If one becomes a Buddhist i.e. taking refuge in the 3 jewels which is initially a mental act which translates to verbal & physical actions then how is one not a Buddhist in the religious sense. The abandoning of all other teachings is implicit in taking refuge, otherwise it is just lip service ...

Hi all, I just returned from my first 10 day Vipassana course (of SN Goenka). One aspect that confused me was the way in which the term "Sankhara" was used. #1 I had previously always understood the word Sankhara to basically mean any mental formation or mental construct. #2 But the way it...