Depiction of the Bodhisattva Guanyin with Eleven Heads and a Thousand Arms, surrounded by 28 guardian devas.
There is only one constant in this life and all the lifes that come after it: duḥkha (suffering). No matter what you do or what happens to you, the inevitable result of it is more and more duḥkha. This isn't a nihilistic point of view; it just simply the nature result of craving (you will be hungry again, you will be sad again, you will want again, etc.), nor is this denying the pleasures of life-- rather, it is the recognizal that the world has many pleasures, but that they will all blow away like sand. Buddhism sees itself as a solution to this problem: by following the Buddhist path, you will escape this cycle of duḥkha.
Although I'm not really practicing, I consider myself a Buddhist. But I want to practice more! I grew up in a nominally Christian house, but we had practically nothing of religious importance. In researching Buddhism, however, I found myself in complete agreement with its teachings (well, minus the rampant misogyny-- that'll be discussed later) and have found it just so incredibly interesting. My goal is to read as many sūtras as possible and hopefully translate many of the non-translated Chinese texts into English. Will that happen, who knows! I also want to use this website as a way to clear up misinformation on the religion, as I think many peoples' impressions of Buddhism is "that meditating religion about peace and reincarnation" (this will also serve as a way to further educate myself on the matter!).