First post of 2014. Let this year be a fabulous one :)
I'm hoping that I'll be able to update this blog once a week (at least).
Blogging is fairly time consuming, but hey, I've decided this will help me with my personal development, and I'm sure it will. So heck, I'm going to have to stick with it!
Buddhism
I have been brought up in a Buddhist household. There's an altar of Quan Yin near my front door.
I was sent to Sunday school as a child. I enjoyed it mostly, until I figured out that I did not quite agree with the Mahayana teachings, nor did I fancy the orange trackpants (uniform) they made us wear.
Bless my parents. But I had questions and my parents' dogmatic approach to Buddhism left them unanswered and deterred me from the religion. There were bits of the puzzle that didn't quite fit, and I was not content. However instead of pursuing it further, I tossed it aside and forgot about it. Life went on.
I've recently picked up a book on Buddhism (I may also have brought home a compilation of feminists poetry, and a gourmet Vegetarian cookbook) from a garage sale in Redfern on a lovely Sunday afternoon. You find such treasures from garage sales or op-shops ! ;)
Anyhow, I've only read half the book and I already feel more knowledgeable about Buddhism than ever before. It's one of those books with big pictures and fonts - targeted towards kids? haha.
I've also listened to a podcast titled Secular Buddhism. Secular Buddhism is essentially Agnostic Buddhism. How can you take the religion out of a religion you say? That's what I thought too, initially. And then it made sense. The teachings or the life of Gotama and Buddhist texts can be considered in an evidentialist manner. Buddhist doctrine may be stripped of any unspecified combination of various traditional beliefs that could be considered superstitious, or that can't be tested through empirical research. It's a relatively new movement...and it makes sense to me.
However, I guess whilst I do not believe in supernatural beings (such as devas, bodhisattvas, nāgas, pretas, Buddhas, etc.), merit and its transference, I believe in supernatural karma, rebirth, and even to an extent the Buddhist cosmology (including the existence of pure lands and hells), etc
I've got so much to learn! And the journey has only just begun.
I'm hoping that I'll be able to update this blog once a week (at least).
Blogging is fairly time consuming, but hey, I've decided this will help me with my personal development, and I'm sure it will. So heck, I'm going to have to stick with it!
Buddhism
I have been brought up in a Buddhist household. There's an altar of Quan Yin near my front door.
I was sent to Sunday school as a child. I enjoyed it mostly, until I figured out that I did not quite agree with the Mahayana teachings, nor did I fancy the orange trackpants (uniform) they made us wear.
Bless my parents. But I had questions and my parents' dogmatic approach to Buddhism left them unanswered and deterred me from the religion. There were bits of the puzzle that didn't quite fit, and I was not content. However instead of pursuing it further, I tossed it aside and forgot about it. Life went on.
I've recently picked up a book on Buddhism (I may also have brought home a compilation of feminists poetry, and a gourmet Vegetarian cookbook) from a garage sale in Redfern on a lovely Sunday afternoon. You find such treasures from garage sales or op-shops ! ;)
Anyhow, I've only read half the book and I already feel more knowledgeable about Buddhism than ever before. It's one of those books with big pictures and fonts - targeted towards kids? haha.
I've also listened to a podcast titled Secular Buddhism. Secular Buddhism is essentially Agnostic Buddhism. How can you take the religion out of a religion you say? That's what I thought too, initially. And then it made sense. The teachings or the life of Gotama and Buddhist texts can be considered in an evidentialist manner. Buddhist doctrine may be stripped of any unspecified combination of various traditional beliefs that could be considered superstitious, or that can't be tested through empirical research. It's a relatively new movement...and it makes sense to me.
However, I guess whilst I do not believe in supernatural beings (such as devas, bodhisattvas, nāgas, pretas, Buddhas, etc.), merit and its transference, I believe in supernatural karma, rebirth, and even to an extent the Buddhist cosmology (including the existence of pure lands and hells), etc
I've got so much to learn! And the journey has only just begun.
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