Today I’m gettin’ all wise and philosophical on yo’ asses.

I have reflected a little on religion in the past and have talked about how my beliefs and values are strong but my association or affinity with one specific religion is not. I was raised catholic, which I am grateful for in some ways as it allowed me to learn about the values of compassion and love and faith, but also had a lot of teachings and premises that I didn’t necessarily agree with. In becoming all grown up and fancy and inquisitive, I’ve tried to open my mind and look at other religions and practicing faiths around me that resonate with me or that I am drawn to. My conclusion thus far? Ain’t one sole religion that I’ve come across in my readings and research that I’ve thrown up my hands for and gone all ‘praise be to ____’. Nope. Instead though I have uncovered religious teachings and core values that I do feel particularly drawn to and have struck a cord with me in reflecting the way I hope that I, and others, live our lives. 

Many of these ‘a-ha!’ moments have been had during my readings around Buddhism. Buddhism is, still to this day, a major religion in our world. It began approximately 2500 years ago in India and we are told that Siddhartha Gautama was born an heir to the throne who later renounced his seat as King and became a monk. He devoted his life to the pursuit of enlightenment and, after refusing temptation in all its forms, he achieved the heights of spiritual understanding and enlightenment. He chose five holy men (blokes got all the luck in ole 566BC) to share his teachings, the Dharma, with and this was the beginnings of the religious group. 

If anyone is interested in learning more about this fascinating religion, please please please let me know and I would be happy to dedicate a post in future to the Buddhist history and its teachings. I was honestly sitting there soaking up every word on the page and completely transfixed by the subtext of love and compassion and infinite wisdom that came from the literature. His overarching teachings, from which all Buddhist lessons are derived from, can be broken down into the the Three Universal Truths; the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.

So, inspired by all I have learnt and already feeling so warm and fuzzy on account of the beautifully worded and authentically created religious teachings, I would like to share with you some of the quotes and lessons that spoke to me and that I try to live my life by.

Blessings from my ‘ohmmm’ chantin’ and lotus posed self x
All images from today’s post were sourced via Tumblr – should you have any issue with the image being featured without extensive reference please let me know immediately and I will take it down.