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Thailand culture essay 4 (250) words
Thailand culture essay 4 (250) words
Thailand culture essay 4 (250) words
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For my site visit reflection paper, I decided to visit the Thai Buddhist Temple in Homestead. The reason this particular site was my choice was because information acquired from the videos in lecture about tradition and Confucianism in Asia made me curious to learn more about the Buddhist way of life. Because so many South Eastern countries instantaneously adopted Buddhism from India and then China with open arms, I decided to make the visit in the morning to learn the reasons for the international success of this way of life. This would give me a more interactive comprehension of Buddhism. When I made the visit to the Thai-Buddhist temple, I was surprised by the great emphasis the owners and builders put into the beautiful colors of the temple. …show more content…
Seeing the monks was deeply enlightening to me because it was new to see grown man live in humbleness and peace. They wore an orange robe over their bare upper bodies and a white fabric-pants to cover their lower bare bodies. It was clear to me that these monks were individual men indulged in a simple of life. Fortunately, I was able to make the connection between what we learned in my Introduction to Asia lecture and what was from the temple. In lecture we learned that Thailand was deeply rooted in Buddhism, and often time’s, young lay men would make a temporary journey to leave behind their belongings and possessions to live a life of humility as a monk. Carlos, shared some information about the monks stating they were men from Thailand who decided to take a great leap in leaving behind their families and duties in the Thailand economy to live a simple life that avoided stress and societal troubles similar to how monkhood was referred to in lecture. Eventually I was given the opportunity to speak to one of the monks. He stated that Wat Buddharangsi was a Buddhist community that was home to rotating monks from Thailand travelling all over the world. I asked him the principles that the monks live by, and he roughly gave me an ideas of Buddhist principles of—no stealing, cheating, adultery and rules that would inhibit a life of humility and simplicity. I also learned from the monk that they live their days through the kind hearts of others who donate food. If people did not come to donate food to the monks in a particular day, then they were fine with eating food from the previous day’s left overs. I know understand that Buddhism includes a sense of community and teamwork to support the men who took up the mantle as a
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.
Yu, Han. “Memorial on Buddhism”. Making of the Modern World 12: Classical & Medieval Tradition. Trans. Richard F. Burton. Ed. Janet Smarr. La Jolla: University Readers, 2012. 111-112. Print.
Buddhism is a religion from the East that has spread to many different countries all over the world. It has spread to the West, and has had a great influence and impact, especially in America. However, the Buddhism that is practiced in the United States is not exactly the same as the one that is practiced in Asian countries. If Buddhism differs between the different traditions of the Asian countries themselves, it is obvious that it will differ greatly in America as well. However, even though there are obvious differences, it is important to maintain the core values and fundamental principles the same. This research explores how the three different types of Buddhist practitioners have adopted Buddhism in America, and it describes some differences
"Basics of Buddhism." n.d. The Living Edens: Thailand. Public Broadcasting Service. Website. 6 March 2014. .
Monks are known to live in seclusion and to focus their mind on spirituality. Yet, there is more to their lives than just that. Early Christian monks strived to protect Christianity. Christians during this time were being persecuted for their religion. Many were in danger of pagans whose religion maintained a stronghold on theirs. In order to protect the faith, monks tried to get people to remain resilient in their faith. Monks wanted ideas like this to be passed down to other fellow Christians. That is why the intended audience from the Early Christians Lives is fellow Christians. Early Christian monks stressed the idea of having faith in God, so that fellow Christians who have faith would be protected from enemies, that certain situations
The actual building itself appears similar to a castle. The architecture had royal features due to the triangular points on the top of the building. There were three open doors; one big main entrance in front, two small side doors, and all the guests entered through the main entrance. Once I walked in, a big gold Buddha was centered in the back surrounding multiple iconic religious statues. There seemed to be about a hundred religious statues highly dazzled in silver or good.
Buddhism has answers to many problems in the materialistic societies. Buddhism includes a deep understanding of the human mind; which is why I believe that Institutionalized Buddhism can be adapt...
This course has helped to improve my understanding of Buddhism and Buddhist precepts. It has also showed me better ways to live my life and that Buddhism can be acutely studied under the pretenses of scientific means. Buddhism and Buddhist meditation is scientifically proven to be psychologically changing and meaningful.
The differences between the laity and monastic worshippers within Buddhist tradition are distinguished by the extent to which these two groups are willing to follow the middle-way as taught by Buddha. Typically, in order to have a functional Buddhist society, there must be the devout, and those who support the devout, giving aid in the form of food, monies, shelter, transportation, etc. The devout who sacrifice the purity of a true monastic lifestyle in order to support the community (who in turn are the recipients of merit or punya; a bank of ‘good’ actions tied to ‘good’ karma) (Gethin 101), from the monastic worshippers, are called the laity; upasakas (men laity) and upasikas (women laity). The monastics, or Bhikkhus (monks) and Bhikkhunis (nuns) are responsible for accepting the devotion shown by the laity, reciprocally, the laity are obliged to maintain devotion for “in order to be free from guilt […] the bases of a clear conscience [is] generosity and good conduct” (Ibid 83) . Good conduct is the realization and active partaking of the “eight significant dimensions [the Noble Eight-fold Path] of one’s behavior” (Ibid 82), which constitute right (in all actions of) understanding, thought, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration (although not limited to, rather expanded upon realization). The importance of a laities duty within society is to support, through their livelihood, the only traditional Buddhist teaching available to them (Ibid 92). In order to adapt a Buddhist ideology, some conducts were left out of lay worship to support a less strenuous spiritual life (putting the emphasis on merit earned) in pursuit of maintaining a functional community. The purpose, to establish the five lay percepts ...
Yukio Mishima’s Temple of the Golden Pavilion, set in postwar Japan, gives way to a reflection of the postwar experience both the representation of military aggression and in use of symbolism of beauty, loss, and destruction. A story about Mizoguchi, a young, stuttering acolyte’s obsession with beauty lends itself to the conflagration of the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, based loosely on a true story about the Kinkaku-ji.
"What is Buddhism? | The Buddhist Centre." What is Buddhism? | The Buddhist Centre. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. .
After the visitation at the temple, I noticed that the Buddhist people did not only idolized Buddha spiritually but physically too. Buddhist their god and inspiration is Buddha, which is bald male. The temple had different statues of Buddha everywhere, such the craved in walls, shelves, posters, and statues. The interesting thing I noticed was that the Buddhist people wore robs which was very similar to the rob Buddha wears. But, there was a hierarchy difference among the Buddhist people because the monks wore orange with gold robs and the main monk wore red with gold robs, whereas, others wore brown robs. Other than, dressing up like Buddha there was another example of idolizing Buddha, which was that all the monks there had shaved their head just like how Buddha was bald. When any Buddhist entered the holy room where the ceremony was held, they would bow down to the five statues that displayed in the room. They would also sit on the ground with their legs crossed as Buddha had the same po...
The Web. The Web. 18 Mar. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. " The Buddhist World: Lay Buddhist's Guide to the Monk's Rules. "
Is not a monk supposed to care less for this world’s materials? However, this monk lives in luxury, follows the pleasures that his heart pursuits, and acts recklessly. “What? Should he study as a madman would/ Upon a book in cloister cell? Or yet/ Go labour with his hands and swink and sweat,/As Austin bids?
The teachings of the Buddha do not only benefit men but also women. However, when trying to be ordained, women meet more problems than men do. According to the difference in precepts for monks and nuns, nuns are inferior to monks in all circumstances. (Walsh 2016) These differences combined with the low social status of women during the time of the Buddha have formed a popular view about Buddhism that discriminates against women. However although there is evidence that emphasize the difference in treating women and men in Buddhism, it is Buddhism that propose the equality between women and men, thus further raising the status of women in social circumstances. In this paper, I will focus on the traditional view of women