Buddhism: a golden statue of a fat man drapped in cloth sitting in a temple where the smell of incense wafts through the air and over the heads of kneeling monks with gleaming heads deeply bowed and touching the floor. Chanting, barefoot, drums, and om. A sense of peace, happiness, and acceptance. Basically, my storybook idea of a religion that intrigued me in how completely opposite it seemed from Western religions and cultures. Back home in the States, I hadn't really come in contact with it except for in some of my college courses, a few meditation seminars and going to yoga class. I had heard the word chakras, all I knew was it involved colors, and had read "The Dharma Bums", in my days when I strove to be a part of the last vestiges
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