Someone in the Dharma class today asked me, why do I become a Buddhist? Hmmm...I have written about this somewhere but I couldn't seem to locate it.
Anyway, I vaguely remembered ever since I was a kid, I always pestered my parents to bring me to temple. There is a cave in Ipoh, which houses a Buddhist temple called Perak Cave. It is located near my father's office. So he always brought me to the cave before I started schooling. I couldn't recall whether it was due to the cooling atmosphere in the cave or the awesome yet serene Buddha statute that made me feel very much at home and at ease there.
I was only that close to Buddhism back then. I knew nothing about Dharma moreover meditation. However, something happened in recent years that made me turn to Buddhism for solace. It was then that I took up meditation and gradually be serious in Buddhism. I started off as a Theravadin but somehow I ended up more like a Vajrayana practitioner. Yet I am not really into initiations or empowerments like most Vajrayana practioners do. So it is kind of a mix and match thing as to certain extend I am still practicing Theravada teaching.
I would never forget that during my first few Dharma classes, there was this lady who claimed that by practicing certain Vajrayana purification practices, she managed to save her business from going down under. She was so gung-ho about Vajrayana purification practices that she mentioned her life was totally changed, to the better of course! I do not deny the truth in what she said. In fact I practice full length prostration as well as mantra recitation. I am convinced that purification practices work and there is a logical explanation to that.
A lot of people turn to Buddhism due to such reasons. They thronged to temples asking for mantra to recite so that they can accumulate wealth or health, if not both. They invite deities and conscerate in their altar so that these deities can do their jobs and protect their families. These are not wrong. Albeit some literature that claim Buddhist do not believe in God, we actually do. Out of the 6 realms (or 5 realms as believed by Theravadins), Buddha has mentioned one of it, is a God realm. It is just that Buddhist shall not rely on deities, as liberation is very much individual effort. However Buddhist can seek deities assistance, who are Dharma protectors to guide us to the enlightment path. So it seems there is a condratiction, indeed there is only a fine line drawn between the two. The question is how much guidance is deemed sufficient?
Due to this, Buddhism has very much become a wish fulfilling gems to its followers. Again this may not be wrong. It is just that such followers may not have done full justice to Buddhism. Buddhism is much more than that. Yes! Through purification of negative karma, the quality of your life improves. But it is merely the painkiller to your current problem because every day you live, you are basically engaging new negative karma. By negative karma here I don't mean bad karma that will bring you serious repercussions. No! What I mean by negative karma here is karma that will obstruct you from liberation.
Therefore in short, besides engaging purification practices such as mantra recitation, which is very good by itself, the essence of Buddhism is mind training. Only by transforming our mind, we can neutralize adversities. Only by transforming our mind, we can see the nature of reality and that's the ultimate goal as a Buddhist.
I can continue ranting about Buddhism, but to answer the question why I become a Buddhist, I only have this to say. After years of searching, only in Buddhism I can catch a glimpse of the nature of reality, also known as the fundamental truth. Whatever you call it, it is the only antidote to the cause of suffering.
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