How do I choose a school in Buddhism?
What criteria should I use?
The Buddha taught 84,000 methods, a number symbolizing uncountable. All methods are equally good—no one method is superior or inferior to another. Each person just needs to find the most suitable one in light of their abilities and the way they live.
In your search, you might listen to different teachers, read various books, and check out Buddhist websites.
If you live where there is a Buddhist center, you could visit it to get a better feeling for the practice and teachings. If there isn’t a center close by, you might attend a day-long or weekend retreat to see if the practice and teachings feel appropriate for you.
Finding the right method depends on your conditions. Recognizing the method is mainly intuitive. When you are fortunate enough to find the correct method for you, everything just feels right—the practice, the teachings, the people—everything. This rightness has been likened to a feeling of “coming home.” Finally.