re: Anybody here into Buddhism/Eastern Philosophy?

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There's a Buddhist temple near my house. Thought about going but I don't know anyone there.

Anyone ever been to a temple?

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I was raised as a Protestant. I've been with my wife to 3 different temples. All they do is pray to all of the different Buddha statues, light incense sticks and pour cooking oil into some lantern thing. Then, they get some kind of fortune thing.

The first time I went I felt some kind of static electricity smack my forehead. It felt like a spider web hit me, but it had that electricity feel to it. It's kind of like the way some of those ghost hunter folks describe being touched by a spirit. I honestly don't know what it was, but it was weird. Bruce Lee might have been kicking me in the head from the afterlife.

Some of the stuff they believe in is kind of retarded to me. They talk to this dude all of the time who is supposed to be some kind of fortune teller/psychic, yet he has been absolutely wrong about everything he has told them which has been hilarious.

Anyway, if it makes you feel good and you aren't killing people, go for it.

Eckhart tolle has a book called a new earth that is a great book that is basically rehashed Buddhism. It really help me understand people, that we all desire the same thing, and that is to maintain our egos. So while it may seem that people are attacking us, they are really just protecting themselves, and that gives me sympathy and understanding towards others.

Another great point in the book is about attachment, and how we attach things to our identities. Like where we are from, what we look like, what we do for a living, our hobbies, abilities, and becoming certain things. Doing this gives us a sense of being more, and when we lose them gives us a sense of suffering. But Buddhism teaches us that we are always the same never more, never less and that reduces our suffering why not losing the things that we identify with.

I struggled with the idea of not being ambitious, because it is what has made humanity great. but I realized that not using the abilities that I had was almost like a sin. That gives me motivation, and when you take away the desire to be something, your attention is adverted to others, and can bring you much joy.

I am Buddhist. The greatest thing that drew me to it is it's flexibility. It's pretty much a religion with a general outline and the rest you figure out for yourself.

You can pray, you can not pray, you can go to temple, you can not go, doesn't matter as long as you always try to improve, always try to get better as a person, and help alleviate suffering in the world.

If there is any religion that makes any sense, it's buddhism.

Just the fact that they say "don't believe what we say just because we say it, only believe it if it makes sense in your heart" makes Buddhism seem ten times more trust worthy than Christianity.