Andrea Gonzalez Cultural Experience Florida Gulf Coast University Abstract This paper explores my cultural experience at the Samudrabadra Kadampa Buddhist Center located in Fort Myers, and it will also illustrate my feelings, emotions an reactions, before, during and after this experience. This paper will also provide a brief history of the temple, Samudrabadra Kadampa Buddhist Center; the founder, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso; the resident teacher, Kelsang Tashi. Finally the paper shows how Buddishm is humanistic in nature and how similar their values are to the Social Work values. Cultural Experience My cultural experience took place at Samudrabadra Kadampa Buddhist …show more content…
Temple. This center is located in Fort Myers and is one of five in Florida that follow the teachings of Kadampa Buddhism; a Mahayana Buddhist school founded by the Indian Buddhist Master Atisha.
In the word, ‘Kadampa’, ‘Ka’ refers to Buddha’s teachings, and ‘dam’ to Atisha’s special the stages of the path to enlightenment, or Lamrim instructions. The mission of this temple is to help people find inner peace and a happy mind through meditation using the Lamrim instructions. The founder of the temple is Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, a meditation master and a Buddhism teacher, whose teachings focus on how to find happiness and cultivate a good heart through mediation. Kelsang Tashi is the resident teacher of the temple whose primary function is to bring happiness to people through his meditation classes around South West Florida. Tashi was ordained as a monk in 2014 by his spiritual director in England. I have always had a deep desire to learn how to mediate, and it made sense to attend a meditation class at a Buddhist temple as part of the cultural experience project. I decided to experience this mediation class on my own since I knew my parents as Catholics would never agree to accompany me and because children were not allowed during the mediation class,
my husband had to stay at home with our son. My experience started in drop-in Sunday meditation class, that particular Sunday was the first class of a series called “Improving Relationships”, which purpose was to educate on how to let go of negative attitudes and replace them with love, respect for others, patience and kindness. That morning, as I prepared my self to enter the center, I felt a weird sense of tranquility overcoming by body. The atmosphere of the center was very peaceful and the people were very welcoming. As I made my way through the narrow hallway of the entrance, the receptionist, who was sitting at the end of the hallway, greeted me and asked me to sing my name and leave the $10.00 fee on the basked that was placed next to the signing sheet. The main room which served as the temple, housed beautiful golden statues, which I later learned they symbolize “The Eight Suspicious Signs”; which show the Buddhist how to progress along the Buddhist path to enlightenment. Around the shrine were also a female and a male deer, a dharma wheel and Vajra; together, these symbolize the stages of the path of Highest Yoga Tantra. Once inside, I was guided to either sit on a chair or on the cushions laying purposefully around the floor, I decided to sit on a chair. The meditation started promptly after everyone was sitting comfortably in front of Tashi, who guided the meditation. The initial meditation consisted of 25 to 30 minutes of breathing meditation, during which we were guided to breath out any pain or negative thoughts in form of imaginary black smoke and to breath in happiness and peacefulness in form of imaginary white smoke. The meditation was followed by 40 minutes of Geshe Kelsang Gyatso teachings on how to improve relationships. Tashi, whose teachings were given with such a honest, and genuine presence; radiated an inner peace and plenitude that I can only dream about. Tashi finished his teachings with a prayer for world peace and a closing meditation. After the closing mediation I was able to ask several questions to Tashi and after saying goodbye to the entire community I exited the temple. My experience overall was very positive and enlightening. Samudrabadra Kadampa Buddhist center is a moving place that intensified my understanding of who I am and how I react in the world and to the people around me. It has a gestalt approach that guided me to comprehend how my ego created a separation between the people around me and myself. Perhaps the only negative, aspect of my experience is that I did not appreciate the secular approach of the modern Kadampa, and the prayer for world peace at the end reminded me more of a Christian hymn than a Buddhist mantra. Maybe this was just my experience as I consider myself to be spiritual rather than religious. Nevertheless, I will always appreciate and admire the traditional Buddhism teachings and lifestyle. Buddhism is a set of Siddhartha Gautama teachings that concentrate on how we experience our world and how react in it. Throughout Buddhism history it is clear how concerned the Buddhist were and still are with the establishment of just and favorable conditions for all individuals in society. Buddhism arose in India as a spiritual force against social injustices, against degrading superstitious rites, ceremonies and sacrifices; it denounced the tyranny of the caste system and advocated the equality of all men; it emancipated woman and gave her complete spiritual freedom. Buddhism is humanistic in nature, its concerned with ending human suffering and it offers compassion to those who suffer. Two characteristics that are deeply rooted in the Social Work values. The Buddhist way is, with its compassion, its equanimity, its tolerance, its concern for self-reliance and individual responsibility, the most promising of all the models for the New Society which are an on offer. The Buddhism teachings helps the individual to get out of their ego-centeredness and creates a sense of self-reliance, dignity and responsibility to cultivate the ideal society. Buddhism philosophy strives to protect all individuals’ rights and dignity; it aspires at great love and great compassion. In the context of social equality, Buddhism strives to advocate for all individuals, for both the oppressor and the oppressed, and understands that in nature, as humans, we all have oppressors and perpetrators inside of us and if we start to pay attention on how we oppress we will have more compassion toward all beings. Buddhism also helps the social worker to understand that all human beings are worthy of our attention. When we protest against a war, we may assume that we are a peaceful person, a representative of peace, but this might not be the case. If we look deeply we will observe that the roots of war are in the unmindful ways we have been living. We have not sown enough seeds of peace in ourselves and others, therefore we are co-responsible. For a social worker to successfully advocate and empower the oppressed and fight for social justice; the social worker must posses self awareness and fully understand his limitations. Through deepening awareness comes acceptance, and through acceptance comes a seemingly miraculous generosity of spirit and empowerment for the work that compassion requires of us. Then this is where meditation could be helpful, Meditation is nothing else but working with what one has, or “starting where you are,” also a mantra of the social work profession. Meditation helps the social worker to appreciate his her true self and true nature and it offers him or her a different, more positive sense of mindfulness; it can also help the social worker to differentiate when and how his or her ego can be selfish and how his or her true self is always selfless. In conclusion, Buddhists and social workers both work toward the same goal, bringing justice to those who suffer. Social worker should promote awareness to the social injustices affecting the communities as well as promoting self awareness. Is not only necessary to change, policies and advocate for system changes; but to also transform our egos in order to become more selfless. The overall theme of the engaged Buddhist and social worker is nothing other than the question of freedom and justice which entails an intricate dialectic between personal consciousness-raising and helping the world.
I arrived at the Hsi Lai Temple in the city of Hacienda Heights around 3:00 p.m. on March 7, 2014. Although I am Chinese, I have never been to this temple before because my family does not practice Buddhism. This is my first time collecting data about the His Lai Temple. This method is referred to as participant-observation which is, “the anthropological method of collecting data by living with another people, learning their language, and understanding their culture” (Arenson and Miller-Thayer 521). The temple is built on a hill top. After 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 from Buddhist devotees from around the worlds.
Buddhism and Buddhist philosophy can have a substantial amount of unfamiliar terminology and specific meanings for words we think we know the definition to. In order to ensure comprehension and clarity a few terms need to be defined. Buddhism as a spiritual movement is the following of the teachings of a fifth century B.C. E. Indian spiritual leader named known as Siddhartha Gautama, Shakyamuni, or --in the case of this essay-- the Buddha. Tibetan Buddhism will be defined in a similar manner. Tibetan Buddhism is in the course of this essay will focus on one of the six schools of thought in the Tibetan Buddhist cannon. The “Oral Tradition” or the Kagyu School is the monastic linage that arrives in Kauai in the twentieth century.
Lama, Dalai. “ Four Noble Truths.” Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. 2005. Web. 8 Apr. 2015.
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Tenzin, Gyatso and Jamyang Gawai Lodro. Essence of the Heart Sutra. Trans. Geshe Thupte Jinpa. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2002. i-xii, 1-179. Print.
I would like to consider my cultural heritage as diverse, but this is far from reality. Over the years as I matured through my teenage years, I was exposed to different cultures by life experiences and travel. I struggled to create both a personal and cultural identity while trying to adjust to my sight loss and with the support of my family I traveled overseas to experience other cultures for the first time. My family opened up their home to a foreign exchange program in turn allowing me the opportunity to travel over to Europe at the age of 16 years old. This opportunity started the slow progression of experiences that would open my mind to others who are unlike myself, especially traveling to a strange place and feeling different in a mainstream culture. It was not until the past 5 or 6 years until I fully accepted my disability that changed my view on being different, whether it’s race, class, gender or disability. Before this time period, my own fear of being different was so intense that I thought my weakness (disability) made me inferior of not only other cultures, but also my own family members.
devout Buddhist that their house was turned into a temple. At the age of 12, Saicho
The Southern California Buddhist Church established in Los Angeles on Jackson Street with its first resident minister, the Rev. Koyu Uchida in 1905. In the year of 1917, the name of the church changed to Hongwanji Buddhist Church of Los Angeles, and its location changed to Yamato Hall. The new temple was constructed and built at central ave and 1st street in the year of 1925. When going to the temple, the first thing you see is a grand temple with a Japanese style architecture. It has a beautiful lawn area and a big bell. There is a lot of great work and dedication towards this construction that you can tell how important Buddhism means to the founders of this temple. The master artist created a statue of the founder of the Jodo Shinshu Buddhism which was very interesting. I did not see a Buddha statue outside of the temple but once I was inside the temple I got to see a lot of interesting art showcasing the life of the historical Buddha. The Altar itself sets apart from the rest because it is paved in gold. The decorators of this altar designed it just like the ones in Japan. As you can see the design of the temple was well planned out, and that the people who wanted this temple built must have been very proud of their Japanese heritage because everything felt like it was a total different atmosphere. However, there were pews inside the temple giving a Christian essence to the
In the first article “The Cultural Experience of Space and Body: A Reading of Latin American and Anglo-American Comportment in Public,” author Elizabeth Lozano writes about the idea of culture and how different cultures have their own idea of personal space and how it differs between Latin-Americans and Anglo-Saxons. This peaked my interest because it explains the constant battle and survival of being exposed to different cultural settings requires from people. I tend to find myself observing people more often than I should because I am intrigued with body language and how people react when to their environment and things going on around them. It is very important to me to respect peoples boundaries and although I may not always watch what I say or do I have learned through reading this article it is vital to pay close attention to these things. I grew up learning and practicing Judaism which tend to be very
The temple of Angkor Wat faces west, which in the Hindu religion is associated with the god Vishnu and death. Researchers believe that this was symbolic of gateway to the afterlife for Suryavarman II. Suryavarman II wanted the temple completed before his death so that, he too, could join the gods in heaven. The temple is on a massive 500 acres of land, and is surrounded by a massive moat. The moat is also symbolic of the vast oceans of the universe. Researchers are still puzzled as to how they built this temple in 32 years.
Ever since I was in high school, I was always curious of other religions groups and how they worship. Growing up in the Christian faith, I had an idea of what it like to be a part of Buddhism. I always respect the words of the 14th Dalai Lama for he always looks so happy and kind hearted. I remembered that for one of my classes in high school, we watched The Little Buddha movie. Even though the movie gave a basic history of what the religion is, I always wanted to ask questions as to what a Buddhist really is and what the religion represents. For these reasons is why I decided to visit an actual Buddhist temple for my field assignment.
It is a tan dome shaped building. It has about three floors with multiple windows on each. Carvings take over the building, all of which can be described as an upside down U. The material of the building is solid tan with stones embedded in the walls. This building was extremely respected by the White-clad Brethren. Although, Mani was no longer feeling the pressure to abide but the rules of this group, he still respected it but did not perform the rituals such as the chanting.
During my visit at the “West End Buddhist Temple and Meditation Centre”, what stood out to me were their use of statues and room design as well as the structure of the meditation center. I noticed that everyone in the room was facing towards the front and center where the statue of the Buddha stood, and everyone need to be barefoot. I noticed that there was a red carpet that ran across the room and to a podium for the Monks to walk on. Once the monk sat above everyone on the podium, they began saying a prayer. The Monk was a male, and during their prayer, they would say parts of a religious text, and the people sitting on the floor, repeated the same chant the Monk had said. After each verse of their prayer, the Monk would chant “saddoo, saddoo,
The Eightfold Path labels all of the rights of monks and helps guide them to peace within themselves. The Eightfold Path guides monks and nuns towards Nirvana through eight simple principles. The first principle, the Right of Understanding, explains the significance of understanding situations the way they occur instead of understanding things from one’s personal experiences. “Right thought involves our intentions. The spirit in which we approach everything” (Sach). These two rights form into its own category ...
I was very skeptical and cautious about the lesson on meditation. A few years back I had taken a course on relaxation, which I had found to be only somewhat helpful. I was hoping to find another alternative to calm myself and release the stress. Although I became disbelieving of meditation-I was proved wrong.