Being in regular communication with mum via email, she had asked if I was a Buddhist. I question which I had never given much though about before. So I decided to! And here, with her permission, was my response.
I thought about whether I'm a Buddhist or not. In my experience, a lot of people are born into the religious tradition of their family, and take on that religion, be it Buddhist, Hindu, Christian etcetera. They call themselves these but when faced with daily crisis, or great decisions in their lives, they don't really take their teachings into account. So I refrain from labeling myself. You could say I'm none of these labels, or you could say I'm all of these labels. As long as I see truth in the teaching, and practice living it in daily life, I feel I'm on the spiritual path.
I find vipassana commonsensical for my spiritual practice because it is essentially nonsectarian. There is no conjuring of images or chanting as such (not that these are bad such as tongues), but being silent and relinquishing the minds constant chatter I feel is the purest spiritual practice there is - aside from prayer which I've noticed I'm incorporating more of. The profundity of my first 'enlightening' experience during my first 10 day course has convinced me that this practice is authentic and works. That is, it makes a positive difference in how I live my life.
I hope I've successful attempted to clarify a question that I can simply give a yes or no answer to!
Pura vida,
Snowdon
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