Pursuing the path

Michelle Marr

Jon Turner grew up Protestant. As a child, he went to Methodist and

Lutheran churches. Then he drifted away.

In April of 1997, Turner’s wife, Linda, discovered the Orange County

Buddhist Church during an assignment for a cultural diversity class she

took while studying to become an elementary school teacher.

Two years later Jon Turner read a book, “Awakening the Buddha Within.”

The author, Lama Surya Das, is a Jewish native of New York who studied

Tibetan Buddhism during the late 1960s and early 70s.

“Since he has an American background,” Turner explained, “[his book]

is very easy for a Westerner to read.”

The book convinced Turner that Buddhism was something he should

pursue.

At about the same time he read about the Hanematsuri festival, the

celebration of Buddha’s birth, at the Orange County Buddhist Church. He,

Linda and his two children, Teag, then 9, and Emily, 5, decided to go.

“You cannot study Buddhism without a teacher,” Turner said, “so my

family and I started to attend the church in May of 1999.”

The Anaheim church has seen increasing numbers of non-Asian converts

during the past two decades. Most, like the Turners, were brought up in

some form of Christianity. They say they are drawn to the religion by its

practical teachings, its lack of dogma, creeds and deity.

Linda, who grew up in Ohio, felt she had finally found a place where

she fit in. Jon was taken with the absence of a lot of judgment about

what is good and bad, right and wrong.

“Buddhism doesn’t really tell you the ‘what,’ but it tells you the

‘how,”’ he said.”

Compassion, one of two keys - the other is Wisdom - in Buddhism, has

helped him to open his heart and to feel connected to others, he

explained.

“You don’t judge so much anymore,” he said, “There is no us versus

them.

Early in his pursuit of Buddhism, Jon felt as though he had discovered

a secret that many people knew nothing about. Now he is a member of the

Buddhist Education Committee at the Orange County Buddhist Church,

helping others to learn about the religion he discovered scarcely three

years ago.

He helps to set up for Sunday meditation services and helps select

books sold at the church and at festivals. He even, along with Linda,

writes articles for the church’s newsletter. “You study the teachings and

you work out how they apply to you, what they mean to you,” Jon said.

“It is about your life today, right now. Much of it is beyond words.”

FYI

What: Orange County Buddhist Church Buddhist Education Center

Where: 909 S. Dale Ave., Anaheim