| ...it's not all the same everywhere, and every Buddhist observes and believes differently.
Take the pieces you find comfort in, discard those which make you miserable.
I guarantee that somewhere, SOMEWHERE, there will be a temple, or a monk, or somebody else who believes as you choose to.
I don't want to put words in the man's mouth, so I'll quote the Dalai Lama from this article:
- I believe that the purpose of life is to be happy.
- From my own limited experience I have found that the greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion.
- Ultimately, the reason why love and compassion bring the greatest happiness is simply that our nature cherishes them above all else.
- In conclusion, I would like briefly to expand my thoughts beyond the topic of this short piece and make a wider point: individual happiness can contribute in a profound and effective way to the overall improvement of our entire human community.
And this tidbit, which I think is the strongest case for your positive, compassionate, VERY MUCH giving a s4 about others' suffering type of outlook being ABSOLUTELY compatible with Buddhism...
- The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own sense of well-being becomes.
Now, from the Big Man himself, if that doesn't serve as a ringing endorsement of caring about suffering and wanting to make it better, and achieving contentment through that, I dunno what does.
So, if you find that this draws you back to Buddhism, then you'll find someone to practice with, or hang out with, or just talk to, who feels the same way. Many things shared can be more precious, but even if you walk that path yourself, just know that the Dalai Lama agrees with you. You SHOULD care about suffering, and try to help others, and not just detach yourself.
But he knows we all have limits, and no one can fix every problem in the universe, and I'm sure I could find many quotes from him on that as well.
If this doesn't lead you back to Buddhism, then I hope you find another path that is as happy, but frankly, it sounds like you might not have been in the wrong philosophy...maybe just picked the wrong "flavor" off the shelf. :)
Other than that, I'm not sure I have much guidance to give. I'm not religious, I'm not Buddhist, and I'm not all that spiritual. All the faith-based "education" in my past came rom Christianity, as my mom dragged me to church and Sunday school for quite a bit of my childhood.
However, I do know this: I've found what I think is a pretty decent path by ignoring the Old Testament and the supernatural aspects of the whole Bible, and pretty much just paying attention to what Jesus is reported to have said.
Charity, compassion, help your fellow man, brother's keeper, let he who is without sin cast the first stone...all that kind of stuff. I can't say I'm perfect on that score, and I'm probably not even close. But it's what I aim for. It's part of the reason I like this current Pope, even not being Catholic: he's aiming a big chunk of Christianity toward the positive stuff that can be found in the Bible, rather than the divisive negative stuff.
In the end, you'll find your own path. No matter what that is, I'm sure you'll be the kind, sweet, wonderful oot we all know who cares about people and tries to help them. You'll also be the intelligent, witty, funny, driven oot who wants to cure mental illness for good and live up to her full potential.
I have no doubt you have lots of talent in both of those arenas. In the end, I don't think you don't need a faith...make your own. :) |
