Has any Westerner "converted" to Eastern thgouht/religion and been much happier?
962303
well I was a catholic ,then a Christain ,then an atheist and now I do agree with a lot of buddhist beliefs.Buddhism alwyas will put experience over scripture.Buddha was an enlightened person.nothing more.\n Buddhism accepts that science and spirtuality can coexist.......are in fact facets of the same "godhead"
795548
I have never been guilted into doing right. I do right because it is worth it....I raised orthodox, but never felt guilted into anything.
633555
Yes, I have. Once when I was really upset I was talking to God and I felt someone hug me and I knew it was God. The inner pain I was feeling left and I felt much better.
936964
I am yet to meet a member of this eastern faith that tries to convert people. They are a gentle bunch, with no murderous beliefs (except for their scr*wed up treatment of untouchables), they practise vegetarianism and are pacifists, and hold most animals holy, and so don't slaughter or hunt. Their beliefs are passed on to their next generation. With over 500 million of them, that is quite a positive impact on the ecology of the earth. It is a refreshing earth-friendly humanist faith compared with the murderous abrahamic trash that passes off as religion in the guise of christianity and islam.
666271
Yes of course. You should think whatever feels best to you. I do believe God is happy that everyone is worshiping Him no matter which religion they choose. I personally like to take a little taste from everything available at the religion buffet.
776085
Humanist UU here.\n\nI don't have any good stories, I'm afraid, but I sure am glad I finally discovered Unitarian Universalism.  What an open, accepting denomination.  My only regret is that I didn't learn about UUism much earlier.
210158
Congratulations! By accepting you're in God's image after all, You're now a Buddhist. Cheers!
207787
Yes. I have made my peace with God. I am 'saved'. I'm not a religious fanatic. I know I will be judged for my past sins. But i have led a good. I would hope to live in heaven, but i know i have had some pretty big sins.
504
Over the past couple of years, I made many friends from China - most of whom are raised with no religion. And they're all great and wonderful individuals who don't seem to lack anything. I have had at times to explain certain things about the Christian religion to them, which is the dominant religion in the western world, and its practice can raise questions to the uninitiated.\n\nIf you seek spirituality, you should not limit your self to exploring one religion. Why do you dismiss Buddhism, Taoism etc? You should read about everything, speak to ministers and allow your self to form an opinion.\n\nMy advice is, to not let anyone convert you into something by sweet talking you, or promising the kingdom of God. Learn, and let it be your choice. If I were in your shoes, I would try to get all the facts and then decide on my own.\n\nMeet religious people and ask them how they practice religion and what it means to them. Your safest choice not to be tricked into a cult etc would be to go for a well established and long standing dogma or denomination.\n\nIn Christianity, since that is your question, the major two denominations are Catholic and Orthodox, which both came after a separation of the church between west (Catholic) and east (Orthodox). You can learn more on different religions by following the links below.\n\nI know in China most Christians are unitarian, since in 1949 the Government forced denominations to form one single church or leave China.\n\nRemember learn before you act, and don't let anyone influence you. My opinion is that once you decide on something you should stick by it. Should you make the conscious choice to have Faith in a religion. So being absolutely certain is essential. Changing religions in the manner you'd change shirts is not ideal. Because then Faith - which is the most important element in every religion - never gets too strong to mean anything in your life.\n\nWhatever choice you make - good luck to you!
962958
It was a slow and often painful transition.  In fact, I set out trying to BUILD my faith in God and Jesus, not lose it.  If you knew how many times I went into the church after hours and alternately screamed in rage and humbly begged Jesus to give me one TINY sliver of evidence or proof, you'd be able to count to a very high number, considering it took many years.\n\nIn the end, the proof never came.\n\nI didn't choose to be an atheist.  Religion just stopped making sense.\n\nStill, I'm glad to be where I am, it feels as right now as Christianity felt before that painful transition period.
960167
I converted to Islam, I like the fact that there are real answers to my questions, not just having to accept things on faith, I also like that I can find things in the Koran that are now known by science to be true, but that these things were not known at the time the Koran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammed(pbuh). This tells me that there was a higher power giving this message. I was raised Baptist, converted to a Mormon and still didn't find the peace and answers that I was seeking, that came only with Islam.
273326
I met a group of Buddhist monks a few years back.  One of the monks I talked with gave off this remarkable energy of complete peace and serenity and it was so palpable I literally felt that I was in the presence of someone who did not belong with the rest of us.  It was awe inspiring.
485945
Yes, but eastern philosophies are abound in contradictions and paradoxes, they love them infact.\n\nThis is the same thing as doing a good deed because you want to be seen as good.  It is just false.  As long as you hold onto the concept of wanting to be 'rid of desire' you will never be rid of desire.  This is an established 'doctrine' in buddhism and taoism, and nothing new i'm afraid.\n\nHaving a desire to be rid of desires can be used up until you have no more desires left, then you can rid yourself of this last one by dissolving the concept of self, and doing only what is natural, what tao would do.\n\nThey say you have to unlearn to become enlightened, but you can't do this without being learned first!  That's the bit they usually miss out.\n\nThey had more time on their hands than you :)
871710
I've study Buddhism, Hinduism, Daoism, Shinto, Sikhism, Confucianism and Jainism,Judaism, Islam, and Christianity-and it only deepened my catholic faith.  Learning about so many religion made me realized how different people are and how glad i am to have my faith.
51481
Hi Grannywinkie - I agree with you about it being worth the wait for peace. You're a pretty smart lady, aren't you? But it is hard to find it in the world. I can honestly say that I have found it in prayer and in a relationship with God. Not to say that that a person has to live like a hermit or be a part of a strange sort of religion  - I think living with a prayerful heart only expands one's life and one's world. Everything seems to become brighter and bigger and more balanced.\n\n Ironically, it seems that we need to make a routine of closing out the world and its noise in order to find peace. And then, once that habit is formed, it becomes natural to be able to function with greater stability and happiness within that "noisy, confusing world", all with a deep serenity, and a sense of purpose and peace. And, it's nice to know that no matter how threatening everything gets, once we have locked into that inner strength, it can't be taken away. \n\nI don't think we have to wait for peace, in other words. I really believe it's available to anyone who is open and desires it enough...at anytime.
942793
Yep, that's me ;) It's the best decision I made, marrying my sweetheart who's from the States. I come from a country that's very rich in tradition, and I'm chinese. Since we've been involved, he learnt a lot about my culture and the traditions that we have. Although we still have disagreements in our relationship sometimes, but it's the one thing that brings us closer too. Life will never be boring for us, that's for sure.
194689
I did change my religion.  I used to be Christian and now I am Wiccan.  I changed religions after a long path of study and realization that Christainity wasn't what I was looking for.  \n\nAll the things I was lacking for in religion, I found in Wicca.  I never thought I would be spiritual again until i started studying Wicca.  \n\ni know its true because I have attuned myself with Nature.  \n\nBut I don't think that any religion is right for everyone.