My name is Will, im 20 years old, English, currently living and working in Italy. I recently moved here and decided it was a great opportunity to finally take control of my life and find happiness. Around 2 months ago I came across the (in my opinion) excellent novel 'The Dharma Bums' by Jack Kerouac, which I would highly recommend.
The vivid descriptions of living blissfully on the road with very few possessions and practicing the noble path spoke very strongly to me. Humanism, minimalism, generosity and living in the moment are all important aspects of my life which I aspire to so I was very joyful to find them combined in Buddhism. Since then I have read some basic books on Buddhism, mainly on Mindfulness, (The Essence of Buddhism, Mindfulness in Plain English, The Experience of Insight) and I recently came across this forum.
There is no temple nearby which I can visit so I am a solo practitioner for now (and for the foreseeable future), and I have no particular attachment to any sect of Buddhism, although in my research ive found myself leaning away from Mahayana Buddhism due to what i hear about chanting and general bamboo stick abuse
Outside of Buddhism im interested in Art, exercise, travelling, snowboarding, reading and all manner of other things wholesome and not so wholesome.
I hope this isn't too long for a first post and that you'll welcome me to the forum. I'd love to hear any opinions and advice or reading you can suggest as I begin my way on the Eight-fold Path - im looking to read more of the central texts of Buddhism but im not sure where to start.
In return here is a photo of a happy clay Buddha I have made and finished painting today which I hope will bring a smile to your day.
Thank you!
