M15: Buddhism

     I just got back from my trip to a Buddist temple. It had beautiful architecture and was in front of a waterfall. When I got there, a bunch of monks were outside meditating. I tried to talk to them but they didn't hear me, so I sat down and tried to meditate with them. Before one minute had gone by, I gave up. It was just to hard to sit still and think about nothing. Slowly inching open my eyes, I was startled to see an old bald guy in front of me. He started speaking. "If you want to reach enlightenment you need to learn Buddha's four noble truths." he said.
     The other monks soon woke up. We walked jauntily into the temple and they opened an old dusty book. They started explaining to me that Buddha used to be a prince named Siddhartha, but he reached enlightenment and wrote the four noble truths. They are: 1: Life is suffering. 2: The origin of suffering is attachment. 3: Suffering ends when attachments end. 4: Freedom is attainable by following the eightfold plan. I realized that I needed to follow the four noble truths in order to be happy. I sat down on a rock and shut my eyes. I emptied my mind and attained great knowledge.
     Six hours later I woke up. I decided I wanted to become a monk. I gave up all of my worldly possessions except for a robe and a bowl for alms (donations of food). I hoped to follow in Buddha's footsteps and find a middle path to enlightenment. Some of the other monks gave me a lesson on Buddhism and I was ready to go. Walking from house to house, I collected a small lunch from the community and started praying. I didn't get it. I had followed the four noble truths and became a monk but I still wasn't enlightened. The monk leader told me that it usually took a life time to achieve enlightenment. I just didn't have that kind of time, so I left. I am still practicing Buddhism though and maybe someday I can revisit the possibility of monkdom.