[Buddha-l] Questions

[Perennial Favorites]

>
> To be quite honest, I think it is a HUGE mistake for someone from the
> West to become a Buddhist if she was not exposed to Buddhist symbols,
> myths, images and practices from early childhood. Adulthood is much too
> late to try to learn and then make sense of a complex set of myths and
> symbols. Adulthood is a time to work on all the stories one was told as
> a child. I deeply regret that I never took time to do that. The result,
> I think, is that I have never become an adult in the tradition in which
> I was raised (atheistic secular humanism), and I have never developed
> more than a childish grasp of the religion I adopted as a young adult.
> Looking back on my own experience, I conclude: What a waste of life it
> is to convert to a tradition from foreign lands. In this I agree
> strongly with both Carl Jung and the Dalai Lama.
>



But how about Hindus who followed Buddha and became Buddhists?  If they had 
stayed with their traditions, Buddhism would've died with Buddha.  And the 
same with the Chinese who became Buddhists 2000 years ago--should they have 
continued as Daoists?
Traditions and myths migrate. Everything changes, isn't that the one 
constant Buddhism embraces?

I'm behind with email, so forgive me if others have raised these questions.

Diana