As you join an estimated 500 million other Buddhists around the world in the quest for spiritual enlightenment, you'll be answering a number of deep spiritual and philosophical questions. Buddhists are a light-hearted, peace-loving group who are committed to living a highly spiritual lifestyle. Buddhism doesn't have a fixed, unquestionable ideology like major religions of faith, but there are definite elements of mysticism and spirituality.
Know What Makes Buddhism Different From Other Religions
In Buddhism, there is no God, nor any gods or goddesses, seraphim, cherubim, archangels, demons, mythological beasts, familiars, pan-dimensional cyborgs or talkative shrubbery. That's one thing that distinguishes it from other major religions, and that's also what makes it so appealing to the ultra-rational, scientifically trained Western mind. The only steadfast rule about Buddhism is that you accept the teachings of the Buddha. There's a story told in Buddhist lore about a follower of another religion who went to the Buddha to try to convert him. The man was so impressed by the words of the Buddha that he decided to become a follower of the Buddha. Buddha said to him, "Make a proper investigation first." Notice that the Buddha did not proselytize aggressively, but he suggested that people should take it or leave it according to their own personal assessment without relying on hearsay or mere tradition. So study as broadly as you need to, and make up your own mind. Keep this story in mind as you read about Buddhism; it strongly exemplifies its core values of achieving your own internal happiness instead of blindly following the words of others. Common practices and teachings are taken from two main branches: The School of Elders (Theravada) and The Greater Vehicle (Mahayana), one subdivision of which is the well-known Zen Buddhism.
