Belief-O-Matic

Following Nina's lead (which see), I went over to BeliefNet's Belief-O-Matic to see where I fit in the religious scheme of things.

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"The top score on the list below represents the faith that Belief-O-Matic, in its less than infinite wisdom, thinks most closely matches your beliefs. However, even a score of 100% does not mean that your views are all shared by this faith, or vice versa.

"Belief-O-Matic then lists another 26 faiths in order of how much they have in common with your professed beliefs. The higher a faith appears on this list, the more closely it aligns with your thinking."


1. Mahayana Buddhism (100%)
2. Theravada Buddhism (98%)
3. Unitarian Universalism (98%)
4. Liberal Quakers (96%)
5. Taoism (96%)
6. Hinduism (86%)
7. Neo-Pagan (82%)
8. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (80%)
9. Jainism (79%)
10. Secular Humanism (73%)
11. New Age (68%)
12. Orthodox Quaker (64%)
13. Sikhism (61%)
14. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (59%)
15. New Thought (59%)
16. Bah�'� Faith (59%)
17. Scientology (59%)
18. Reform Judaism (53%)
19. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (38%)
20. Nontheist (36%)
21. Seventh Day Adventist (36%)
22. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (28%)
23. Jehovah's Witness (24%)
24. Eastern Orthodox (19%)
25. Islam (19%)
26. Orthodox Judaism (19%)
27. Roman Catholic (19%)

So I'm a little more Buddhist that Taoist. Mahayana Buddhism includes Zen, which is the cross-pollination of Taoism and Buddhism. Looks like I could also slip into a Unitarian/Universalist Church pretty safely.

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While we're on the subject, I want to recommend Bones of the Master, a book published in 2000 recounting the efforts of an expatriate Chinese Ch'an monk to return to the PRC and give his late master a proper Buddhist burial, and the American neighbor who goes with him.

A good review is here. (Although the reviewer incorrectly states that the monk, Tsung Tsai, may be the last Ch'an monk on earth. Actually he is probably the last monk from his monastery left alive.)

Thanks to Jen for loaning me this book, as well as Sean Murphy's One Bird, One Stone: 108 American Zen Stories. In addition to being a collection of memorable quotes, anecdotes and koans from American Zen masters and teachers, One Bird, One Stone
is a sort of popular history of Zen's arrival and growth in the U.S.

As such, it ties in nicely with Monica Furlong's Zen Effects: The Life of Alan Watts. Watts gets only a passing mention in One Bird, One Stone, but many of the same characters in the history of American Zen pop up in both books, and you can come away from both books together with a pretty good understanding of who influenced whom, who taught whom and so on. Thanks again to JohnX for loaning me the Furlong book.

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I wonder how many of us there are: Americans who have adopted or gravitated toward Buddhism or Taoism, but haven't made the formal commitment of joining a sangha, zendo or temple nor have placed ourselves under the guidance of a teacher. Are we learning the real deal from books?

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BeliefNet note: if you sign up for anything on BeliefNet, you're going to get spammed by their 'partners,' which include everything from eHarmony.com to health food distributors.