Tiger Woods comments on his Buddhist background

During his public apology, Tiger Woods made some comments regarding his religious background. Here’s what he said…

I have a lot of work to do, and I intend to dedicate myself to doing it. Part of following this path for me is Buddhism, which my mother taught me at a young age. People probably don’t realize it, but I was raised a Buddhist, and I actively practiced my faith from childhood until I drifted away from it in recent years. Buddhism teaches that a craving for things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security. It teaches me to stop following every impulse and to learn restraint. Obviously I lost track of what I was taught.

I give props to Tiger for publicly stating this, as we know some folks *cough Brit Hume cough* think he cannot find forgiveness in Buddhism. As I’ve previously posted (Angulimala Sutta: Buddhist Forgiveness and Redemption) Buddhism does offer forgiveness and redemption. I think Tiger, if this is what he wants, is on the right path and I give him credit for it. I do not condone his actions, I find them utterly reprehensible, but who am I to judge. It’s not my karma, it’s his that he needs to deal with.

Overall, I hope the media spectacle will end and his family has time to heal, there are more people involved in this than just Tiger. I hope the best for Elin and his kids and hope they can put this in the past and move on.