The day I lost faith in Buddhism

For a long time, I thought that Buddhism was better than any other religion. I liked its philosophy, the fact that it provided a good answer to the question "what is life's purpose?", but, most of all, I liked the fact that it was based on the fundamental idea that everyone is the same. It took me a day to change my mind.

After arriving to Chiang Mai, there was time to freshen up and then the sightseeing began. As soon as I started walking, I could feel that there was a radical difference in the air - I could breath again! If in Bangkok the air was heavy, in Chiang Mai it was light; so light, that the city's colours seemed more vibrant. 

We started by visiting the Wat Chiangmun, which turned out to be another pretty temple, and then moved on to the local factories, which turned out to be places where you end up wasting an incredible ammount of time. Before the sun set, we got to Wat Prathat Doi Suthep, the city's most famous temple situated on a hill.

While the local guide was providing us with background information, the ugly truth came out: in order to become a monk, if you are a man you are expected to comply with 227 rules; if you are a woman, you are expected to comply with more than 300. So there it was, almost in black and white - it is harder for women to become monks, which means that gender discrimination is a reality.

Later on, while having dinner at the very heart of the Night Bazaar, I would also learn that centuries ago buddhists had different opinions on peoples' probability to achieve enlightenment, which was the reason why there was a split between Mahayana buddhists and Theravada buddhists.

By now, most of you are probably thinking that this is not a huge deal, that all religions discriminate against women and that all religions are known to have conflicts within each other. I agree and the fact that Buddhism is like any other religion is precisely my problem.