Timewarp: Where my "journey" began

For the final instalment of my Timewarp series, the first post I wrote about Buddhism, on 23rd September 2008. A couple of "aww" moments in there for me at the beginning and end, there.

First Post

Have you ever read a book, and while reading it, thought, “this book is going to change my life”?
I’m reading The Dharma of Star Wars. It’s all about how Buddhism can be applied to Star Wars, the similarities between Buddhism and Jedi, and it’s really interesting. It has explained some theories to me in a better way than other Buddhism books have, and I understand it all so much more now. It talks about the theory of emptiness, how if you take away every external entity which makes you you, like physical things such as water, oxygen, your parents even having sex in the first place, then things that shaped your personality such as people around you, your life experiences, places you’ve been – if you take all that away, there is nothing left. It is impossible for anyone to exist without other things existing – nobody exists independently. Without other things, we are empty. Also, about suffering, and how it’s the way in which we perceive things to be bad which makes us suffer. For example, constantly chasing after things we want, like clothes, convinced that if we own these things we will be beautiful and that these clothes are the key to our happiness. Or, looking for a new job, which is fine, but telling ourselves that we will not be happy unless we find a new job, and when we do find a new job, everything will be fine. And about how everything is impermanent.

It is so interesting, and…I love it. It makes me think. When I was in Catholic school, we were never taught to question anything. Buddhism tells us to question everything, not just take it as it is because that’s what Buddha said. Also, it strikes me as strange when people do or don’t do things because that’s what their religion tells them to do or not do. Surely we should be not doing things because we know that they are wrong, and that we find it morally wrong and therefore do not want to do them, rather than simply not doing it because our religion tells us not to, and we are blindly following it.

Some things in Buddhism are hard to get my head around but it’s great in that way, having to think about things and question them. Like reincarnation, I’m not sure about that yet, but if I was to believe in it, it would make the world and life seem so much less scary. I already know that everything is impermanent, now if I could just believe that there is definitely something after this life, and that too is impermanent, and there is something after that too, then there would be nothing to fear. Maybe if I think more, and read more, and learn more, I will feel more strongly about that concept.

it’s amazing how much this book has helped me, in comparison to other books I have read. I have only read about three books, but this one helps me understand things more by applying them to situations in the Star Wars movies. Until now, I hadn’t really actively tried to put these ideas into practice, but now I do. I indentify when I’m not being mindful and attempt to do so, though it is a difficult thing to remember to do after not doing it for twenty years. I think about my negative feelings about things, and how they are negative because I interpret them in that way, and my attachments. And so, I decided to make a blog so that I can jot down some things about this journey I feel I am beginning. Wow, how cheesy did that sound? Very overdone and cliché, however appropriate.

Enjoy.