Introduction For this Sacred Ritual journey, I decided to attend the Cambodian Buddhist Society of Oregon in West Linn, Oregon. Even though this was the first time I would see and partially participate in Buddhist ceremonies, I was feeling little to no anxiety or nervousness about attending a Buddhist temple. I have seen many Buddhist temples back home, mostly in the China Town area of Honolulu, so I wasn’t entirely foreign to what a Buddhist temple should look like. Over the course of my visit, I saw many Buddhist themes and ceremonies. The four most noticeable cultural forms were the environment of the temple, the Monks, the Almsgiving ceremony, and the Kathina festival. This paper will cover a description and interpretation of the environment …show more content…
The main buildings of the temple were far from the main road, and when I first arrived, it was somewhat difficult to see the entirety of the temple grounds. It wasn’t a heavy forested area, but I did feel like the temple was isolated from the rest of the community. The closest non-Buddhist building was a small house next door. The main grounds of the temple contained prayer meeting hall, a house where the monks lived, the main building where the monks would gather, and a few small open areas that contained statues. According to one of the guide, the temple has five people who practice Buddhism while living a monastic life with each other. They are called “monks” or “bhikkhu.” The monks appear to have some sort of significance to other believers of Buddhism. When I first arrived at the temple, the monks began to walk to the meeting hall while people began to gather around them. Some particular details I noticed about the Monks was that they were all near-bald and the wore either orange or brown robes. Later on, everyone watched as the monks ate food prepared for them in the meeting …show more content…
As the monks walked through the temple grounds, they carried large empty bowls with them. The people that gathered around the monks also had bowls, but they were filled with rice. When the monks started moving through the crowds of people, the people started to fill the monk’s bowls with rice. Also, they prepared a large feast for the monks containing many bowls and plates of meat, veggies, and desserts stacked on top of each other in the meeting hall where the monks would sit. Eventually everyone would gather in the meeting hall, where a type of prayer was said. At one point we were asked to put each of our hands on the backs of the two people sitting in front of us. Another prayer was said, before the monks started to eat. The final event witnessed was called a Kathina festival. Here, a large group of people, mainly women wearing a white top with a long blue skirt and sash, gathered in front of the meeting hall. They gathered into a line that headed for the main building. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stay long enough to see the entirety of the ceremony, but the guide at the temple told everyone that the group of people would circle around the main building three times before entering and presenting the monks with new
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.
Overall, I enjoyed the experience of learning more about a new culture and participating in their cultural events. My original fear of being an intruder went away when people would be friendly and introduce themselves to me. I was surprised to enter the prayer room and see that people were sitting on the floor because I am used to people having a chair to sit on. I was also nervous about sitting on the floor for a long period of time because my body is not used to it and I am not as youthful as I once was. After about thirty minutes, I started to get really uncomfortable, but I continued to sit because I did not want to be offensive by standing. I was surprised to see volunteers cooking meals for the guest because that is not something that I am used to seeing at a
...tues being so near. From the Sui dynasty (581-618), the “Quan Yin” statue reminded me of the readings in class about Red Azalea. I have always thought that this was a female saint; however, after seeing and observing it, maybe I’m wrong. Another place in the museum that evoked my feelings was the Japanese collection. The Japanese Buddhas were mentally more lifelike, because of the details of the color in the eyes. One could mistake some of them for demons and evil beings. However, they are all doers of good for mankind. The Japanese exhibit felt like a place of court where people came in to be cleansed, forgiven and punished after their evil deeds. Overall, my learning experience has taken me to a higher level of understanding that diversity within the same beliefs in Buddhism are mainly different by the way they migrated and the way Buddha is represented in the features and looks in another culture. However, whatever the culture might be, the teachings of Buddha are all shared and learned the same way:
Rituals are held as a very important part of any society, including ours. They go back to ancient times, or can be as simple as maintaining one’s hygiene. Non-western societies have rituals that may seem very foreign to us, but they have been engrained in their communities and are essential to their social structure. This interpretation will focus on the Great Pilgrimage, a ritual performed by Quechuan communities. We will be looking specifically at a community in the Sonqo area.
The Nacirema are unique followers of the market system, and live in a rich natural habitat. This primitive market system takes up much of the inhabitant’s time. However the people spend a large block of time in daily ritual activity. This tribe does not worship the soul like prominent religions but they worship the body. They believe the body is ugly and prone to injury and sickness. So to alleviate the problem they perform many rituals and ceremonies. In each home there is a ritual center where these actions take place. These centers are so important that all wealthier tribesmen have more than one. The shrines are located in the family home but the performance of ...
On Sunday, September 8, 2013, I visited the Wat Buddharangsi Buddhist temple of Miami in Homestead. Every Sunday, they present a meditation service in English for two hours from three to five in the afternoon. Once I parked, the place of ritual was conveniently located across the parking lot. There was a shoe rack outside of the temple. Before I came to this temple, I read the guidelines from their website. The requirements for new guests are to remove your shoes before entering inside. Therefore, when I saw the shoe rack, I was not in shock. I was relieved to see that the temple provided a neat spot to place shoes rather than having them scattered on the floor.
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 decided to visit a Hindu temple because the Hindu religion was the religion that I knew the least about and was interested in. This assignment gave me an opportunity to learn more about this religion and what their worship services and rituals were like. The temple that I went to was called BAPS Shri Swaminaryan Mandir and it was located in Lilburn. As soon as I walked in, I was amazed by the beautiful architectural design of this Temple. It seemed like it took a lot of hard work and dedication to make the place what it is now. While I was at the temple, I watched the Hindus perform an ancient Vedic ritual called the Abhishek, a ritual bathing to honor the murti of their God.
"The development of perfection: the interiorization of Buddhist ritual in the eighth and ninth centuries. " Journal of Indian Philosophy, 32, no. 1 F 2004: 1-30. Farrington, Roger. The. " Personal identity and Buddhist philosophy: empty persons.
The function of the pagoda in Buddhism was to guard the treasures of the Buddha and the temple, and this function was preserved when Buddhism initially came to Japan. Originally, the pagoda at the White Horse Temple was wood, however it burnt down and was rebuilt in stone. Other pagodas in China were built in brick and stone, however the Japanese did not adapt these models, as they were not earthquake resistant enough. As time went on, the pagoda in Japan “gradually relinquished its primary position as Buddhist images and the golden hall housing them gained in importance. The pagoda became in consequence more ornamental than functional.”
The life of a Buddhist monk involves a considerable amount of patience. One must go through an immense amount of training which requires a great amount of time to accomplish to become a Buddhist monk. One must also become familiar with the background behind Buddhism to fully understand the life of Buddhist monks. The restrictions on their daily life also allow us to visualize the life of Buddhist monks. A person seeking insight into Buddhist monks’ lives should learn about meditation in Buddhism to increase background knowledge.
Songkran Festival is traditional Thai celebration which reflects Thai people’s belief, the way they respect each other, and, definitely, exquisite Thai culture. It promotes the warm relationship in many perspectives. In family bonding perspective, this festival encourages Thai people to go visiting their elder relatives, pay respect to them, and spend quality time together. Next, in terms of religious aspect, Songkran festival represents the auspicious time to go making merits and visit temples. In temples, there will be events where Buddhist villagers could come gathering together and celebrate this festival for Buddha’s honour by creating sand pagodas known as ‘Phra Chedi Sai’ decorating with colourful flags.
As the bowls float down the river, all bad luck is supposed to disappear. The Kathina Ceremony is also known as the Robe Offering Ceremony. On any day after the three months of rains retreat season, non-monastics offer new robes and other necessities to the monks and nuns. Ancestor Day is when the gates of hell are opened on the first day of the eighth lunar month. Ghosts may visit the world for 15 days.
To begin with, the monk’s physical appearances are described. He is described as bald with bulged eyes. Not to mention that he was fat, and “[a] fat swan loved he best of any roast” (Canterbury Tales, 42). Assuming that monks spend their days in prayer and feast,
Colorful silks hung from the ceilings and lined the walls. There were pictures of Buddha and famous Bodhisattvas from all over the region. That night, as I recited sutras and prayers the monks cut off my hair and shaved my head smooth. I was then presented with the 3 pieces of clothing that I will wear for the rest of my life, An inner robe, a shirt, and an outer robe. After this ceremony I lived in the monastery until I was 18