However, what I found out about myself is that Buddhism to me was not a way of life, or a path to enlightenment, it was simply something that was quenching my thirst to belong, to have a spiritual identity, it was in essence a club I felt welcomed to join. Buddhism is chock full of brilliant teachings but you don’t have to sign up to reap the benefits, especially when you realise there is no one religion that has it all and can give you everything. If what you want is good teachings to guide you through life, intellectually or emotionally, then that’s all you need to take away from any religion. Even Christianity and to an extent Islam have good teachings buried underneath all the steaming dung, but why just accept a handful of dung when you can pick out the good bits yourself? Why should this idea be applied any differently to Buddhism even if the good bits are far more plentiful than the dung?

However, what I found out about myself is that Buddhism to me was not a way of life, or a path to enlightenment, it was simply something that was quenching my thirst to belong, to have a spiritual identity, it was in essence a club I felt welcomed to join. Buddhism is chock full of brilliant teachings but you don’t have to sign up to reap the benefits, especially when you realise there is no one religion that has it all and can give you everything. If what you want is good teachings to guide you through life, intellectually or emotionally, then that’s all you need to take away from any religion. Even Christianity and to an extent Islam have good teachings buried underneath all the steaming dung, but why just accept a handful of dung when you can pick out the good bits yourself? Why should this idea be applied any differently to Buddhism even if the good bits are far more plentiful than the dung?