Just curious, but who here is a Buddhist, and how did you become one? I would like a nice, coherent list, so please don’t reply saying you’re not a Buddhist. 
Mrs. ShibbOleth was raised a Buddhist and to some degree we raise our children that way. So you could say that our household is non-practising Buddhist. More from a philosophical than religious perspective.
I’m a Western Buddhist. Just came back from a stay at a temple recently actually. I was raised a strict catholic but I never beleived in it. I first heard about Buddhism in school in 9th grade, and started researching it on my own. So this year (I’m 17) I finally found a temple near my area (relitivly, it’s 2 hours away 
). And now that I’ve finally become certain that I’m a Buddhist, I’ve never felt happier, calmer, more peaceful in my life.
Hi Pin,
I am a Buddhist. There are different schools of buddhism but as far as I know you become a Buddhist by following the dharma path. The teachings of the Buddha.
You can do the refuge ceremony- with a guru or teacher, or even alone- where you take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Then it is official that you are a Buddhist. Not to be taken lightly mind you.
There is lots of info on the web and many places to study around the country. Many books to read geared toward the western population so we are very fortunate.
Metta,
Stellablue
As religious formulations go, the Buddhist variety resonate most strongly for me, right down where it counts at the experiential level.
I still hesitate to say “I’m a Buddhist,” though. If I try to envision a Pure Land, I imagine a place where, if you ask anyone “what religion are you?” they will peer quizzically at you and say, “I’m a human being.” And where that will be all the answer anyone needs.
Im not and not religious either. Thought I should mention it.
I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a Buddhist, but I’ve done a lot of looking into it, specifically the Zen flavor. I like that, although it seems very similar to Taoism, which I like better.
I have been interested in Buddhism for a while but haven’t found that it speaks to me in its entirety. For those of you that are Buddhist what are the basic beliefs that drew you into it?
My first intrest in Buddhism arose when I first heard about the 5 precepts(basic tenets of buddhism)
(not in order)
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No Killing-some buddhist do believe in self defense. also some buddhist do eat meat due to agricultural or medical circumstances
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No stealing
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No lying
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No sexual misconduct
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No taking intoxicants
What I really like about Buddhism is that there is room to bend in these rules. If you flub up, it’s not the end of the world. You can make it up by showing remorse and doing good deeds. these arn’t rules you always have to obey 100% of the time. There just a guide to make you a kinder nicer person. When you get right down to the basics, what Buddhism does is teach you how to be a really nice, kind, and generous person!
As Jack Kornfield said in one of his lectures. “They are suggestions, give them a try.” I see them as simple statements of fact. They are not ‘Commandments’ or Edicts, just statements. Do any of the things on the list and you increase suffering, refrain and you’re decreasing suffering. Go ahead, give 'em a whirl.
That is really interesting. I find it commendable that it is so straightforward. Break the rule increase your own suffering. I suppose I would be 3/5 Buddhist by the above list. When it is cut down to that core it seems to speak to me more directly than it did when I first started looking into it.
That’s not really the essence of Buddhism, though; rather, I think it’s one part of the fourth noble truth. For more info, check out religioustolerance.org.
the above list I consider to go hand in hand with the 4 noble truths tho, they are good ways to decrease suffering after all
BTW: a very good buddhism site is www.buddhanet.net
I was raised in the Church of Christ by non-dogmatic parents.
When I was 10 or so (yes, I was VERY precocious) I started looking at other religions to see what the big deal was, and found a common thread in many of them.
At 12 I started studying martial arts and discovered Zen, which lead me into a study of various sects and ideas about Buddhism, and from 14-18 or so considered myself a practicing Buddhist.
Around 20 I had a revelation that sticks with me to this day: The way of the Buddha is not about dogma or being anything but the best you you can be at a given moment. As a result, I now consider myself a non-practicing Buddhist since I no longer follow the eightfold path and an athiest in that I believe there is no higher power than oneself and the laws of physics.
My philosophy for life derives from the two most basic tenets of Buddhist teaching: Have the right thought and take the right action. I’ve found that when I follow this, my life is happiest.
How do you think that differs from the Eightfold Path ‘proper’? Because it seems to me that the usual formulation of eight bullet points is really just a more clarified expansion of pretty much what you just wrote.
Yeah, but you could deduce that list from the 4 noble truths (and correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t they follow directly from the eightfold path?). But you can’t go the other way, so it’s important to give the 4 truths.
I can’t correct, but can certainly quibble! I wouldn’t personally say the precepts follow directly–it’s more that they’re solid rules of thumb for how to go about the outward-action aspects of the eightfold path (and secondarily the inward aspects, in shaping oneself into the kind of person who can follow them more reliably than before).
The phrasing that I initially encountered them in (and prefer) isn’t “Do not kill, steal, etc.,” but “Refrain from killing, etc.” It’s an important and meaningful distinction, I think.