Formal induction?
 

I know I am asking so many questions, I'm sorry if they've been asked elsewhere already (I did search though, and didn't find what I was looking for).

Do you have to be a temple member and be formally "made" a Buddhist by someone before you can call yourself a Buddhist? I'm thinking not... but I'm not entirely sure. There's only a small handful of temples here in Ohio, and getting to a service can be tricky for me.

Hi shadowspeak,

No, you don't necessarily have to do that. There's some information at the link which might be helpful including: "I want to become a Buddhist. How do I do that ?"

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/a...q.html#convert

with kind wishes,

A-D

Welcome SS

For the most part, definitely "no". Personal commitment to the path is the essential thing.

Kind regards

Element http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ilies/grin.gif

Hi shadowspeak, I agree that personal commitment is the important action and I am still not sure what saying we are Buddhists actually means, however, taking part in a formal ceremony was ( and continues to be ) useful for this commitment for me.

I think that definitely No, too.

http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ilies/grin.gif

Hi, SS, and welcome.

I have considered myself a Buddhist for some ten years and never done any sort of ritual or "formal indiction".

Perhaps many folks feel a need for a bit of ceremony (seems to me out of conditioning, i.e., graduations and such) in order to "feel like they have changed their status", if you will, but in the end the Buddha's teachings are about letting go of illusions of status and ownership, rather than indulging or embracing them.

That being said, though, I do imagine it might be fun to sit down at a floor table in a kimono over a nice raku tea set and have a little cup and chit-chay with some wise old guy who might at some point say something like, "Poof! You're a Buddhist!"...

Haha, that would be fun :)

shadowspeak, if you consider yourself to be Buddhist, you are. Going for Refuge doesn't have to be either a formal or public act.

Peace.

Yes. We can find ourselves quite into superstition if we think refuge will happen thorugh the magic of a ceremony. Refuge is more about a honest commitment with yourself and the teachings you have chose to practice with.

Choosing to have a public and formal ceremony can add something to the personal experience - whilst it is always an individual path, humans are social creatures.

Ceremonies and rituals are also a kind of attachment, so, guess what? ... you guessed right!
I consider myself to be buddhist and I have not done or attended any ritual; it is not like you have to be baptized or anything like that... isnt it great?!

Sure, rituals are just that, they have no self property... but they can become a delusion of mind. The attachment can happen because of that and it can be very sublte.

Rituals can become an attachment ... like most things.

I agree, as long as going for refuge is genuine, then to me that's the main thing.

In metta,
Raven