Buddhism Yay

[QuietKerbear]

Hellloooo fishies

Well my day has just started out fantastically...I phoned Samye Dzong centre here in Ct to find out when they have their pujas and they were really really nice to me..on sunday they its a full moon, so they have something ( sorry newbie and cannot remember the name) and they invited me to go to that.
I was really nervous about coming home and wanting to follow Buddhism, but nobody has given me any flack about it. My mom even asked me to get her tibetan prayer flags for Christmas, lol.

I am really excited. I went to Marpa House in the UK and I absolutely loved the experience and learnt a lot of things ( which I didnt put into practice very much when I returned to work and thus hit a very bad low) but I am putting it all into practice now and life is being really good to me!

Tonight they are having puja, and I think I will go :grin..its my aunts Christmas dinner tonight, but I dont mind being late for it...it is the first dinner of many..ugh!

Something wonderful is happening to me, I have got my sense of humour back, when hard things happen, I am taking it day by day and I really do not feel stressed out by anything...I have a smile on my face and I feel at ease and at peace!

I am just so glad, that Ive managed to find a Kagyu centre so close to me..hurrah..!

Love
kez:bear

[vision]

:hugon kez :hugofff

Yay! :yay :balloons

[iamwhoiam]

hey kez,
i absolutely love buddhism! i got interested in it when i started doing yoga. something that i found sooooooo helpful was to read books written by the dalai lama. they really helped me with a faith, and it helped my ed a lot. meditating in the morning always helps me start my day off on the right foot. way to go girl!

[Calletta]

:hugon Kez :bear :hugoff

:grin I've spent a lot of time and energy on the spiritual side of my life over the last few years, and I've gained a lot of strength and positivity from many traditions, but I have to say that more and more I'm drawn to Buddhism. I've read lots of books and have been on one Buddhist retreat (which was one of the most profound experiences of my life).

I meditate regularly and each time I deepen my practice even a little, I feel a greater sense of 'coming home' if you like. The teachings hold a tremendous amout which I find really useful and right for me.

I hold the idea, that in the future I may go the whole way and take refuge, but haven't reached that stage yet. I'm still learning and exploring.

I hope that Buddhism continues to have such a positive effect on your life! Thanks for posting here about it, it's good to hear from someone with a similar spiritual view.

:love:flower:love

[White Fairy]

I'm really new here so I hope that you guys don't mind me replying - I also really admire the Dalai Lama, I have so much respect for him. I consider myself buddhist even though I was born a catholic. I turned away from my original faith for loads of reasons, one being that no matter how many times I begged God to help me when I was growing up or living at home I never felt that he did. I was also abused by a priest that was a friend of our family - well I say a friend, I thought that was what he was, but he really messed with my head, he helped me to feel really bad coz I was abused - like it was all my fault, now I can see that this was because he was also abusive - but I didn't realise it at the time.

He knew that I had been sexually abused by a lot of men when I was a child and yet he came to our house to pray over me coz my anorexia was upsetting my whole family, he made me feel like there was something really evil inside me - praying that the evil would leave me.

I was raped over and over again - does that make me evil in the eyes of the catholic church???? He made me feel that I was just dirt, I don't trust the catholic church in this country at all, and I would be too scared to allow my kids that I hope to have in the future to go near a priest, I know that they are not all the same but I don't trust any of them.

It was reading the Dalai Lamas books and they helped me to realise that I wasn't completely evil and there was none of the - you must pray for forgiveness rubbish coz that is what the 'priest' told me. I didn't realise that kids that are raped are the ones that should be praying for forgiveness, it is the abuser that needs the forgiveness. The priest really tapped in to all the guilt that I was already carrying around and he just made me feel a lot worse.

I believe in the Buddha and I have found so much love and acceptance through this belief, instead of all the guilt. I know that not everyone will have the same experience with the CC - so if I have offended anyone I am really sorry. I have friends of all different beliefs and no beliefs and I love them all. I wish we could all just accept one another no matter what we believe coz we are all human.

Hugs Siobhan :gimmehug

PS I hope that I haven't offended any of you

[sonicdixie]

I wish I knew more about Buddhism. What I've seen and heard so far about it has been interesting. Excuse my ignorance, but where do you get books written by the Dalai Lama?
Can you guys help me out?

Thanks Melissa

[White Fairy]

Melissa Hi - it's Siobhan - I guess you would get his books in all the major book stores and I know that you can get a lot of his books through Amazon - www.Amazon.com or if you type Dalai Lama books in to your search engine - it should tell you where his books can be ordered.

I hope that this helps

Love Siobhan xxxxxxx :world

[Jennnifer]

:hugon Melissa :hugoff I'd start with the two books in my sig... "Peace is Every Step" and "Wherever you go, there you are"... they give you a feel for what Buddhism is, while showing you practical ways to incorporate some of it into every day life. This is where I am.

I must say I still don't know much, but I have found the philosophies of Buddhism to be very very helpful in my recovery.

[sonicdixie]

thank you, Siobhan and Jennifer!

Hugs, Melissa

[White Fairy]

You are so welcome

Hugs Siobhan xxxxxxx :gimmehug :lubdub :kitty :bear