can someone of the buddhist faith answer some questions about your religion?

Question

How long have you been Buddhist?
What brought you to worship this particular religion?
What is being Buddhist about?
What information would you give someone considering converting to Buddhism?

I need these answers for a a school report could someone anwsers each question with as much detail as possible?

I have to interview some one of the faith and write any essay on it, any takers?

Answer 1

I am Taoist, but I know some of Buddhism teaching. I have followed Taoism for about 35 years. I have studied Eastern thought for about as long.
First, Buddhism has no belief in God. Budda was a human being who was born into a rich family a few thousand years ago. The area around his family's home, along with a few others, was walled in - like a castle. This is because only the very well off had such a nice life. Almost the rest of the population lived in poverty, hunger, disease, etc. When Buddha was young he used to climb to the top of the wall and study the lives of the common people. When he became older, he decided to liave the comfort of his home and roam the country to gain knowledge of the 'real' world and to help people contend with such hard lives.

The main theme of Buddhism is, "Life is misery". The idea is to awaken from the 'sleep of ignorance'. You must realize the reasons for suffering is desire. Next, you stop the desire. Then you enter into the 8 paths towards 'Enlightenment'. Once you reach this, you are considered a Buddha and when you die, you enter into Nirvana - or a state of which christians think of as heaven. But it's not the same as christian heaven.

Answer 2

3 YEARS, I was looking for a non-theistic religion, and Buddhism is pretty much that!

Buddhism is about peace and happiness. Finding enlightenment (true happiness, and the end to suffering) is the ultimate goal. The Buddha was a man, NOT A GOD, and he found that the end to pain and suffering came with the end of desires for things/possessions. When a person in the buddhisht faith reaches enlightenment, he/she becoes a buddha as well.

Buddhism is meant to make the world a better place without being judgemental or comandeering. I have friends who were into lots of trouble and then convertedto Buddhism to straighten thier life out. It works.

Hope that helps.

Answer 3

1) 30 years
2) studying / learning from the monks (and there is NO worship . This is about how to live , Buddha was a wise man not a deity)
3) living an honorable life
4) Buddhism has multiple disciplines, kind of like Christianity but Wiki has a good into and you can Yahoo search Buddhism for lots of sites.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism

And FYI: People don't really "convert" as this is not one of the dogma theologies , there is no deity
People who "understand it" do it , it is a philosophy .

Answer 4

Buddhist a million. not acceptable 2. not acceptable 3. not acceptable 4. chant the sutra, meditate, provide options (nutrition, candle) 5. Buddha's Birthday others..... 6. some distorted issues to different religions. yet i'm not likely to assert simply by fact i'm no professional on different religions.

Answer 5

30+ years, the last 12 very actively.

No worship involved, it was meditation and the lack of requirement for belief that brought me to Buddhism.

Buddhism is about reducing suffering (self and others).

There are tons of good books out. "Nothing Special" is good. "Novice to Master" is quite good. Better just to find a few Buddhist groups and try meditating with them. Find one that works well with you.

Answer 6

i have been a buddhist around 2.5 years
but i respect Buddha teaching because it teaches us to be good and comduct good karma , good merits and good deeds

originally from Nepal and Indian border

Answer 7

10 years
Stationed in Japan, Mariied a Japanese grl
The purity and simplicity of nature
Do it

Answer 8

i did not realize that there are so many buddhists in america