Religion, my friend, is an absolutely fascinating subject! It is the most complex subject tht is very close to many people's hearts. It is also, I believe, the easiest to get burnt out on. I figure--you either love it, or you hate it.

I am one of those people who loves religion. Not, as you might imagine, just one religion. The whole subject. I am the type of person who loves to get someone riled up about something and then let them go. Religion is the best topic to do that on, no matter where their opinion lies.

I, myself, am mostly Buddhist. I cannot claim that I have had any training and I don't do all the practices, but from what I've learned: It's not WHAT you do that makes you Buddhist, but how you LIVE. Buddhism doesn't require that you go to church, it doesn't require that you practice any particular self-mutilation or self-flaggelation. It just simply asks that you learn to be at peace. It doesn't even matter what you are doing. I've seen a lot of people try to tell me that you have to sit in a lotus position and hold your hands a certain way to be meditating, but in reality Anything IS Meditating. Tucking your kids in for bed. Washing dishes. It doesn't matter as long as you approach them with an open heart and mind and most importantly, THINK.

After having read many things on this by Buddhists and by people studying Buddhism, I've decided that this is the religion for me.

I keep referring to Buddhism as a single group, but in reality, it is many. There are many different sections of Buddhism: Zen, Tibetan. There are others that follow certain Buddhas and their teachings only... It's as diverse as... say Christianity. Christians believe in Jesus Christ and Buddhists believe in the Buddha. Simple, eh?