Thanks for your message of 9 November. Sorry I have not replied
sooner, but it has been a busy time - almost too busy for learning
Pali! Thanks for telling us about your Buddhist upbringing. It reminds
me of how important the religion of our childhood is, and how benign
and helpful a Buddhist childhood sounds. Actually, I found being
brought up as a Catholic benign and helpful, but this is not
everyone's experience.
You also asked how I became interested in meditation and 'eastern
religions'. I would say that this is a mysterious thing! But for some
reason I felt that meditation was important and that I should find out
about it. I would say that the interest in 'eastern religions' in the
west is a lot to do with the search for religion without an
authoritarian God, that is, one which is compatible with the sciences
and with secularized democratic society. However, my own motivation,
which you asked about, was for 'enlightenment' - as I understood it,
or imagined it, at the time - some kind of perfection of the human
state, a release from confusion and a knowledge of the truth of the
human situation. I would say that my sense of what enlightenment or
nirvana might be has changed a lot since those days. I find the
practice of mindfulness and metta meaningful in themselves and don't
necessarily think all that much about final realisation as a
motivation for practise. So I am not sure if I consider anything as
sacred in Buddhism in the way that you ask. Of course there are
objects of devotion to which one goes for refuge. What is your opinion?