Budding Buddhism in the city

The new school of thought in town is as old as the hills. The practice of Buddhism seems to have taken off among the glitterati in the city with an increasing number of people subscribing to the philosophy of cause and effect. Says actress Tisca Chopra, who's been a Buddhist for 11 years now, "Buddhist philosophy answers all questions about life that I ever had, in the most complete way." Tisca who's introduced several other television colleagues to the philosophy including Manav Gohil and Shweta Kawatra, and Vinay Jain feels that her entire life and outlook has changed because of this "wonderful practice that has brought joy and freedom into my life".

Jewellery designer Poonam Soni, who's been a practicing Buddhist for the last two years, was introduced to Buddhism by her daughter Kriti. "It gives me a sense of well-being and positivity. What Buddhism essentially says is that the power to change your life is within you. My practice doesn't advocate renouncing the material world but it's about achieving your dreams through inner transformation.  It's also about spreading the positive energy in your environment." Soni, incidentally has introduced a number of glitterati to Buddhism including singer Sharon Prabhakar and Priya Awasthi.

Shweta Keswani says, "There are many branches of Buddhism but essentially Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism that I practice is a religion for the 21st century. It is a process of transforming the self by chanting a mantra and through that changing not only ourselves for the better but our environment as well. Chanting gives me the clarity to see what action I should take and how I can make both myself and the people around me happier and more fulfilled."

Ends Tisca Chopra, "I am sure life will pose many questions in the future but now I am certain, I will never be without answers. Buddhism makes me deeply confident in my existence."