My therapist has put me onto some of their meditational type exercises with breathing and the like to help me calm down if I am anxious about myself. Thing is looking into it has got me interested in Buddhism as a whole, I studied it at school and sort of enjoyed going to a temple and the like. It doesn't appear to be homophobic at all (the only restriction is that monks/nuns can't have sex full stop regardless of orientation) and appears to be accepting of all (sadly some Burmese buddhist have forgotten this) . I dunno, it just seems to be the only religion (more a philosophy) I could see myself following, alot of the buddha's teachings seem to have an understanding of how humans mind works , unlike other religions .
There is definitely some good wisdom to be gained from Buddhism, but I wouldn't be so hasty to adopt it as a religion. Buddhism definitely is rooted in the mystical, with reincarnation and enlightenment and all that. The Dalai Lama is believed to be the direct reincarnation of the Buddha. Like, same person, different body. This is the kind of thing that really hangs me up about religions. There is a saying: if you meet the Buddha on a road, kill him. I interpret this as warning against tying worship and religion together with such philosophical wealth. It could be said that the teachings of the Buddha have been trapped by Buddhism. Some of the most enlightened writings I have ever found were written by buddhist monks, and I don't discount them just because of the religion of their authors. At the same time, I don't see the philosophy as dependent on the religion, so I am wary to join the religion. My only advice to you is to make sure you are interested in the religion, not just its teachings. If you decide that this is indeed the case, then by all means convert.
It's most certainly a philosophy that is a great path. The only time it typically becomes a religion is in Pure Land Buddhism. Otherwise it is the rejection of deity. It is an acceptance of the Buddhist vows and paths. I would highly recommend trying it. Buddhism is definately not anything to take lightly. It's enjoyable and pure but it takes a lot of discipline. Foxface
I looked into buddhism. My personal story about it: Spoiler Mainly because my parents would have been happier (less nagging) if I were following a religion. They are of the opinion, and unfortunately they convinced me of this for a fair amount of my life, that the simple fact that someone is religious, regardless of what that religion is, is a virtue. They were even happier when I was into wicca. So it was with that mindset which I considered buddhism. For a while, it seemed to me that it was an island of perfection and non-violence which all other religions lacked/had killed in themselves. Then I heard about a conflict between buddhists and muslims in Burma, and concluded that I would forever be an atheist. I would advise you, as john1b1, to take from its teachings what you can, but don't limit yourself to it. The more mystical aspects prevent me from embracing it completely.
It's an intriguing thing to sit in on, and I certainly like a lot of their teachings. However, much in the same sense I've found with Christian churches of all sorts, I just don't get the mystical/metaphysical aspect out of it that some people seem to get. Outside of meditation, which need not be specifically related to Buddhism, their prayers and rituals don't really do anything for me.
Trying to generalize Buddhists or Buddhist beliefs is a lot harder than most folks give it credit for. Most of classical Buddhism (most Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism) lumps same-sex sex in with "sexual misconduct." On the other hand, Japanese Zen Buddhism has a long history of homosexuality among its monks. It seems like contemporary Buddhism in both the West and East is starting to confront the issue and take it seriously in about the same way lots of Christian groups slowly are.
