and beliefs while being welcomed with kindness and an opened mind. One aspect that is widely accepted and intertwines with culture is religion, and I witnessed this when I took an in-depth look at Buddhism. My group members and I went to the Fo Guang Shan Temple of Toronto to see a series of observations. During my time at the temple, I was able to understand that culture plays a significant role in the religion and this is seen in some religious rituals and patterns that can be associated with
driving up the long hill into the parking lot, I found that before entering the temple, I walked up many stairs. In the brochure For Guang Shan Hsi Lai Temple, it said that the name Hsi Lai stands for “coming to the West”. The temple, which was founded by Venerable Master Hsing Yun, signifies the dedication of Taiwan’s largest Buddhist organizations called the Fo Guang Shan. It took ten years to build the temple and was completed in 1988. This $30 million Temple on 15 acres of land was financed by donations
differently in Chinese Buddhist Communities and Japanese Buddhist Communities? Origin: The Buddha’s birth is celebrated in most eastern Asian countries on the 8th day of the 4th month of the Chinese Lunar calendar. This year that will be on May 6th (Fo Guang Shan Chung Tian). In Japan however, the Birth of Buddha is celebrated on the 8th day of the 4th month of the Gregorian calendar, on April 8. The Buddha Tathagata said about this day after he reached enlightenment: “all Buddha’s of the ten quarters are