Afiya27, 47

Enthralled by the Brazierian interpretation of the 4NTs I am currently considering membership within SGI Buddhism. There is a thriving and diverse community in my area, and I find their world-peace-embracing enthusiasm to be right up my alley. Things first 'clicked' for me with regards to Buddhism when I read David Brazier's 'The Feeling Buddha'. This work is written by a British adherent to Pure Land Buddhism who practices psychotherapy rooted in Buddhist philosophy. His book breaks down the 4 Noble Truths such that one feels as though the Buddha has come alive on the pages! It also helped me to read Karen Armstrong's 'Buddha'. I'm basically an eclectic mix of several Buddhic traditions. In fact, although I've unsuccessfully attempted to understand Zen in the past, I now feel ready to imbibe in its wisdom as well (informally). The same goes for Tibetan approaches. I have a background in biological/physical anthropology. Hence, an understanding of the evolution of human life-styles is second nature to me. Specifically, 95% of our species' existence was spent within a hunter-gathering context. Interestingly, I've recently come across scholarly sources describing the spiritual traditions of hunter-gatherers occupying the original geographic (and genetic) location of all humanity's common ancestral population (i.e. Southern and Eastern African hunter-gatherers). Analysis of these extant groups' spiritual traditions (and languages) from a Brazierian 4NT perspective led me to the possibility that, contrary to popular (derisive) belief, our common ancestors were NOT 'just superstitious!' Rather, they were ~4NT-adhering NON-theists! This is supported by findings that the groups in question: a) were originally nontheistic according to linguistic evidence AND, b) practice traditions that adhere to 4NT logic! IOW, our very BRAINS may have originally evolved in a Buddhic context! I find this possibility very spiritually satisfying/comforting. If this kind of stuff interests you, I'd love to get to know you! Let's talk!