Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Where do I stand on God?

Seeing the response and the number of readings of my post on, My "Church" Story. I thought I might expand on what I have been feeling spiritually lately....I don't really have it all figured out.  But I have been exploring. I practicably know the bible back and fourth, going to church all your life till 18, five days a week can do that for you.  So I started thinking about being "christian" and what that meant and if that was the only "correct" religion, as I had always been told... or not.  Anyways, I was watching PBS one night and a documentary came on.... The Buddha.  You can watch it in full here: http://video.pbs.org/video/1461557530/  It is about 2 hours.  I had always thought as Buddhism as some far out there, other god, believing religion. But I was mesmerized as I started listening to the story of a prince who was missing something in his life and set out on a journey to leave all the glory behind and figure out what real life was all about. In short, he found enlightenment. I could not move during the entire program....it was if the television was speaking to me. 



I have found through more study that many westerners calling themselves Buddhists also call themselves Christians. And honestly that is where I am. I believe in God, I believe Jesus died on the cross to save us and I believe Buddhism has MANY outstanding ways to live your life.  And I believe that all religions do serve to get us to the same place with basically the same principals in mind. -Even though I still struggle with the idea of being good enough, and feel guilty often and suffer a great deal with religious scrupulosity.-  But the Buddhist way is just so peaceful and so... calming and accepting of all people.

Please know I am not writing this in order to be lectured on what you think I may or may not be believing in the "right" way according to you or according to what you believe.  I am writing this to show you where my spiritual journey has led me and is leading me. And I am not saying "Go out and become a Buddhist!"....what I am saying is give yourself the chance to learn about different things. Whether it be religion or not. Let your self be moved deeply by things you believe in!  I am not done searching in any sense of the word, but I am still searching. And that is just where I am....
Posted by at

3 comments:

  1. AbigailJuly 10, 2012 at 6:31 PM

    I appreciate that you shared and respect that you don't want "lectured" :) I know for myself, I'm sure I could get lectured in person easy enough; I want support when I blog (by support, I guess I more mean acceptance and encouragement, definately I don't mean everybody has to agree with me). I'm still learning in my understanding of spirituality, too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJuly 11, 2012 at 2:06 PM

    My dentist was Buddhist and before he even told me he was, I felt that whole vibe of him being peaceful and calm. It was like I stepped into his office and whatever he had, permeated the whole room. Which is impressive, because I am a total scaredy-cat when it comes to the dentist. I ran into him at the coffee shop I lived by one day and we had a cup of coffee together and chatted which is when he talked about being Buddhist. He sure seemed to set a good example.
    It is interesting to me how some people get very caught up in what the "right" religion is and in the process can get very ugly (and in the extreme kill) for it. My opinion is religion (not spirituality) is all man made - with mostly good intent to bring believers of similar beliefs together but I don't think there is any "one right religion." If all we did was love God and one another, I think it would be more productive. I hope that didn't come off as a lecture. :) Thanks for a great post.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tina Fariss BarbourJuly 11, 2012 at 2:53 PM

    Great post, Shannon. I hope I'm not lecturing when I say this, but I think it's good to be open to others' beliefs, too. I don't think Christianity is the only way, and I think religion, as Krystal Lynn says, is manmade.

    I'm glad that you shared this about your spiritual journey. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)