Hi there! This is an excellent topic. Thanks for starting this thread. Like all of you, I was given a set of religious beliefs at birth. There was no room for questioning. I was supposed to have “faith.” When I did begin to question (the Catholic church and its doctrine) at a young age, I felt like an outcast. I thought I was defective because it seemed all of my family accepted the teachings and loved God, etc. without question. I lived in silent doubt for years.

It took decades —and Buddhist study —for me to discover a sense of “God” that made sense to me. Today, I consider myself “spiritual not religious.” I am one of the “Nones,” which compose about 1/3 of US adults today (according to the Pew Center study.)

Like a lot of folks, only when I hit a major wall in my life, did I begin to embrace a need for a spiritual practice and principles. Although strictly speaking, Buddhism doesn’t attest to a Creator God, I honestly have a greater sense of a divine presence in my life today than I ever have.

The bottom line is this: The God I was given at birth did not make sense to me. I needed to find a God of my understanding (as they say in 12-Step parlance.) To me that means a source of compassion and love that transcends any limited concept my human brain can comprehend. In moments when I am at my most honest, present and authentic self, I believe I experience and share that love.

In a BBC interview in the 1940s, Carl Jung famously stated, “I don’t believe in God. I know God.” By this, I believe he meant he had seen a power greater than him at work in his life. He had no need for blind faith. He experienced “God” on a daily basis and knew his ways. Today I consider myself omnitheist, which means I strive to see the hand of the Divine in everything and everyone.

I believe the nature of the spiritual journey is to move from a place of certainty to a place of uncertainty and then, to be ok living in that sense of knowing-unknowing. Sounds like we are all somewhere on this path.

BTW, there are a number of excellent books that parallel the teaching of the Buddha and the Christ. (Thich Nhat Hanh’s is wonderful.) I admire anyone who is sincerely trying to live a loving, compassionate life.

(You can read more about my journey from Catholicism to Buddhism and back again on my blog http://southernbuddhistcatholic.blogspot.com/)