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Chapter 1: What draws people to Buddhism in the West?
I think everyone is attracted to Buddhism, at least in the West at some point.
A lot of people are like, oh, that's cool. Like, should I get into it more? We believed in reincarnation and also getting rid of one's desires. You would have to build up karma for hundreds, if not thousands of years of lifetimes. I was someone else in my last life and I built enough karma to where I am now a human being. You have to be like really, really, really good to become human.
If I had said to you, does God exist, what would you have said?
Chapter 2: How does reincarnation influence Buddhist beliefs?
I would have said no. I don't know who you're talking about.
It's like, why is there a man nailed to a cross?
I had never seen that depiction before. He's like kind of naked, you know, Jesus or Lord. He had nails in his hands and it's huge and it's just what everyone could see. I had to ask, I was like, who's Jesus? I said I was interested.
Oh, in becoming a nun?
Yeah. Oh, okay. Because I actually loved Buddhism. Maybe this is my calling. My mom was like, hey, my Buddhist nun friend wants to take you to this retreat. The last day we were together, she just said, hey, there's this ritual that I would like for you to go through. You belong to Buddha. All of these like alarming thoughts were going off in my head. It's like, don't do this. You belong to God.
You need to become Catholic now.
Do you think we've got enough drinking vessels?
Oh, yes, definitely. This is more than I think my stomach could handle.
What do you have there?
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Chapter 3: What was Laura's early experience with Buddhism?
It's just don't kill, don't steal, don't commit adultery, things like that. And always to give thanksgiving, give back to the people who are less fortunate than you. So I did learn these things growing up. So I think that made me into a decent human being because of the teachings of Buddhism. Because you're taught to be good. They teach you what's good and what's evil. Yeah.
But what was the question again?
Yeah, just like, I don't know, like the moral system that you were invited into. And then, I don't know, what's it like within Buddhism?
Chapter 4: How did Laura's family background shape her beliefs?
Are you looking at other people who seem particularly good and thinking, she's going to be a man next time? I'm not meaning to make fun of it, you know what I mean? But like, is there a sense in which you can look at people in this life as enlightened and suspect what their future life might look like? Is that the kind of things you would think about as a kid or not?
No, really, because I kind of looked at everyone the same. You know, I hung out with a lot of Buddhist nuns and even Buddhist monks. And they lived by the book of Buddhism, at least where they were at temple, what they had to do. So they had to do their offerings daily. They were purely vegetarian. They had to do chores throughout the day. That was part of the practice to do regular daily things.
And I was like, okay, well, I do these things. My parents do these things. It's just, we're not monks and nuns. There wasn't a gauge or a good measurement to figure out how are we going to be in the next life? And then my mom, she told me, she's like, well, whatever you do here, it's probably not going to be much. You're probably going to be reborn for a thousand more years.
So then I was like, everything we do is pretty much pointless and useless. So I didn't see anyone who did more or less if we were going anywhere. I just thought, okay, this is just an endless cycle. She had told me reaching that state of enlightenment of being a Buddha is actually really rare. And it just might not happen for another hundreds or thousands of years.
I have so many questions. Tell me about Buddhist monks and nuns. Are they celibate? Do they live in communities? Are there different types of monks and nuns?
Yeah. So what I grew up with, they do live in communities. The men and the women are separated. It's very similar to what we have with priests and monks and nuns and sisters with Catholicism. And they are celibate. And for them, they do have to take a vow where they have to leave everything behind and live a life of poverty to live with their, you could say their brothers and sisters. And
They're very normal people, though, because I did live with a few Buddhist nuns for a little bit, and they loved music and they loved dancing, but they weren't allowed to indulge in these things. They had to do it secretly. Even though they took these vows, they still did things behind the scenes. And because I wasn't fully, I guess, committed to it, I still had my hair.
A lot of them didn't like that I had my hair still. They have to shave off all their hair, both the men and the women.
So what do the women nuns look like? Because I have this rough idea, which might be some racist stereotype. It's like some bad kung fu movie. I mean, I've seen kind of like Buddhist monks around. They look really cool in the orange thing.
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Chapter 5: What emotional experiences does Laura share during her conversion?
Oh, this is kind of awkward because they, I hope they don't expect something to happen. You know what I mean? And like, then I'm going to be like, amen. Well, thank you very much, everybody. It's been, you know, cause they were, they were really getting into it. So just as I'm having this thought of. I hope they don't expect me to like cry or something. Like, I don't know.
Just as I have that thought, I open up my eyes and tears were streaming out of my face. It was like I was weeping before I knew I was weeping.
Praise God.
Yeah. And it was just like, oh my gosh. I was so shocked by it. Yeah, I can just say it wasn't the kind of thing where I was trying to work myself up. I don't think I wanted that to happen. I'd just met these people. But I went with it. The gift of tears. I was weeping for maybe 10 minutes or something.
Chapter 6: How does Laura describe her journey through spiritual warfare?
And then I just burst into laughter. I don't laugh like that. I love how people can laugh like that. I always wish I was one of those people who could barely laugh. But I just don't laugh a lot. Like I go, ha, ha, ha. Yeah, like that. That's the most. But I burst into this uncontrollable laughter and I could barely drive my car home. I felt drunk.
Chapter 7: What role does prayer play in Laura's spiritual life?
I just felt the love of God. It was so powerful. Anyway.
Yes.
I thought since you shared three experiences with me, I would share. Oh, thank you. Yeah.
I've heard instances of that and I heard it too. Instead of the gift of tears, people would just burst out laughing.
Yeah. That weird.
Yeah. Praise Jesus.
Yep. He's so good.
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Chapter 8: How does Laura maintain her Catholic faith amidst challenges?
Yeah. God bless our beautiful, charismatic brothers and sisters. So one of the things I've been thinking a lot about lately is this. We all want peace, but we don't always want surrender. And the truth is, you don't get one without the other. That's why I'm really excited about what our sponsor, Halo, is doing this June.
They're launching a challenge based on my book, Jesus, Our Refuge, and it's all about going deeper, learning what it actually means to draw close to the heart of Christ, not just in a sentimental way, but in a real transformative way. because His heart loves us unconditionally, but it also calls us higher.
It asks us to let go of sin, to loosen our grip on worldly desires, and to be united more fully with Him. And look, that's not easy, but it's good. The reason I've been using Halo now for over eight years is that it just keeps delivering.
So if you have been feeling that pull, like there's more to your spiritual life than you're currently living, I'd really encourage you to check out Halo and join the challenge this June. Visit halo.com slash Matt Fradd to get three months free. And let's make this June a month of surrender, connection, genuine prayer. Again, that's halo.com slash Matt Fradd for three months free.
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Again, visit catholicmatch.com and sign up today. All right. So you've had this experience. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you've experienced too much to now write off Christianity and Catholicism. And then you go on this retreat.
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