January 8th 2009

I found Buddhism when I was looking for a Quaker meeting. As far as I know there are no organized Quakers in this area, but when I was looking for Quakers in the Yellow Pages, I came across a Zen Buddhist entry in the 'churches' section. I called the number and soon found myself fairly certain that I was where I wanted to be.
When I was ten, I found a book called 'The Way of Zen' by Alan Watts. I read it through and was intrigued, but felt that the whole thing was rather silly. Like my brother. It was his book and I thought him silly too. I must find a copy of that book and reread it. Later in life I noticed that people who I admired sometimes turned out to be Buddhist. I worked the night shift in a hospital, and for a couple of years I noticed that the Emergency Department functioned efficiently and harmoniously even in extremely difficult situations. Not all the ED staff, but several of them were Buddhist. Something had to be right! The happy confluence dissolved and screaming mayhem resumed. I hasten to add that I have been in other harmonious group situations where nobody was Buddhist!

I have been told that it is rare for people to become Buddhist through the example of others. This shouldn't be true. If we take Buddhism seriously we should attempt to live in a kind and thoughtful way. It is often difficult to decide on what is kind and what is unwise. This keeps life interesting.