Ok...I'll do my best to answer as completely as I can, but feel free to ask more!
I was raised Protestant, attended Sunday School every Sunday, was confirmed into the Anglican church, then went on to teach Sunday school. I started having questions about Christianity when I was in my mid 20's...it just didn't seem to fit very well anymore. The best way I can describe it was like trying to wear someone elses shoe - the size may be right, but it just doesn't feel right, you know? My response to that was to try and ignore it and to throw myself into Christianity again..going to church twice on Sundays, teaching Sunday school and vacation bible schools, volunteering at the chapel, praying constantly for guidance, etc etc. Eventually I realized that I was just miserable, and that I was making those who lived with and around me miserable too.
I began what my husband refers to as my 'spiritual quest' by reading as much as I could about different faiths...at first I thought I wanted to be Jewish, then when I realized that didn't fit either I progressed onto Wicca and Paganism..those, whilst they were very interesting, weren't really my cup of tea either. I came across Buddhism whilst reading about the Dalai Lama...it interested me because a lot of the precepts he spoke about were things that I had already thought about and considered to be true. It just felt right...and the more I read, the more I discovered that this was where I really felt I belonged. I got into some on-line communities and talked with other Buddhists, and was lucky enough to find someone in my husband's squadron (Travis Whelan , wherever you are now, THANK-YOU!) who was a practicing Buddhist, so I had someone in real-time I could talk to about stuff. There's a Buddhist philosophy that says when you're ready to learn, you teacher will appear - I was ready, and he was there.
Buddhism is more of a life style for me than it is a religion. It's given me the methods, the tools to change myself. I'm a much calmer, more content person now than I was a couple of years ago - yes, I still have times when I get angry or dis-satisfied, but I now am able to recognize those emotions for what they are and not get as despondent about myself and my issues. It has made me look at everyday things from a different angle, and that's something I've found to be extremely helpful and comforting. We (Buddhists) don't regard the Buddha as a deity, as a person with supernatural powers who can perform miracles, but as more of a role model of what enlightenment and altruism can do for you. We don't pray to the Buddha to make things, our lives, better for us; rather we look to ourselves to be the change that we desire. We all have the capacity to be Buddhas, to be enlightened beings. We all have the capacity to be totally altruistic. We don't claim to have all the answers, and there really isn't any promise of a glorious afterlife...Buddhism focuses more on the day to day details. It also teaches about the impermanence of everything; about how there really is no 'I' or 'me' or self; about tolerance for all humans, and about suffering and it's causes. There are many schools of thought within the faith, from Tibetan or 'pure land' to Japanese Zen - just as there are variations within Christianity (Baptist, Lutheran, Catholic etc).
I also have an interest in Taoism (another eastern philosophy); I find that there are a great many similarities between that and Buddhism...but I can also draw paralells between some of Jesus' teachings and Buddhist sutras as well.
It took me a number of years and a little heartache to come to the decision to practice my faith. Christianity was so ingrained in me that I almost felt like I was betraying my family by turning away from it....but at the end of the day I have more peace with being a happy Buddhist than I did with being an unhappy 'lukewarm' Christian. I still have a lot of respect for Christianity, for all faiths actually...but I personally feel that I have found my spiritual niche and I'm happy with it.
Hope this is what you were looking for..if you have any more questions, please ask. I'll try and answer them as best I can. If you have questions about Taoism, JeremyG's your man to ask....
