Being rich wrecks your soul. We used to know that.

[Warren DeMontague]

9. Caveat: I don't pretend to be an expert.

I have my interpretation of some of the core ideas, but there's a lot there.

I would more label myself a Taoist than anything else, in that to my mind one only starts to understand Lao Tsu by acknowledging that, like Quantum Mechanics or Time, no one really understands Lao Tsu.

And like all other big faiths or belief systems, I think there's a lot of filigree and buildup and ritual and other stuff which some people ascribe to which may or may not be useful to getting at the core ideas.

I think some of the ideas of Buddhism influenced early Christianity- compassion, seeing yourself in every consciousness, etc. Although clearly neither Christianity nor Buddhism have a monopoly on those ideas.

One thing that I think is sometimes confusing to adherents of Western belief systems, is that Buddhism isn't so much a worship of God or Gods (some strains clearly are, more than others) as it is an analysis of the "problem" of existence and/or suffering and a prescription for the "cure".