So, I was chatting with my new friend Julie this evening, and the subject of how I got into Buddhism was brought up, and it's a somewhat amusing story, so I figured I'd share it…
Anyone who knows me (really knows me) knows I have issues with depression, obsessive-compulsive, attention deficit, et al. I'm a mess of neurosis, lack of focus, taking things too personal, ruminating too much on things I can't change, bi-polar, moody, and too much else to go into at this point. A melange of disfunction, basically.
I'd tried the usual methods of dealing with this. Giving up. Professional therapy. A soup of medications. None of it worked. Or, it didn't work like I'd want them to work. So I'm still looking for a solution. A direction. Peace. Serenity.
So, I'm sitting at home one Wednesday night and watching television. MythBusters, one of my favorite shows (one of the only shows I even watch) is on. They're testing myths about cures for skunk stink, should you get sprayed. They bring in a skunk, the poor little guy is locked up in a tiny cage, and being poked at and otherwise annoyed and irritated in any way Adam and Jamie can think of to get him to spray them. No matter what they did, he wouldn't spray.
I admired that skunk.
In the face of all this oppression, he kept his calm. He didn't spray, he didn't get distressed. Stayed relaxed, and at peace with the whole ugly situation. I realized that I wanted to be like that skunk. To keep myself in a place of serenity in the face of so much strife.
That's when Adam made a comment about how they'd found “Buddha reincarnated as a skunk.”
I knew enough about Buddhism to realize at that moment that I'd known the answer all along. My path had always been there, right in front of me, I just needed to see it. So I threw myself into it, to see if it really was the path for me, and haven't looked back since.
I'm more at peace with myself, and with the world around me, that I've ever been. So it must be working.
The profound from the silly. I love that.
How wonderfully the universe works sometimes.