised Protestant, but as soon as I got to college I started investigating religion and I've really never felt comfortable with Christianity. I've always been more attracted, in general, to Eastern religions.

LOL...James, you rock. :D I tried Tantra once...

Maybe I should look into Buddhism. I really wasn't raised anything (maybe general Christian?), but I am having more and more issues with Christianity everyday.

You can't be born into anything.


Those who raised you as a child make you succomb to their beliefs and philosophies. It's kinda like the gay and lesbo thing....no person is born gay, some people just end up becoming that way.

not trying to start a debate in any way, but i beg to differ.

I hear ya....


I just couldn't give up earthly pleasures like these....

Buddha isn't a god at all, he is the teacher who teaches us the way to nirvara. :) Tantra is cool. Do research.

I wanted to go Buddhist after I saw What's Love Got To Do With It and Tina went Buddhist and then whooped Ike's arse in the limo.

I was raised to be a Zen Buddist by my parents.....

However, I converted to Christianity when I was nine. My parents were not happy when they found out.

Ivory

Wow, such a young age! I was raised Catholic and briefly considered converting to Judaism but that quickly passed.

shiva is a hindu diety which represent creation, preservation, and destruction and is actually usually referred to as male, though he looks very feminine, because he's both male and female. shiva is also known as the destroyer, but he not only destroys life, he creates it through is dance of life--he's also known as nataraja - the king of the dancers. he also destroys those material ties which would keep us earthbound, hence one of his other names, the liberator. he doesn't "only" have 18 arms, he actually has as many as he needs, whenever he needs them and you can find statues of him with as few as four arms. the ring surrounding most statues of shiva is a ring of flame, representing 'samsara' (reincarnation), the endless cycle of birth and death. life comes as a result of heat (passion) and ends in the fires of destruction. the flames also reference the cleansing properties of fire elevating one past the need for the material and onto a higher level...

sorry i won't ramble on anymore and be a dork, i just know all this from my art history classes, as well as my own reading just because i think that shiva and his depictions are beautiful. most hindu art is. i really enjoyed studying it. the cleveland museum of art has an amazing collection of art from that area, and some beautiful representations of shiva.

somewhat more on topic, one of my close friends mother's a zen buddist and my friend taught me how to meditate when we were freshmen in college... i really enjoyed learning about it...