seven years ago, I got very interested in Zen. I read several books, and then followed its meditation practices (first counting, then following the breath, then shikantaza) for about one year. It helped me very much to still my mind and become more patient, understanding and compassionate. At some point, I decided that I was "happy enough"
and due to being occupied very much with my job, stopped meditating. Nevertheless, since then, I tried to incorporate somehow what I had learned into my daily life.Being a westerner, I always had some problems to understand and believe in rebirth and some other stories from the sutras (like being reborn in different realms, heaven and hell, devas, gods, and so on). It is for this reason that I had never considered myself being a "true" Bhuddist.
I have a good understanding what karma means in my current life, but have some difficulties to understand how it could spread to a next life and such.However, recently I've made an experience that heavily stirred me up. I met a person with whom, from the first moment, I felt totally familiar. We started an email exchange, and after only two or three emails, she also stated that we had many things in common. In one of my emails, I wanted to mention Ghandi, but deleted that part. Then, in her next email, she quoted Ghandi! There were several other "strange" things going on, and as it turned out, she's also interested in Bhuddism. It almost felt as if I knew her from a past life and as if someone had "sent" her such that I'd start meditating again and become more interested in Bhuddism.
So here I am, wanting to start with meditation again and to know more about Bhuddism!
By reading several Wikipedia articles, it became clear to me that I had largely ignored the old texts. Theravada appeals to me, because it appears to be highly authentic and I often thought that vipassana was very similar to sitting in shikantaza in many respects. I have started to read the Vimuttimagga, and also want to read the Visuddhimagga. Moreover, I more or less randomly started to read some suttas. Obviously, I'm highly interested in those dealing with karma and rebirth, and I surely will have some questions! Otherwise, I hope I can contribute a bit from my experiences with meditation that led me to have some first glimpse of no-self.I'm feeling glad that I have stumbled over this forum. I read several posts and I have the impression that people here are very kind and friendly!
All the best to everyone
Marco
