Study Study!

Going back to school last September, brought tears to my eyes and a lot of thinking before hand. Mostly on the topic of my overall happiness of such an endeavour, so at the end of it all I decided to take one course for me, thinking it would be easy... Ha Ha Ha. Have you ever heard the saying " There is no such thing as an easy A!"? And Ta-Da you have my Sociology of Religion course. Yikes. Every other course doesn't pose as much a problem as this one does, and to think that 80 people were on the waiting list before me. But today I have devoted my time to The readings of The Arabian Nights ( for my lit class) and to Socio of Religion, and what do you know? This course actually does give me satisfaction. I have been reading the course material and came upon the following saying,

"All we are is the result of what we have thought"

-Buddha-

 

WOW! There goes the self-pity! How simple, yet how often do I forget this? Haven't I studied Buddhism before this? Oh, Yeah, like 5 years ago, when I self-proclaimed my-self a Buddhist. I realized that my compassion stems from my previous encounter with this religion. I have adopted this "Middle Path" as part of my inner being at the tender age of 16, letting it bring me out of my darkness, driving depression out of my soul and by approaching the age of 22, I have somehow let it take a backseat in my mind. Why? Do I really think myself to be so supreme that I have no need of Divine Providence? Or so full of answers to life's questions that I feel no need to educate and provision my soul further? Often times, I know I have wondered off the path and unlike Dante, I have realized this not "Midway along the journey of our life" (1, Canto I, Inferno, Divine Comedy), but still very near the beginning of it. How magnificent, to know that unlike many in the world I have the accessibility to such knowledge and even better to great teachers. Who wouldn't want to follow a religion, where the symbol is the water lily that blossoms, in a muddy pond, showing that purity can spring from even the most dire conditions. See studying is not so bad, I think I learned something today! HURRAY! So now I resolve to be like the Lotus blossom, just floating in a murky pond, being my pretty self. Who knows, maybe I will make friends with a nice frog, and let him sit on my Lily pad, while I listen to his song.