Fork in the Road

 

I have been involved in many different religions. I have always had a curiosity to learn about different kinds of people and worshiping with different deities and the energetic experience of those interactions.   

Catholicism, Judaism, Kabbalah, Buddhism, Hinduism, Santeria, the cult of Santa Muerte and other interesting folk worship like those that took their original religion and amalgamated it into religious syncretism it to a major religion of the time. 

 For example, the African slaves were not allowed to practice their own religion. They took the Catholic saints and applied their own deities to Catholic saints. Chango is St. Barbara, Yemaya is the Blessed Mother, Olofi is Jesus and Elegua is St. Anthony. It is believed that the cult of Santa Muerte is actually the original St. Of Death brought over when Spain invaded Mexico. The Spanish St. Of Death no longer exists. Fascinating information.  

I noticed that each major religion has a folk religion attached to it. Catholicism has Santeria, Buddhism has Shinto, and Judaism has Kabbalah. Hinduism has a pantheon of colorful deities and so does Buddhism. Both have folk tales attached to them.  

The most interesting events that have happened to me throughout my journey are, after a period of time, I was directed to change my interest.  

For example, I studied for about five years intense meditation with a group called the Brahma Kumaris that is based on the original man who created this path and believing in one god and in peace. They are huge in India and Europe; in the United States they are quite small. It was one of the most healing and insightful journeys I ever tried. I was ready to give my life over to their vegetarian lifestyle and teaching about living a peaceful life. 

I cannot tell you where the voice came from or how the intense energetic brick wall that came up but I was clearly told and shown that I had to find a Buddhist temple. I just knew it was an important fork in the road in my experiences; apparently, I was not done yet. When this happened, it reminded me of an insight I had when I was sixteen years old. I was told I was to follow Buddhism. At the time I ignored this information but always remembered it.  

I left the Brahma Kumaris without reservation or explanation. I left cold turkey; I had to follow the direction of my higher self. This is not the first time I have been directed in a certain direction. I learned the hard way not to go against my inner guidance.  

It took two tries to find a temple; the first temple had Buddhism intertwined in some sort of new age way with Christianity. That was not the one, and then I found a temple in Flushing, an original ethnic Chinese Amitoufo Temple. I went there and walked in and it felt like home. I never looked back and that was eleven years ago.  

Amitoufo is the Buddha of Light and Life. Since there are no classes or teachers that are in English, I had to learn on my own. I read every book I could find and I have gone to the ceremony every week for years. There is profound peace in the temple. I am welcomed in the temple and have had many intense insights.   

I have seen maybe five American people show up to the temple. I am the only American that has stayed, I have been told many times that I am lucky to find Amitoufo and that I am a reincarnated monk. That might be true because I understand and took to this religion so easily.  

I have been practicing Buddhism for eleven years now and my inner guidance seems to be good for now.  

There is one take away from my journey of religion is to be a decent human being and to take those obvious forks in the road of your life seriously because they are leading you to where to are your authentic self.  

 Georgia