What brought you to Buddhism?

[Triner]

I don't call myself a Buddhist. But I like the compassion and detachment taught by Buddhism.

I also like parts of many different spiritual "paths"... Native American, Wicca, Shamanism, Christianity, and many more. Neat thing is, the more I learn about other spiritual paths, the more I see the underlying connection between all of them. It like looking at spiritual paths and peeling back the layers of "religion" until I reach the underlying spirituality and finding it's all the same.

[Samana]

I think Buddhism is unique in that the Buddha taught us how to overcome our constant feelings of unsatisfactoriness and discontent with different aspects of our lives and our relationships through the Four Noble Truths.

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A great question!
I went through a horrible depression. In the beginnig, I didn't know that what I felt in the each cell of my body, was actually the basic principles of Buddhism. Realized that later when I read some books of Dalai Lama.
So life itself brought me to some insights that are similar to those of Buddhistic ones.

You then?

Regards
/Helen

This is a great thread! I've always wondered what brought others to Buddhism.

For me, it was just more of a realization. I'd had all of these insights and 'weird' ideas about things (for example, doubting whether I exist or not, a feeling of losing my sense of separation from all the things around me, etc.) and a friend here in Japan said, 'That sounds like the Zen Buddhist experience.'

I started reading whatever I could get my hands on (Alan Watts, D.T. Suzuki) and started meditating regularly.

...and then I realized I had a long way to go still!

[CSEe]

Accepting death .

Thks
CSEe

Escaping rebirth. Too painful.

Buddhism is a great psycho-philosophical framework which retained the flexibility to allow a huge range of ideas to flourish, from down to earth ones (Theravada), the practical (Pureland) to the magical (Varjrayana). This is probably due to its emphasis on 'skillful means' rather than being dogmatic.
Acknowledging this existence, and thus the need for skillful means, helps Buddhists to maintain a balance between the physical and spiritual.

What more could a person ask for?

[Silver]

Originally Posted by pre-dawn

Buddhism is a great psycho-philosophical framework which retained the flexibility to allow a huge range of ideas to flourish, from down to earth ones (Theravada), the practical (Pureland) to the magical (Varjrayana). This is probably due to its emphasis on 'skillful means' rather than being dogmatic.
Acknowledging this existence, and thus the need for skillful means, helps Buddhists to maintain a balance between the physical and spiritual.

What more could a person ask for?

All well said, pre-dawn.

I had a pal who got me interested in a non-dual-type forum, so I joined up and have been active on it for going on 3 years. After a while, I realized that this non-dual business is hooked up with Buddhist philosophy, so I started reading lots of Buddhist stuff from the library. I never knew there was a whole different perspective on life (and death) until then. I lost my only son on Valentine's Day of 2010, and it has been he most important, albeit sad event in my whole life, and I was drowning in sorrow.

What brought me to follow the teachings, the Dhamma, that Buddha taught 2500 years ago.... my husband became disabled due to stress, his doctor recommended meditation which lead us to a local Buddhist center. We have found a philosophy that brings us inner peace, and has really helped my husband to cope, and learn to control his stress.

[sunsoul]

Great end to a difficult time, Merrie.