Buddhism and Your Own Traditions

One of the many admirable aspects of Buddhism is that it can be applied to Buddhist and non-Buddhist traditions and religions. A non-Buddhist can practice meditation without adapting all aspects of Buddhism. I, myself, identify myself as a Buddhist after reading many books, publications and articles and I continue to study it. Although the Dalai Lama advises against people quickly changing religions or “abandoning” the one they grew up with, but in my case I was very lost for a long time. Spirituality was at one time a part of my life, but the everyday stress of life took most of my energy and time. Now that I have found Buddhism offers antidotes and solutions to everyday afflictions, especially mindfulness, I feel I can “take back” the moments in each day.

Meditation is open to everyone.

Now that it is November and Christmas is quickly approaching, I’m reminded of the traditions that I grew up with. My grandparents were from Ukraine and belonged to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. My dad and his brother were raised Orthodox as well. My mum was Roman Catholic, and to make life easier, my family was brought up Roman Catholic – since that was the majority of the community we lived in. The traditions I cherish most were visiting my Ukrainian grandparents for Christmas and Orthodox Easter. These are small traditions I like to continue now as an adult. Although, now I don’t eat meat (other than fish and eggs), I have happy memories as a kid eating kubasa (Ukrainian sausage) and verenyky (perogies – though these ARE vegetarian and so good).

Perogies/varenyky! I’m addicted to them!

My husband was raised Catholic and yes, we do put up a tree around this time of year. It’s tradition we both had in our homes growing up. At Christmas time and Easter time, I like to support the local Ukrainian Orthodox Church and go to the Christmas and Easter Bazaar and buy Ukrainian food and items. I like to give a gift to my husband on January 7^th (Orthodox Christmas) – after December 25 EVERYTHING is on sale here in North America, who wouldn’t want to buy gifts during that time? And I like to wish “Happy New Year” on January 14 (Malanka – Ukrainian Orthodox New Year) and not to forget, the next month for Chinese New Year as well.

Traditions are important.

We all were raised with tradition that our parents were raised with, and their parents as well. Buddhism is eclectic, and has adapted the culture to every country it has come to, but its main principles are the same. By adding Buddhism to these traditions, we can enrich our experience in understanding them and appreciating them for what they are and how they contribute to our lives.

Just because one practices Buddhism and/or mindfulness, doesn’t mean we need to abandon our traditions that we were raised with. As long as they are loving and rejoicing, we should continue our traditions.

Season’s Greetings with metta!