I don’t consider myself to be a very disciplined Buddhist, though I do very much agree with its teachings and philosophical theories. To me Buddhism is about awakening to the realization of our universal interconnectedness. What does that mean exactly? It can be hard to put into terms that are easily understandable but the simplest definition would be that we are all connected by all of the ever-present energy fields throughout our universe. When we are born into this world we are brought up to believe that reality has limitations and that we can never move past these limitations no matter how hard we may try. Unfortunately, this perspective then eventually limits our way of thinking and acting. Most of us just go through life never questioning our internal influences and then naturally assume that our thoughts and emotions actually make us who we are. When in fact, our emotions and thoughts are only part of a process…a process we call our personality. There is proof everywhere of the many changes that people make concerning their personalities. If someone has a bad personality they can make the changes necessary to create a good personality. If someone has a good personality and they experience dramatic changes then they may choose to adopt a bad personality. Each of us experiences many different thoughts and emotions on a very regular basis. The important thing to keep in mind is that these are all part of your personality and your personality is just a never-ending process. With that said, we are all bound and connected by that very same process. Our experiences are universal, no matter how small or how big they may seem. Buddhism was founded on that very knowledge and has remained true to it for 2500 years.