So, over the past few months I have gone through a bit of an existential crisis, feeling the pull back to the Christianity that was thrust upon me as a child. As I have made it through this ordeal, I feel like I should make some kind of analysis for reference.

One of the first things that came about was a longing for the community aspect of Christianity. As the largest religion in western culture, everywhere you go there is a Christian community. And after posting on some forums, it seems as though this is one of the big things that does indeed happen with western practitioners for Buddhism. Because it may be hard to find a center nearby, or the closest Buddhist community may be very different culturally, many people here in the west want to go back to that which is most comfortable.

The other big issue, is that whether you believe of not, from a young age, you were told about going to hell. So very deeply ingrained, and even more so in those of us raised Catholic, is this subconscious nagging, almost like a post hypnotic suggestion. It may be hard for many to grasp, but this is much more difficult to deal with than many could ever imagine.

Thankfully, I seem to have made it through all of this with nothing more than a few minor bumps and bruises, metaphorically speaking. It really helped when some ignorant preacher talked about how those who don't follow Christ are actually following demons. What a joke.