by: Bita

Hi Michael,

Welcome to the world of Buddhism! It must be due to your ties with the Buddha since past lives that you could encounter it in this life as well!

I too have been fascinated by peacefulness of Buddhism. I would say the reason for it is that only in Buddhism is the cause of suffering is looked for within the “self.” Ultimately speaking, we are not suffering because of outside forces. The cause lies in our minds. And so Buddhism is really pacifist!

You may want to read the book You Were Born For a Reason to explore Buddhism further.

Best wishes on your endeavors!

by: Brandon

I too am new to Buddhism. I’ve only been studying it for about one month thus far. I can say though that in this very short month I have studied so much and the more I read the more I am enthralled. I am in what is seemingly the exact same situation as you: I come from a family with deep-seated Christain roots, but like you, I never felt a part of it. No matter how much I wanted to believe it, my ability to trust it always fell short. With Buddhism, everything is about “self” without being selfish. I absolutely love that it’s all about experience and not blind faith. That very fact is what has my attention and will keep it from this point forward.