Are you a Buddhist?

WoodMoor Village Zendo: Are you a Buddhist?

As I contemplated in the last paragraph of this post, when does one refer to oneself as a Buddhist? When they’ve decided to start practicing? When one joins a sangha? When you find a teacher? When you go through a refuge ceremony? When one receives the precepts? Never?

This blog post and the resulting comment thread explore this question.

I’m still not sure and I’m not sure I ever will be sure. I’m rarely questioned about my religion or spirituality and I never bring it up in casual conversation, so I’m not sure if I’ll ever even be asked if I’m a Buddhist. I suppose that if I were asked right now, I’d say that I was but qualify it with, “But I’m in the very early stages of practice.” That way no one would grill me on the Noble Eightfold Path. :)