Reform Buddhism

The one thing I am going to spend some money on is one of those miniature computer phone thingamajigs everyone has (wow, Chrome recognizes thingamajig as a real word.)  Then I'm going to head into the city.  No good reason, I just feel like it.

I'm thinking Chinatown, maybe checking out that new Mahayana temple that's there.  It sounds pretty impressive.  I wish there were some elaborate way to convert to Buddhism, like the way one might convert to Judaism.  I mean, sure, I can just call myself a Buddhist, but that just sounds like bullshit.  I know, it shouldn't matter how it sounds.  I know, I probably have some sort of silly psychological reason for wanting to be able to wear the label, that way.  I just do.

I don't believe in a lot of it, the way it's commonly understood, though.  Karma, rebirth, enlightenment even?  Not really.  I mean, I don't know, it just doesn't fit with anything I've seen any real evidence of.  It makes a hell of more sense to me, to dissect and rearrange the terms into something logical, something that might have been what was originally intended - or might just be a total reconstruction of primitive nonsense.  I'm honestly not sure.

Buddhism entails so many brilliant ideas, at the very least.  Even if I have my doubts about some of it - and that's just it, even the doubting is encouraged.  Buddhism doesn't have to be about having faith in anything, and that's a big draw for me.

Community is important, though.  It's a major component of every religion.  I've even heard Jews refer to G-d as being another word for community, and I thought that was an interesting way of putting it.  A little acrobatic, but still.  Whatever works for you.

In Buddhism, it's called Sangha, and between my social anxiety and being on the wrong side of the planet, I haven't had much luck with that.  The thing is, I haven't exactly connected with the Jewish community, either.