Fearless Wonder

For my Christian friends. What is unique about Jesus? What would following Jesus do that no other path can do?

"You yourself must strive. The Buddhas only point the way." I have been thinking about this lately. At times I have tried to use Buddhism in the same way I used Christianity. I was expecting a miracle without effort. I need to remember that this is a practice. You practice to improve. The other night I had insomnia and was listening to a Thich Nhat Han audiobook to relax. My husband came in an accidentally knocked into something. The insomnia brain instantly charged up again and the worry and anxiety started rolling. I also became incredibly angry. I was also a little mad at Thich Nhat Han. Grrrr! Why didn't his magical monk voice stop me from getting angry? Also, there have been a couple of times, after meditating where I have had panic attacks. Why didn't the magical meditations stop the panic attacks. Usually if I am calm before I meditate I don't have a panic attack afterwards, however sometimes I would experience anxiety and meditate to make it go...

From the Buddhist perspective you ought to view harmful and irritating things as teachers. Thank you to my right wing teachers. You made me realize, as I became angry with you, that I do not want to be angry as you are. I need to return to the way of peace and meditation. Thank you

So apparently just because I think that there are good Muslim people in the world I therefore must also hate America. Also apparently I also learned that even though Jesus ate with prostitutes and tax collectors, eating with Muslims would just be asking to much. The things you learn when you talk to right wingers.

Do we miss our chance to be happy here because we are always wishing for heaven?

So I took the Belief-o-Matic quiz on BeliefNet and I have a 100% chance of being a Theravada Buddhist...99% chance of being a Mahyana Buddhist followed by a close third with Unitarian Universalist. Only a 41% chance of being an Adventist. and 21% chance of being a Jehovah's Witness I think....

Someone who I admire died recently, leaving behind a young family and a gaping hole in their community. This person helped me and many others even though they didn't have too. In some cases they were helping people because they were trying to fix wrongs that they did not commit, but had inherited. This person could have said, "That's not my problem. That happened before my time." but they didn't. They truly lived their beliefs in the best possible way. The funeral was the saddest I had ever been to, but at the same time I was inspired to live more fully. But the story isn't supposed to end this way. This was an Adventist funeral. The preacher spoke of "our hope in Jesus." This person who died and who I so admire had once sent me a CD to try and persuade me of Jesus and discourage my interest in Buddhism. I was and am truly grateful for their care for my soul. This story is supposed to end up with me coming back to Jesus as a testimony t...