I had the same thoughts previously. I understood that Buddhism is a good teaching. However, I reasoned that I will be so busy with juggling work and family that I will probably be distracted learning Buddhism.
Venerable Ru De explains why we should start learning Buddhism as soon as we can:
And after watching this video about this elderly 89 year old grandmother picking up Chinese(she was illiterate) so that she can learn the Buddhist Teachings from Master Ri-Chang and persisting ever since, we should have no excuses not to learn and practice Buddhism.
Leaving with this quote from the grandmother:
I don’t have much time left. Impermanence may strike any time.
Besides the grandmother’s point on impermanence, there is a point brought up by the venerable which to me is a strong point - since we have the chance to come across Buddhism now, why should we wait, especially when it’s something that is beneficial?
Yup, if we determine at this point that there’s value in learning something… why should you kick the can down the road? The problem is, at the point of time when we come across something, we do not spend enough time to understand its full value, and then we quickly dismiss it. Usually, our excuse is, we don’t have time to do this now.
As I reflected throughout my life, I’m beginning to see a pattern.
Our personal way of assessing the situation may always fall short due to our lack of understanding on the subject matter.
A better way to assess is to either look at someone experienced in this field (best in class expert, or a teacher/mentor) and go find out more insights. (These days with so much learning material posted online, I’m sure you can get a deeper understanding on any field or subject if you search hard enough.)
Another approach is to give yourself some time to immerse yourself in the topic for a while. Go deep into the subject by “living the life of someone who is doing that for a while”. For example, if you like the idea of being a pre-school teacher, but unsure about it, go apply for a internship or part time job so that you can immerse into it for a good 2-3 months living the life of what you imagined daily to get the full experience from it. Along that process, make sure you have someone (preferred to be someone who is converted) to spar with on your thoughts and insights to get a full picture before you make a conclusion.
I guess the above process can be applied to anything in life, not just limited to deciding if you should invest your time in learning Buddhism.
