Liking Buddhism

[sabrinamari]

In the shower I realized why I like Buddhism. There are many, many great things about it that really sing to me, but basically, it comes down to three things:

Get over yourself.

Be nice to each other.

Embrace and enjoy happiness.

Comments

[elphaba-of-oz.livejournal.com]

So superior to Christianity and Judaism.

[mage-imbroglio.livejournal.com]

...who say "get over yourself, be nice to each other, and you should feel guilty about it if you don't"

[elphaba-of-oz.livejournal.com]

Guilt festers. Guilt kills.

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

And it's tedious, even boring. I am more interested in the solutions than in the problems. While I respect and honor people's painful experiences, it is not these experiences that are most important or most gripping.

It is the creativity and depth of their response to pain that interest me. It is their resilience which is so beautiful in my eyes: the courage and cleverness with which they meet their situation.

[angiedub.livejournal.com]

Terry Goodkind, author of "The Sword of Truth" book series, has his main character say, "Think of the solution, not the problem." It's my mantra.
This is my situation; what can I do to make it better?

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Yes.

[showingup.livejournal.com]

Depends very much on which congregation of which sect of which of the many Christianities you're talking about.

An uncle of mine is a friar (no longer mendicant, since dementia took its toll), and was always full of wonder and happiness. He was so centred in his faith that he was at peace most of the time. A Church of England vicar friend of mine once told me that my uncle's order "are just the most fantastic people - they're the best Buddhists! I wouldn't mind being like them when I grow up."

I think I like Quakerism and kundalini yoga (and what I know of Buddhism)for the same reasons: Remember that you have a constant connection with the Divine which is manifested in your creativity and peace, live with integrity, and you will find that you can't not be happy.

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

"Remember that you have a constant connection with the Divine which is manifested in your creativity and peace, live with integrity, and you will find that you can't not be happy."

Yes. This is well said.

And then there are just moments of intimidation when I think, "What, what, WHAT am I doing? Run away!"

Laughing...

[showingup.livejournal.com]

[jasminewind.livejournal.com]

*laughs*

Maybe I am Buddhist after all! :-)

[tracyandrook.livejournal.com]

Trying to map these on to "Dharma, Sangha, Buddha"

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Damn. That's sweet. That actually works.

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Works better if you shift the last line to read "Embrace and enjoy the moment.".

[tracyandrook.livejournal.com]

"Get over yourself" I put to "buddha"
"be nice to each other" is clearly "sangha"
"Embrace and enjoy the moment" (I like to say, appreciate the moment) is definitely dharma. Did I say it somewhere else? Dharma is anything that happens and has meaning; dharma is also teachings. Teaching/learning to find meaning in the moment, e.g. what happens, is twice dharma.

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it really works.