The conflict of religion happened to me when I went to America. Christian culture is one of the main parts of American culture. We may experience the genuine American culture through Christian culture. Last year, it was the first time for me to travel to the US to study and I had no friends or relatives in the US at that time. The Christians I met were very nice and drove me around the city. This made me warm and comfortable. Later, they invited me to go to church with them and my curiosity about the Christian religion made me follow them. I started to read the Bible and they taught me English as well. However, the more I learned about the Christianity, the worse I felt because I am a Buddhist. How can I betray my religion? Although the Christians were so nice that I could not find a reason to stop contacting them. I was in a dilemma again. I dared not let my parents know that I always went to church because I was afraid to be rebuked by my parents.
When I went back to my hometown, I climbed the mountain again by myself, full of guilt. I shared my concerns with Master Wangru. She said, “Buddha does not care about where you are and he only care about whether he is in your heart or not.” These words totally solved the puzzles in my mind. Every time I go up to the mountain with doubt, I go down the mountain with relaxation. I knelt down to Buddha and burned a joss stick by myself in the Buddhist temple. I said nothing and knelt down silently. I began to feel peaceful and comfortable. I did not know why I felt so calm.I told Master Wangru that I felt that way. She said nothing but smile at me. I think I am on the way to becoming a Buddhist, thanks to the Buddhist temple.
FInally, I started to feel that the Buddhism for me is a place to purify myself and help me calm down without any worries. I suppose this is the reason why almost all of the Buddhist temples are built on a mountain or some other place, which is away from the noise. This is my personal experience.
