I have been taking a religions class and learning a lot about different religions. I think Buddhism is very interesting. And one of the things that my teacher advised us to do is to talk to someone who is in one of the religions we are learning about.

i am not a buddhist. and i am willing to talk about it. XD

I am not Buddhist, but i wish you luck on finding more information about Buddhism.:)

Unfortunately, I am not Buddhist, but if I wasn't a Christian, I'd be one. I took World Religions and my professor's wife is buddhist. My professor had travel alot and said that Buddhists were some of the nicest people he met. Because not only did they believe in karma, but the route to enlightment required one to become at peace with oneself. In other words, get rid of any negative emotion.

I don't really have any religion, but when I was in High school I did a huge project on the subject. I thought it was pretty interesting and some of my beliefs come from Buddhism, but I don't practice it or anything like it. It would be interesting to meet somebody who is. I would like to find out more about it from a personal experience, not just info in books and the internet.

I'm also not.. I don't really have any religion; just my own personal beliefs. But I find Buddhism fascinating; and I actually just ordered several books from Barnes&Noble on it because I'm actually considering taking it up.. haha

I'm not a Buddhist, but I am (what I would loosely identify as) a Hindu.
There are similarities between the two, but also difference. I suppose why I lean more towards Hinduism than Buddhism is because I love the Vedic texts, although I see them as mythology, not neccessarily true-to-life events.

Here are some reasons why I lean more towards Hinduism than Buddhism:

Topping the list of metaphysical differences is the nature of the self.
The Hindu atman is one’s immortal, unchanging Self, witness to the succession of an individual’s experiences, deaths, and rebirths. Buddhism, however, holds the doctrine of anatman: “no-self.” As a consequence of the doctrine of impermanence, there can be no unchanging self in Buddhism. Instead, there is a sense of selfhood arising from the interaction of the body, the senses and perceptions, mental faculties, and consciousness. The obvious question – “then what is reborn?” – has thus proven a thorny philosophical problem for Buddhist metaphysics.

A quote in the Bhagavad Gita (a Hindu text) claims that "Change is the nature of all things." I believe this, but like Hinduism teaches, I also believe that while our souls/Self's can grow and change over time, the existance of the soul is the only thing that is unchanging, in everything.

And this:

Most forms of Hinduism hold that there is a supreme, divine essence to all things. In the Upanishads, Brahman is the name given to the essence that unifies everyone and everything. The world is merely an illusion, a cover thrown over the true nature of things. Through meditation, one finds the atman, and one finds that the Self is really Brahman.

In keeping with the doctrine of no-self, Buddhism denies the existence of an ultimate Being, or God, or Brahman. Much like the self, the world consists of a web of interrelationships. Your computer is “really” a collection of silicon chips and plastic casing and keys. It is only by convenience we designate this collection of parts a “computer.” Through meditative awareness, one learns to see appearances for what they are, and develop detachment.

I don't understand why I would want that form of "detachment". The point of Hinduism is to see God in all things, including ourselves, and to see that we are, truly, attached. (The world and ourselves are one.)

[Both quotes come from: http://buddhist-history.suite101.com..._and_buddhism]

But I do find Buddhism quite interesting as well. C:

I am half buddhist half unitarian universalist

I'm a practicing Buddhist, but I'm not as knowledgeable, I basically know the fundamentals and ceremonies involve in buddhism. I'm basically a mixture of both Mahayana and Theravada :]

So if you need to ask me any questions, feel free to ask :]

Mirielle195: That's really cool. If you're Christian and like Buddhism, you might enjoy reading a book called "Living Buddha, Living Christ." I haven't read it, but I've heard about it, and I think it basically compares Buddhism and Christianity, and I hear it's really interesting and points out a lot of similarities between the two.

Alexial_Rose: Yes, I am also interested in hearing from someone who practices it because it is so different to talk to someone who practices it rather than just knowing what you read from books, as you said.

Anahata: My class is also studying Hinduism. (It's Asian Religions, by the way.) We actually read some of the Vedic texts. I find them both very interesting, and wouldn't mind discussing Hinduism either. :)

Namanu: Cool. I've heard of unitarian universalism before, but I don't know a whole lot about it. Is there anything you would like to say about either one?

I really like Buddhism too. I know people who are and have researched some of the religion, but it's not part of my daily life.

If you like Buddhism though, I think you'd really like Hindu.

It's absolutely amazing. I'm thinking about converting.

Nope I am not buddist, I practice no religion whatsoever, though I was christened. We were planning to get my daughter christened but we decided that religion should be her choice so if she wants to get christend she can choose to when she is older.

I am not a Buddhist but like many others, I believe in some of the things in Buddhism.

But I also believe in the teachings of a few other religions as well.

Thank you everyone for responding!

T w i s t e d h a l o: Oh! I didn't see your response before I commented! I would love to talk to you about it. I don't know exactly what to ask, though. Is there anything you'd like to say?