First Post

Buddhism has always been in my life in some way or other. Like a pop song you hear every once in a while and almost know the words to, or a taste that is exotic and yet familiar like cotton candy or a canned lychee nut in syrup. I've always been attracted to the iconography, the beautiful calm buddhas, prayer flags, darumas, zushi, lhakangs and hermit's caves, but I understand almost nothing of 'it'.

I have books, I have been to temples zen and tibetan, I have been to buddhist kingdoms, I have donated money to further the dharma, and yet I know almost nothing of that dharma. I have stacks of books on buddhism, picture and text, secular and sacred, simple and complex, and yet I know nothing. I would have a very hard time telling you the four noble truths, let alone the specifics of the eight-fold path.

I know nothing.

I don't like karma for reasons I'll tell you about. I don't understand even the basics. I have a fascination, but not a passion. Many is the night I have nodded off with a good buddhist text in my hands. Or was it a good text? I don't know.

But the purpose of this blog is to give it a shot. For one year. To explore. To write about my personal exploration. To (let me google it...) damn, can't find it! But basically, the thing where Buddha says don't take my or any other person's word for it....only accept what you prove to yourself.

I'm 45. I grew up as a Christian Scientist. And by the way, Christian Science has nothing to do with Scientology, except that both are homegrown US religions and both attracted celebrities in their haydays. I don't think I've ever typed the word 'heydays' before, what's the etymology of that do you think? Christian Science may have something to do with Buddhism or vice versa, we shall see. But this blog is my own personal yet formal foray into Buddhism. An exploration.

'Personal' because this will be my own, lonely venture into trying to understand buddhism and formal because I will write daily, uh, apparently whenever I damn well feel like it. And that is enough for today.