I am 15 roman catholic and beginning to doubt my faith.?

This is the teaching of the Buddha:

Do not commit any non virtuous actions.

Preform only virtuous actions.

Subdue your mind thoroughly. (meditate)

Virtue basically means to do things that don't harm other beings.

There are formal refuge ceremonies you can take, because often we need ritual and objects to help us along the path. But all it takes is belief and action.

BTW Buddha never talked about God. He remained quiet when asked about such a thing. He is all about suffering and how to reduce it. The God question is irrelevant, in that you can do good works and have contentment despite God.

NOT insulting ANYONE who has such belief. To do such a thing is NOT Dharma. Truth takes many forms, and to reject the Dharma is not a good idea. It creates the karma to not meet with it again, for one! I think most religions have a take on "Judge not lest ye be judged," hmmm?

The buddhas have skillful means, which means well, different strokes for different folks, lol. Human beings minds are different, hence the need for different faiths/practices. Look at all the different paths human beings take with regards to religion/spirituality to see what i mean by that.

In that vein, there are also many sects of buddhism. Personally I find that Mahayana/Vajrayana works best for my mind. FPMT.ORG is a good site to investigate that sect.

Good luck in whatever path you choose.

Buddha Shakyamuni was a person, as were all the buddhas, and we follow him/his teachings. We do NOT worship him. He is a mentor. Please become more informed before you start to damn buddhists, lol, how can you call someone an "idol worshipper" who doesn't worship idols??! XD

ps Doubt is good. It can lead to a strengthening of your faith. Just to say, the buddha says DO NOT BELIEVE A WORD I SAW. Like Lama Yeshe always said: "Check it out for yourself." Find what works to make you and those around you more content and happy and go with it. Discard anything that doesn't work to bring more contentment and joy into your life. Use wisdom (direct experience) and compassion to guide you.

O btw Hussein....that is very ignorant of you. The "fat" buddha is a representation of certain QUALITIES of a buddha: abundance and joy. The Buddha DID NOT sit under a tree for his whole life. QUITE THE CONTRARY. Do some research on reality, because this falsity is not making your advice and opinion very convincing. You obviously want to help out another person here, so don't be insulting or ignorant. Please don't take what I say to you as an insult, it's just what went through my mind reading your post.

First, don't believe everything you read, especially on the internet. That website is filled with facts, as propaganda usually is. You can use these facts, research them, and draw your own conclusions. It is foolish to accept the conclusions of blatant propaganda. You should probably learn how to spot propaganda. Every organization has its detractors. Yes, the Catholic Church did invent doctrines and rituals that are no where in the Bible. The ones listed on that site are accurate. The biggest controversy comes over the rituals. For instance, according to the Church if you die right now you will go to Hell or Limbo. If you get spritzed with Holy Water first you will go to Heaven. So the only way to Heaven is to go through this ritual. They used to charge a lot of money for this... and business was good. The Purgatory Doctrine began as a way to charge even more money. Even if one is saved they will suffer in Purgatory for a length of time for each of their sins. A person could pay the Church to have their names included in Mass, which would reduce the time they spent in Purgatory. These were called Indulgences, as a person could indulge in sins and then buy their way out through the Church. These are like credits. This callous practice of exploitation caused people to break away from the Church (protestants), and the Church scrapped the original Indulgence practice but kept the Purgatory doctrine. This is why people call it false and a result of greed and corruption. The Catholic Church was also founded at a time when hardly anyone could read. It wasn't even until 1960s that Catholic Mass was conducted in any known language. They used to always do Mass in Latin, which nobody speaks... so what was the point? Before people could read the Bible was a magical codex of mysteries known only to the clergy, so for a thousand years the Church just made stuff up and nobody knew. The question is how do you feel about this history, do you believe in these rituals, does Catholicism make sense to you? The website you link is dedicated to slandering the Church. They have already made up their minds, but don't let them make up your mind. That's your job.

You are more intelligent than what I thought :) Good on ya!

Buddhism is a great religion which talks about life, inner peace, eternity.It focuses on inner peace.Visit this web site you can find more about buddhism.

In Christianity, the life is Jesus is missing from 13-30.Legend says Jesus went to India to learn Buddhism.

You dont need to tell your parents what you believe until you are 18.Until then you keep it to yourself.If they force you to do things which you dont want to do tell them directly.As a human you should be able to believe anything you like.When you die your parents wont come along with you You should decide your destinity.If you follow Buddhism you will find inner peace and eternity.Mental happiness is the greatest happiness in this world.It can be obtained through meditation. I'm sure if you follow buddhism properly you can live a live without any stress.You can get information about buddhism from

http://www.buddhanet.net/

You can listen to Dhamma talks by Ven Ajahn Brahm who is British monk(Studied at Oxford)

http://dhammafriends.net/Sub20pages/Ajahn_Brahm_Dh...

At 15 you SHOULD be exploring all of your options. Alot of people become brain washed witht the religionthey grow up with. Before people freak if she grew up a buddist and want to become whatever you are you would be all over it. The bible is book made of stories to show people right from wrong. Some people chose to believe these stories are true despite not a shred of evidance that doesnt come from the bible. I would explore diferant religions without a true convert until you are older, but that is just my opinion. Good luck and I hope you find what you are looking for.

Good for you! Developing critical thinking skills is a natural part of growing older. You change religions by simply taking part in the new one and no longer taking part in the old one. As far as becoming a Buddhist, don't leave one group for another just to feel like you belong to something. There are good things in the teachings of Buddha, but again don't accept it all lock stock and barrel. Use critical thinking skills to determine what Buddhism is correct about and on what things it misses. As your breadth of knowledge increases, you'll come to realize that no one philosophy or worldview has a monopoly on the truth.

I suggest that you dig into the bible a bit more and talk to someone you trust about how you're feeling.

The Bible is full of a lot of truth that even our government is based on- and the fact that we hold people accountable for their actions.

Have you read the whole bible? Or have you just listened to stuff from your catholic masses and stuff?

If you tell your parents- if they are strong catholics- they will likely be mortified and deeply grieved at what you want to do- and this is because the Bible says that Christ is the only way to heaven- "I am the way, the truth, and the life- No one comes to the Father but by me."

It also says that God loves YOU- and that he even came down, into human form, and died a tortuous death on the cross, in order that you could live with Him in Heaven. And all He asks of You is that you believe that He did it, and that you love Him and follow Him.

If you dig into the Bible more deeply- you will see a God of intense love, forgiveness, and passion. You will see a God who is very real and at work in the world even today- and if you ask Him to reveal Himself to you through His word- He will... and He will wipe away all of your doubts.

He tells us in the Bible that all those who seek Him diligently will find Him.

Becoming Buddhist is so trendy for white Americans these days. What exactly is it that you believe about Buddhism? Pax Christi

Do not listen to Chris.

I'm 15 too, and Roman Catholic.

Why do you doubt the Bible, but believe in Buddhism?

Pray and open your heart up for God. Have faith, learn more about Catholicism. Attend mass, join a youth group, a religion class.

Best of luck.

If you feel the need to rebel against your parents, I suggest you go out and get a nice tatoo.

Buddhism is a good way to while away the time, especially if you personally look forward to one day becoming absolutely nothing, for absolutely no reason at all, but throwing away God's greatest gift is absolutey stupid, no matter how old you might be.

I gave up Christianity at 11. My life has become so much easier. Especially after I found out about the dirty acts these religious guys perform on little kids.

Buddism sounds good. I love it.

Believe in what your instincts tell you. And buy a copy of one of Eckhart Tolle's books.