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I have been thinking a lot recently about an experience I had a few years ago that I can learn a lot from. I just thought I would share it in case any one else gets anything from it.
When I first came into recovery I was interested in exploring concepts of a higher power and different ways of living a spiritual life.
I had a friend in AA who has been a Buddhist for a long time and he offered to take me to a Buddhist gathering especially for people new to buddhism.
The gathering was huge and felt very spiritual. The first part of the evening was an introduction to buddhism, beliefs, principles, ways of life etc. I got a huge amount from it and was really interested in pursuing buddhidm more as it fitted a lot with my way of thinking about things.
The second part of the evening was a series of talks by people sharing how buddhism had changed their life and examples of their practice of buddhism.
One women shared something that I totally disagreed with and which made me really angry.
As a result I rejected everything I had heard and had nothing more to do with buddhism on the basis that if it made people think like that women then I wanted nothing to do with it.
I held onto this position for over three years. More recently for various reasons I have gone back to exploring buddhism and am getting a huge amount from it. I have realised how much I have missed out on over the last few years by judging the whole thing on a hasty judgement of one person.
I have been thinking recently about how often I have a tendency to do that. I want things to be pure and perfect and forget that when human beings are added into anything they will bring with them a wide range of opinions, character traits, interpretations etc. I lose a lot by judging things based on individuals rather than underlying prinicples. I guess that is why there is a tradition in AA about "principles not personalities".
I need to remember this when I am living my life and try to consider things based on more than hasty judgements of individuals. I am glad I have learnt this as I hope it will make me more open minded and less judgemental.
Hope this helps someone else too. Thanks for reading.
When I first came into recovery I was interested in exploring concepts of a higher power and different ways of living a spiritual life.
I had a friend in AA who has been a Buddhist for a long time and he offered to take me to a Buddhist gathering especially for people new to buddhism.
The gathering was huge and felt very spiritual. The first part of the evening was an introduction to buddhism, beliefs, principles, ways of life etc. I got a huge amount from it and was really interested in pursuing buddhidm more as it fitted a lot with my way of thinking about things.
The second part of the evening was a series of talks by people sharing how buddhism had changed their life and examples of their practice of buddhism.
One women shared something that I totally disagreed with and which made me really angry.
As a result I rejected everything I had heard and had nothing more to do with buddhism on the basis that if it made people think like that women then I wanted nothing to do with it.
I held onto this position for over three years. More recently for various reasons I have gone back to exploring buddhism and am getting a huge amount from it. I have realised how much I have missed out on over the last few years by judging the whole thing on a hasty judgement of one person.
I have been thinking recently about how often I have a tendency to do that. I want things to be pure and perfect and forget that when human beings are added into anything they will bring with them a wide range of opinions, character traits, interpretations etc. I lose a lot by judging things based on individuals rather than underlying prinicples. I guess that is why there is a tradition in AA about "principles not personalities".
I need to remember this when I am living my life and try to consider things based on more than hasty judgements of individuals. I am glad I have learnt this as I hope it will make me more open minded and less judgemental.
Hope this helps someone else too. Thanks for reading.
AnneL
There is no and right in applying Buddhist principles. People, however, can be very wrong about a very unselfish practice. The first thing you learn is nonviolence in action, thought and intention. Sometimes we feel challenged by an alternative perspective and that makes us angry. Monks are trained to understand and not deviate from a very simple message. We humans make things way too complicated sometimes. xoxo and Namaste! If you want, message me about what she said as it may have been a strange take on a teaching. You don't have to but I'll see if I can understand what she might have been trying to communicate. OK, REALLY off to the gym now, LOL! Peace and blessings to you!
deleted_user
i too have some knowledge of Buddhist, my first sponsor i had practiced it and i went with her when they made the sand things(don't know how to spell it.) I found great peace in the practices, yet also found that i could not be still enough........ i have searched for my spirituality also and have used judgement like you ....... yet all this time i have finally realized it is within me... however i choose to believe..... it is just admitting i do that matters to me......
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