I Used To Be A Buddhist

I Used To Be A Buddhist

1976- 1978

The End of My College Years

I used to be a Buddhist, sort of.  I was moving away from the Catholic Church and I thought I should make an effort to replace my spiritual responsibilities with something else.  So I found Buddhism.  I must have been studying about comparative religions and the 4 Noble Truths spoke to me.  So I read up as much as I could.  I tried to understand the differences of the different sects.  I tried to figure our the sound of one hand clapping and other koans. And then I realized I wasn't any more committed to this lifestyle than that of my catholic culture or any other organized religion.  And now, 40 years later, 

I just found about a dozen old books on Buddhist mediation and koans.  And I am packing them up and mailing them off to my former student who just graduated from college.  He is going to spend 9 weeks in a Buddhist monastery in Thailand.  Maybe he can explain the sound of one hand clapping when he returns.