Buddha Bless You?

I grew up in my family and both of my parents were Mystical Christian Ministers. So, hearing "God Bless you" happened pretty often and returning with "God Bless you" with a smile was the appropriate response.

This happened all the time. So, when I was in India and Nepal I started hearing "Buddha Bless You" while I was in Bodhgaya, India where Gautama Buddha became enlightened under the Bodhi tree. A relative of that same very tree is there still that people visit who are Buddhists from all over the world.

I experienced "Buddha Bless You" likely differently than everyone else there. My reaction was, "Wow! This is different than living in the U.S. in a Christian Nation with Christian Minister parents isn't it?"

Yes. It was. However, what I was experiencing right then was that I felt just as good when someone said "Buddha Bless you" as I did when someone said to me, "God Bless you". Because either is saying really "I love you and include you in my reality and belief system and you are blessed".

This touches a person subconsciously and allows them to feel like family to all who say this to them.

Do all people who say, "God Bless you" or Buddha Bless you" actually mean it?

That's an entirely different question and I can't always answer that usefully.

But, what I do know is that every time someone says "God Bless You" I feel a wave of a sense of well being throughout my being. And when someone says, "Buddha Bless you" I feel the same sense of well being.

So, when I say goodbye to someone instead of Goodbye I usually say "Blessings" and I give them a hug. Then it isn't really goodbye but really hello to all the blessings in the universe.

This is part of what the 1960s and 1970s gave me in seeing everyone in the universe as my family.

So, I'm grateful for all the people who hugged me and helped me to value myself. I'm grateful to all the people who said to me, "God Bless you" and "Buddha Bless You".

And I'm also grateful for all the people who might hug me and say, "Blessings" like I do too.

"May All Beings Attain Bliss and the Cause of Bliss."

This is a blessing too to all life everywhere.

By God's Grace.