Visiting Buddhist Temple

Many years ago while I was in India, just out of curiosity, I visited a small Buddhist temple. I did not know much about the Buddhism and in all honesty, I don’t know much more now. I learned however, that Buddhism adheres to ten precepts that appeared to be very strict. The first five precepts are teaching you how to become happier and better suitable for meditation. To refrain from taking life, to refrain from taking that which is not given, to refrain from lying sounded really good, but how can one refrain from sex and alcohol and be happier? Doesn’t that mean, in some sort of way, refraining from love and fun? My experience, while talking to young Buddhists there, confused me even more. They appeared content with their life. They socialized well, understood my views and allowed me to take as many pictures as I wanted. Somehow, at that moment, I knew I was not as happy as I thought in my never ending quest for adventure. I still had lots of work to do to become truly happy. I realized though, that perhaps my western brain will never completely understand Buddhism, but there is something to be said about happiness that not necessary conforms to our established set of standards and can be found in various religions, cultures, continents and nature that surrounds us. I learned how to appreciate spirituality and the beauty of letting go of the material world. “Things cannot buy as happiness”, and it is true.