What Does Being a Buddhist Mean to You? Summer 1996

CarolAnn Stockton
Laughing Frog Zendo
Vocalist and mother/grandmother
Poulsbo, Washington

My neighbors are Evangelical Christians and it’s been fascinating to become friends with them. I told them that I practice meditation because I want to be like Christ, not worship Christ. I practice generosity and compassion with them and now they don’t say “Praise the Lord” to me anymore or ask me to go to prayer meetings, and we have a great time together.

Chuck Stanford
Co-Director, Mindfulness Meditation Foundation
Kansas City, Kansas 66106

I consider my practice to be personal and private; I don’t usually bring it up. From a Buddhist perspective it might seem like spiritual materialism to do so. However, if it does come up I answer any questions asked.

Marc Strumpf
Insurance Agent
Bethesda, Maryland

I explain that being a Buddhist means understanding that you are not only responsible for what you do but for what happens to you as well.

Joseph Yon
Business Manager
Alameda, California

There are all kinds of double-pronged answers: form is emptiness, etc. But with good friends—people who know me well and won’t get the wrong idea—I’m pretty straightforward. The bottom line is that you try to increase your kindness and awareness. If they want to know more, they’ll ask. In business circles it’s a little different. I guess you could call me a closest Buddhist in that area. But business people sometimes become friends. So. . .

Lenny Gerson
Bookseller
Portland, Oregon

I usually tell my friends who ask about it that it’s the basis of my sanity. Of course, my friends don’t buy that.

Marya Schwabe
Administrative Director
Pahala, HI 96777

Well, that’s pretty simple, really. Isn’t it? It’s not a matter of being Buddhist or Christian or whatever. It’s practicing kindess and goodness to others, and not harming others. That’s really the true nature of any spritiual practice.

John A. Perks
Butler

I wear a Buddhist pin, and invariably people ask what it means, and when I’m teaching I wear a robe, so naturally if people see me they’re curious. I say I’m part of the Celtic Buddhist Church and this is what we’re doing. Of course, most people are interested in the combination. “Oh, I get it,” said one woman. “It’s as if the Buddha were born among the Celts.” And I said, “Yeah, you’ve got it. That’s it.”

Kenji Akahoshi
Dentist
Saratoga, CA

Being a Buddhist means that all aspects of my life are integrated with a common truth. Contemporary scientific truths, environmental concerns, all interpersonal relationships, and my personal spiritual experiences are all addressed fully and compatibly. Explained simply, in a dualistic world of frustration and pleasure, I’m aware of a wise and compassionate universe. Great joy and gratitude are everyday gifts of the Buddhadharma.

Richard Simon
Systems Analyst
NYC 10011

I usually don’t tell people unless it comes up in context. It’s not something I advertise. There was a period, however, when I worked as a consultant at Citibank and the job was coming to an end. I was going up to live at ZCNY, and so I ordered some cookies from the ZCNY Bakery and walked around handing them out and took that opportunity to discuss what I was doing. That’s the closest to advertising it that I’ve come.

Danan Henry Sensei
Zen Priest
Denver Zen Center
Denver, Colorado

It tell them it’s a way of finding out how to live well, that is, how to live unselfishly and affectionately.

Sarah Kennedy
Tricycle Web-Mistress
New York, New York

I was working at a summer day camp and the parents who were dropping off their kids kept asking me what I was going to do when camp was over. When I responded to one father that I was going to work for a Buddhist magazine, his eyebrows raised a little higher than usual. Later I found out that he had misheard me. He thought I said “nudist.”