Greetings from a willing student.

[Fenchurch]

Thank you for having me.

As you can see I'm new but I feel that I have now got to a stage in my life where I can begin to explore Buddhism and to embrace it.

For me it began a few years ago when I saw a documentry on the BBC called Genius of the Ancient World by Bettany Hughes. Until then my knowledge about Buddhism was somewhat limited-I've spent most of my life seeing the statues and the praying monks and although I respected it I didn't fully understood it.

But when I saw that document it was just fascinating! I became so intrigued by this that since then I have been studying other books and literature just to learn more.
There was so much about the logic and rationality of his teachings that have been handed down through the ages that just resonated with me on such a deep level, and I've since learnt that there are so many aspects about his philosophy that I can relate to but haven't realised it until now.

Whilst doing research I've discovered time and again certain ideas and principles that, when I saw them, I realised that I've felt the same way throughout most of my life and totally agreed with. I would discover many principles and aspects that when I saw them my mind would say "That's exactly how I've been seeing it all these years".

I am still in the process of understanding and researching this but I REALLY want to learn so much more in the time to come because I feel this is something I instinctivley WANT to become part of now.

Thank you.

[KathyLauren]

Welcome, Fenchuch!

The feeling of familiarity that you describe as you learned about the Buddha's teachings is something that a lot of us have felt. I certainly did when I first discovered Buddhism, and I have stuck with it ever since.

Om mani padme hum
Kathy

[Aloka]

Hello and welcome, Fenchurch!

There are several pinned resources (labelled "Sticky") which you might find useful to investigate - and they are situated at the beginning of the topic list in our Discovering Buddha's Teachings forum.

With metta,

Aloka

[woodscooter]

Hello Fenchurch,

Welcome to Buddhism Without Boundaries!

Woodscooter.

[Esho]

Welcome Fenchurch!

[Fenchurch]

Thank you.

Obviously that's not my real name. I got it from a character in a Douglas Adams novel So Long and Thanks For All the Fish, which is the fourth book in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series.
The character has an interesting narrative in the story. It describes how she was sitting in a cafe one day wondering what had happened to modern society, why there was so much stress and anxiety amongst people and how she could make it right.
It was then that she had a moment of profound clarity, and had an epiphany has to WHAT it was that she felt was wrong and how to solve the world's problems.
Obviously this is just a humourous sci-fi story but when I read it many years ago but I've always remembered this one part of the story-where someone could be thinking deeply about something then suddenly has a profound moment of realisation and all forms of logic and reason can suddenly just come together and create a whole new perception on things.

I've always liked that part of the story.

[justusryans]

Hello and welcome Fenchurch