Getting Comfortable with the Dharma

    A few days ago I did a little ritual, with my boyfriend Tom as witness.  For some years I have worn a wooden cross on my necklace, a trinket which was given to me by a friend.  I took the cross off the necklace and laid it aside. 
   And I've laid Christianity aside, too - the church-going, credo-reciting kind.  And I don't think I'll ever take up that cross again, so to speak.
   In the months since I started attending our little sangha I have discovered that I feel very comfortable with the Buddhist tradition.  The meditation, study and discussions I have been having with our group are bearing fruit.  I have seen a clear and notable change in myself.  My concentration and discipline have improved, and I feel more confident.  My inner world is no longer spins in an irregular orbit, but moves a bit closer to the measured music of the spheres.
   How I wish I had attempted to undertake a serious study of Buddhism earlier in my life!  I wrung every last drop of meaning from my Christian tradition, did Native American medicine and chanted Hindu mantras but ultimately I found each of them empty.  Now I have found something that fits my soul work. 
    Since I practice Reiki I will always have the blessing of the healing spirit of Christ.  It's part and parcel of every Reiki treatment I do.   But I don't want to be involved with Christianity, a path that I stayed on too long and to no real purpose.  Maybe it was nostalgia, wanting to be part of a community and hoping that some spiritual growth would come of my being part of the church.  But no spiritual growth happened for me there, and even while I was in the church I knew, in my heart of hearts, that it wasn't going to happen. 
    The Buddha said that we should try his method and see if it works.  So far, I find it's working for me very well.  I have no doubt that I should continue with it.