Buddhism: Folk Beliefs and Actual Teachings

Like many American converts to Buddhism, I was raised loosely as a Christian.  I say loosely because my family attended church irregularly at best and often only on key holidays such as Easter.  As a kid we moved a lot too, and I never attended a Christian church for more than a few years.  As a result, I did not receive much in the form of training from Bible school or such.  My partner studies Christian theology, however, and in discussions with him I increasingly find my Christianity -and the Christianity of many of my family members and friends- is more a collection of folk religion rather than a hardcore understanding of Christian theology.

In my journey into Buddhist practice, I also find that many fellow, spiritually minded people who view themselves as Buddhist also exhibit this same phenomenon:  their religion is a mixture of folk beliefs and theology.  I suspect this pattern is true with the majority of people following any faith or philosophy.

As with Bible college students who first encounter core Christian theology that runs counter to their viewpoints of what Christianity means, I find that as I study Buddhism more I am butting heads sometimes with concepts I don't always initially understand.  And that is a polite way of saying I'm meeting ideas on my path that I really don't like.  I wrestle with them.  I struggle.  And then like a new pair of shoes, they finally slip on and I find an understanding agreement.  Well.  With most of these concepts.  Others I still struggle with.

One of the themes of this blog will be the tensions and mixture of folk beliefs and actual Buddhist teachings.  Also, because I come from -and live- in a deeply Christian culture, I will continue to compare and contrast these two belief systems.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog.  It represents a collection of musings and articles about Buddhism from the perspective of a gay Southern man.  I hope that these musings may benefit or at least entertain you.

I want to add a caveat for my readers:  I do not consider myself an expert on Buddhism.  I have gradually moved into Buddhism over the past decade, and this blog is primarily a tool for me to explore and experience my Buddhist path.  Thank you for joining me on this journey.