Personal Narrative: Growing Up In A Buddhist Family's Beliefs
“You’re a Buddhist? But you’re not bald!”
“Yea, you’re not Asian either!” a skeptical onlooker would usually add.
“If you’re so Buddhist, where’s your orange bathrobe?” a third kid would say before riding off on his bike.
Growing up in a Buddhist family in Virginia in the ‘80s, I was often on the defensive about my family’s beliefs. It was not unusual to be shunned by other kids because I did not believe in God the same way they’d been taught in church. As a teenager, I eventually got tired of such peer pressure
“Yea, you’re not Asian either!” a skeptical onlooker would usually add.
“If you’re so Buddhist, where’s your orange bathrobe?” a third kid would say before riding off on his bike.
Growing up in a Buddhist family in Virginia in the ‘80s, I was often on the defensive about my family’s beliefs. It was not unusual to be shunned by other kids because I did not believe in God the same way they’d been taught in church. As a teenager, I eventually got tired of such peer pressure