I think, it's been a long time, but just like everyone else...I had heard about meditation and such things; this was back around 2004. That is how I could say, I first had an inkling of faded interest.

I would say my problems and difficulties brought me to explore buddhism. I was raised catholic, but Catholicism , in my humble opinion, is woefully inadequate when addressing matters of reality, the spirit, spiritual growth and consciousness. I started reading some about buddhism, I was afraid at first....but what I read I really liked, and it made sense to me. And so I kept reading. Like some medicine I felt it's power to heal and make me whole somehow. I actually took a Zen course in college and really liked it, learned a lot. In my early twenties I had a rather unusual experience of visiting a Hindu temple with my friend Ryan, who had just gotten out of the army. We stayed there for a night actually , and I got to really be exposed to the culture, the message and the whole feel of it, and talk with monks in a field with grazing cows. I gained the courage to make it to a buddhist temple, church...which was really a step for me and I really felt uncomfortable with it....but since then. 2006 maybe ....I've been to numerous ones, and I go regularly to a dharma center now and really like it.

It's a huge part of my life now. And so is reading the Buddhas teachings and different literature from buddhist scholars and ancient texts.



Christianity just didn't cut it, and buddhism goes so much deeper. That's it.