u/occult_deodorant

We all know Buddhists (especially those trying to gain converts) love to talk about their religion as a "tool" to reduce suffering, and become enlightened. The Buddha is supposed to be a sort of universal doctor providing all ✨️sentient beings✨️ with the wonderful cure of his teachings, but they don't really seem to do that much.

With how effective his teachings are supposed to be, you'd expect the world to be full of floating 10th bhumi bodhisattvas, and other enlightened beings. In reality, very few Buddhists would be willing to point at any living person and say "yeah, that guy is enlightened". Even less of them seem to be deriving much actual benefit and peace from their practice, which seems to lead to sectarian infighting and becoming enmeshed in feudal asian politics much more often than to the simple peace they were promised.

My question is, did your practice actually provide you any comfort or other advertised promises, or was it a net miserable experience?

As we all know, a huge portion of Buddhist practice requires you to agree to doctrines you don't fully comprehend, with the promise that they'll be made clear at some distant point down the line, if you just keep practicing.

Now, a lot of these doctrines are either inherently nonsensical (looking at you, emptiness), or are in some way or another flawed. I had a conversation with a Buddhist friend of mine recently and told him that I disagreed with a few aspects of Buddhism, and his replies always boiled down to "you misunderstood it" or some form of no true Scottsman. Whenever I asked him to explain them himself, he simply said it is too profound to be explained. I eventually just shifted the conversation elsewhere, but it got me thinking.

How can one engage, or try to dismantle someone who is thinking from this point where they are so comfortable drinking the proverbial coolaid, and accepting answers to deep questions about life and existence itself on the mere promise that they might make sense some day, if not in another lifetime?

I noticed I have this problem where I am either constantly reminding myself to think from the end and repeating thoughts like, "it's alright, it's done, it's a done deal, you have it", and the moment I try to live in the moment or just turn my mind towards other things, it almost automatically shifts back to seeing the 3d as the main reality, and over time, the old story begins feeling real again.

Is it possible to just go about my life and not spend too much time trying to push a feeling of having it, or is it supposed to be like this? The constant chore of reminding myself of my desire and putting myself in the desired state is becoming quite tedious, and yet, I don't want to allow myself to automatically revert back to the old patterns and thoughts. Any advice is appreciated!

I'm generally interested in learning about different spiritual traditions, and eventually, I looked into orthodoxy. It struck me as almost completely miserable and sad. The worldview feels completely gnostic and medieval, almost all the saint quotes just feel like distilled catholic guilt, with a constant call to repent for whatever one does or thinks, and the endless fasting, prayer cycles, infinite bureaucracy and lessons to join the church and get a sacrament that is given to little babies who have no understaning of what's going on. I'm not a Christian myself, but from my understanding the Gospel is supposed to be... good news? This lifestyle doesn't feel much like good news.

So, without going into detail on all my critiques, I'm curious about why you chose to join the church. I wonder if there is an appealing part of the picture I missed out on, or if there is something else about it that made you reach that conclusion.

If you're a cradle, would you say you remained in the church only because it was the only thing you knew/were allowed to believe in, or if there were other reasons for you choosing to remain a member.