#dharmavinaya

[hillbillybubbeleh]

There's nothing like a late night/early morning sutra reading and meditation session. I do two sessions every day, but there's just something about the sessions I do in these wee morning hours after midnight. Maybe it's the fact that the rest of the house, the rest of the street, the rest of the neighborhood is asleep — no one up but the night birds, critters, and me. I don't know. But it's lovely, whatever it is.

[hillbillybubbeleh]

can I ask what buddhism fulfills for you that Judaism couldn't meet? I'm Jewish and we have meditation as well so I guess I'm just confused about why you'd rather outsource that to buddhism than explore Jewish meditation.

There seems to be a misunderstanding here that I'm Buddhist to practice meditation. That is not the case. Anyone can meditate. One needn't be Buddhist to meditate. Hell, one needn't even be Buddhist to practice and take part in Buddhist meditation sessions or practices. Yes, there are Jewish meditation practices, and I'm extremely familiar with them.

Still, though, meditation has nothing to do with why I was drawn to Buddhism. I've been through a lot in life that I don't mention on my blog and probably never will. It hasn't been easy, and that's okay. But, for a long time, I wasn't okay. I had a lot of pain, anger, and resentment, and I wanted, more than anything, peace. I did go seeking peace, understanding, explanations within Judaism. Some of what I found helped, and some didn't. I hit a wall, and I needed another way.

What Buddhism fulfills for me, personally, that I hadn't had before is a way to peace, healing, and forgiveness. Buddhism is not the only way to pursue these things, but it is the way for me, personally.