I’ve been listening to a keynote speech by Lama Surya Das (referred to by the Dalai Lama as The American Lama) at the 2012 Buddhist Geeks Conference that took place this past month in Boulder, Colorado. My ears perked up a bit more when he said:
“Many of us have left our pulpits of origin. We don’t need another moral system; we’re looking for meditation, yoga, introspection, self-inquiry, whole living, organic eating, and exercise.”
Pulpits of Origin
What’s my pulpit of origin? As I explain in detail in my book, my spiritual heritage stems from Christianity and Kriya Yoga. Before I experienced Buddhist living, I spent years in these moral systems, religions, whatever-you-wish-to-call-them.
I’ve found that there are relatively few original Buddhists in America. By original I mean Buddhism as a pulpit of origin.
What’s your pulpit of origin?
Did you come to Buddhism via Christianity or Kriya Yoga like me, Judaism like Lama Surya Das, or were you born into a practicing Buddhist family? I’d love to hear what your experience has been.
Hi Barry….just read some of your info over on the Asymmetrical Community website and thought I’d check out your blog. And this post caught my eye because I definitely left the pulpit of my origin AND I like Lama Sura Das quite a bit. I have a blog too at http://smartliving365.com that is a take on my current life and “monastery”. I also saw that you published an ebook to amazon and am interested in following your progress. Oh, and my blog is a wordpress blog and I saw that you added your amazon link to your sidebar–I could use some help with that too! Anyway, sorry for rambling. Nice to meet you and I look forward to connecting with you on Asymmetrical.–Kathy