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Buddhist philosophy
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Recently, I visited a Buddhist temple to study more about their religion and faith. Personally, I am a Christian, and it was quite interesting to experience and learn the beliefs of a different religion. I was able to meet this amazing monk that passed on a lot of knowledge to me that I previously had no clue of. Buddhists believe that for nature there is no religion. They believe that humans are the ones who created religion to bring comfort in life. According to them, the main goal in practicing Buddhism is to understand clearly the truth about nature. Moreover, they also believe that people study religion in order to understand integrity and respect to other people. They believe that all religions are equal, and they teach humans to be good …show more content…
The monk Tapakhorn was very encouraging about people visiting the temple to practice meditation and chanting since he believes it is a form of worship that has many benefits. By the end of the visit, we did a couple of meditation practices even though I was not able to concentrate much like the Buddhist monks. The first meditation we exercised was the sitting meditation followed by the lying down meditation. The experience was quite fantastic and enjoyable, since it entails how people fall asleep. By the end of my visit, I had learnt a lot about Buddhism. Even today, I practice meditation which I find to be very beneficial to my general health.
It was a great way to learn more in depth about Buddhism after discussing it in class. I had a lot more understating about the surroundings and what exactly was going on. It was an incredible experience because it was the first time when I actually got meet a Buddhist monk and was able to practice meditation practices with him. The atmosphere in the temple was very laid back. I was very fascinated by the fact that one must take his shoes off before entering the meditation room. Christians are able to keep their shoes on as they enter their
...eautiful scenes within the temple. It was very interesting to learn about specific interactions and lifestyles many Buddhists go through when at the temple and their perspectives on life. The location of the temple was one that really provided an atmosphere that was heavenly. The architecture and the buildings were meticulously built. The landscape was very beautiful and the atmosphere was very relaxing. I felt at peace and calm when I was at the temple. I also feel a step closer to understanding my culture.
In the world, there are five major world religions, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. In the past few classes, I have been exposed to and absorbed a tremendous amount of information on the religion of Buddhism. According to the dictionary, Buddhism is a religion of which originated in India, was founded by the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, and teaches that life is full of suffering caused by desire and that the way to end this suffering is through enlightenment that enables one to halt the endless sequence of births and deaths to which one is otherwise subject. Buddhism is a way of finding peace within oneself. It is a religion that helps it’s believers to find the happiness and contentment us humans seek. One thing I found
The temple puja is identified as a public and formal form of worship and devotion undertaken by adherents of Buddhism. Within puja each of the steps of the Eightfold path can be approached and there is the opportunity for one to reach Nirvana with puja alone. The last step of the Eightfold Path, right concentration is the end point for the chanting and the meditation. Adherents enter the temple in a physical and mental state of reverence or Puja, and inside they primarily recognise the importance of the Three Refuges. Additionally, temple puja has great significance for the community as it intrinsically reflects on the significance of the community as part of the Sangha, and strengthens relationship and devotion within the community. The temple itself is often in the centre of a Buddhist town or village, symbolising that is the heart and the central point of the Sangha, and acts as a daily reminder for the community to remain devoted. Thus reinforcing a quote written by Buddhaghosa in 5th century India, “[Nirvana] can only be reached, not produced, by the Path . . . it transcends the intrinsic nature of matter . . . being attainable through special insight affected by strong effort” (Stimulus). The quote is explaining that by remaining devoted, one can reach Nirvana through total enlightenment. Temple Puja provides social cohesion in that the role and function of participants demonstrate the social status of the individuals and their connection with each other, for example, the role of members of the Sangha lead the participants in prayer and reflection. Overall, temple puja has a profound impact on the individual and the greater community as it allows them to reach
However, meditation is not as common within Buddhism as most believe. There is a large assumption “that Buddhism and meditation go hand in hand”, but the majority of Buddhists have focused on “cultivating moral behavior, preserving the Buddha’s teachings (dharma), and acquiring good karma”(Braun 2014, p.1). Meditation and Buddhism are often assumed to be one and same, but this is also not true. As Buddhism has gained popularity among lay people it’s practices have changed Buddha’s teaching of the middle path has adapted to meditation being “possible in the city” rather than with monks in jungles and caves (p.4). As seen in Burma, in less than 75 years Buddhism and meditation were able to grow “from a pursuit of the barest sliver of the population to a duty of the ideal citizen” (p.5). While meditation is not the core of Buddhism it has encouraged the growth of Buddhism as it’s practice of mindfulness has been inspiring an approachable model (p.6). Meditation and mindfulness are easily manipulated to secularization, but still have significance in Buddhism and following the patterns of your
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
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.
Meditation is an age-old practice that has renewed itself in many different cultures and times. Despite its age, however, there remains a mystery and some ambiguity as to what it is, or even how one performs it. The practice and tradition of meditation dates back thousands of years having appeared in many eastern traditions. Meditation’s ancient roots cloud its origins from being attributed to a sole inventor or religion, though Bon, Hindu, Shinto, Dao, and later, Buddhism are responsible for its development. Its practice has permeated almost all major world religions, but under different names. It has become a practice without borders, influencing millions with its tranquil and healing effects.
I was very nervous to visit the Hindu Mandir. However, once I got there, I saw how beautiful and amazing it really was. It was so beautiful that I thought that I was in a museum instead of a place of worship. It was absolutely nothing as I expected it to be at all. While I was in the Mandir, I felt a sense of honor and serenity and at peace while looking around at all the beautiful art. In addition, I learned many different things because of this visit about Hinduism. The visit made me learn things that I would have never learned if I did not go on the trip. I learned about what a Mandir is, a Mandir functions, the history of Hinduism, their beliefs, and their festival celebrations.
However, by looking at scientific studies, I can conclude that Buddhism is very rational. 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.
Although Buddhism and Christianity show several parallels, their three key differences are that Buddhists do not believe in one divine being, and have different views about both the purpose of life and the concept of afterlife. Buddhists do not believe in a Supreme Being, God or Creator, though many Buddhists today worship the Buddha - the central figure of Buddhism - and his teachings. They view him as someone with a universal spirit, an essence that can be attained by everyone rather than only a higher deity that rules over the world (Brown). Especially in Mahayana Buddhism, the concept of the Buddha nature is fundamental (“Pure Land”).... ...
Buddhist religion in general is mostly about overcoming the desire of the body. Just like Buddha left his home and abandoned all that he had to experience the real life and lived like everyone else, Buddhists accomplish this in the form of meditation. Meditation in Zen Buddhism reflects the belief that focusing on inner self is one way to calm your mind down and shut out the world and all the other distractions. There are a lot of people who use meditation, such as practicing yoga, and this would include Christians and other people as well. In visiting this meditation center I saw that the Buddhists practice meditation because both meditation and listening are an important part of their beliefs.
...earn how to be completely aware of my surroundings in order to experience the serenity that comes with meditation. Overall, my experience of the Buddhist religion was very eye-opening. Not only did I get to acquire more knowledge on the Buddhist way of life, but I also got to practice the traditions and rituals of a different culture outside of my own.
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.
Today we have a lot of different types of religions practiced in the world, which has their own history of origin, traditions, rituals and their own unique way of practice or worship. Religion has been a key factor in almost each and every one of us in our life time. There are various types of religions being practiced today, namely Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and many more. These few religions mentioned above are three of the world most practiced religions in world today. Paving the way for other religions like Hinduism and Buddhism which is also part of the top five most practiced religions today. This brings me to my topic about the world of a Buddhist and Hindu. A lot of people including myself don’t know much about these two religions.
...essions of the temple, I thought the place was very organized, beautiful and welcoming. The people who worked there were very genuine and helpful. When I was watching the Abhishek ritual they asked my friend and I if we wanted to try it, but we kindly refused because we were afraid we might do it wrong. We told them that we were students doing research and they helped us with everything by providing us with all kinds of informative brochures and a mini video. I really enjoyed visiting the temple because when you read books and listen to lectures, you just get the gist of it, but when you actually go there and see it for yourself it’s a whole different experience. After seeing how devoted and faithful they were to their God’s it made me see things in a different perspective. I really respect and understand their religious views even if it’s very different from mines.