My group and I were fantasied by the Buddhist culture because of its architecture and that is known to be culture that means of changing oneself in order to develop qualities such as wisdom, kindness, peace, as these qualities would led a better life. We can to observe if this is displayed in a Buddhist ceremony and the best way to observe Buddhist culture was by going to one of their ceremonies. We visited a temple called Fo Guang Shah to witness their every Sunday prayer. In this essay, I analyze the power displayed in the ceremony because ideology and ruling class by looking at Athusser’s interpellation and theory of hegemony by Antonia Gramsci. The power demonstrated by Buddhist ceremony shows how people and the environment is controlled. 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... ... middle of paper ... ... could led me understand why a ceremony is performed in a specific way, therefore, that would have led to more accurate information. With the limitation that are evidently displayed I was still was able to provide accurate connection between the theories and the evidence which I observed with my own eyes. With the given two aspects laid out in the ceremony showed how power can control people and an atmosphere. In the ceremony, it was seen that ideology led to control actions and that point was proven through Althusser’s meaning if interpellation. Another that the second aspect, was able to display how heichary made everything was systemically, even though the culture was imposed on people by the ruling class. This aspect was displayed through Gramsci’s hegemony concept. Power may create a controlled or restricted environment but it also is able to get things done.
The statue that will be the focus of this paper portrays the figure “Amida, the Buddha of Infinite Light.” Like many other statues of the Buddha, this Amida Buddha was portrayed to be deep in meditation, sitting cross-legged. A viewer could observe that the Amida Buddha is making a hand gesture while in deep meditation. These gestures, also known as “mudras,” are symbolic in the Buddhist religion, and they are used to convey certain ideas (O’Riley 70). In this case, the Amida Buddha is making the mudra of appeasement (“Amida”). More physical observations could be made by pointing out the “balanced form, divine features, and flowing drapery” (“Amida”) of the Amida Buddha. Those qualities represent the nature of the Buddha, revealing him as “transcendent, graceful, and compassionate” (“Amida”). Features common to other Buddha sculptures show up on this Amida Buddha, like the elongated earlobes, the mole on his forehead, and patterned hair. At first glance, the Am...
The first view of the temple, I felt that I have stepped into another culture. Culture is “the way of life a people, including their behavior, the things they make, and their ideas” (Ibid 518). The city of Hacienda Heights is the center of the largest Buddhist temple in North America. There are many Chinese cultures symbols at the temple. From the golden hip and gable roof top to the red pillars holding up the temple. The monks and nuns are the ones organizing the temple events. They wear a light brown robe. I have notice that all monks and nuns have shaved their heads. I believe this is called rites of passage which “are ceremonies that mark c...
Scott, Rachelle M. Nirvana for Sale?: Buddhism, Wealth, and the Dhammakaya Temple in Contemporary Thailand. New York: SUNY Press, 2009. Print.
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.
In The Prison Notebooks (1971) Gramsci does not associate hegemony with the governance of a solitary individual or any structuralist energy phenomena, such as a discourse, collective conscience, deep structure or culture. Instead, hegemony from a Gramscian perspective signifies a variety of different organizations of people and agents in state formations, such as a structure, a practice, an apparatus, a unity of opposing structures or a function of leadership (Gramsci, 1971). Hegemony is always considered to be a process (Gramsci, 1971). In other contexts, hegemony may refer to a level or moment, which is equal to an evolutionary stage of leadership. Hegemony also may refer to a social grouping related to a particular social, political, cultural,
...erstanding of their own historical developments and maybe even desire to research the traditional developments in other cultures. Ceremony is a novel that brings up many racial and cultural issues, and if they can be recognized and used as inspiration to make changes and become better people, the world will become a better place and hopefully negative racial issues will become nonexistent.
Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony and Balkin’s theory of cultural software both examine the evolution of ideologies and their impact within a society through different perspectives. Gramsci’s approach focuses on the concept of hegemony, whereby gaining the consent of the people forms the means of gaining political and economical control. This approach is the point of contention in Balkin’s analysis, where Balkin criticises the concept of hegemony as being to monolithic and homogenous,. Instead, he puts forth his approach of studying ideology via the presence of injustice as a better alternative. This paper thus serves to look into the validities of Balkin’s claims with regards to Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony.
“Rituals and Traditions; It Takes a Tribe,” written by David Berreby and “Indians: Textualism, Morality, and the Problem of History” written by Jane Tompkins, both exemplify a typical controversial topic in the United States of America today. The US prides there self on the basis of freedom, and how Americans are made up of individuals with backgrounds from all around the world. Many consider the US to be a “melting pot”, a society where cultures are just blended together and not recognized fully on their own, where as others consider the US to be a “salad bowl”, where people of international cultures hold fast to their traditions and practices and coexist with the cultures around them. Both authors of the readings propose that generally speaking,
Buddhist art was introduced to Japan along with the Buddhist religion in 552 AD. Almost all the art produced in this Suiko period in Japan was to do with the new religion. "The introduction of the Buddhist faith had from the very start gone hand in hand with the introduction of Buddhist images." (Munsterberg 1985: 19) These Buddhist images included Chinese scrolls depicting the life of Buddha, at first copied by Chinese priests in Japan, later painted by the Japanese themselves. With the introduction of Buddhism, temples were needed for the practicing of the religion. This consisted of ...
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...
A man and a woman led us to a small room. The man wore jeans and a regular t-shirt and the women wore a colorful dress reaching her knees. The man later told us that he typically didn’t wear jeans, instead he is generally in a more relaxed and comfortable attire. In the small room, there were four quilts laid out on the floor with cushions to sit on. All of the small quilts faced one wall, which contained three statues and a couple of pictures. On the left side of the wall was a statue of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha. As stated in an article in World-Faiths, Buddhism was established upon Siddhartha’s teachings. He was an Indian prince who began his spiritual journey when he was 29 years old. After six years, he rea...
When growing up in a traditional civilization and continuing education in a mainstream environment, one can notice the work of two opposing ways of life. If one could study a traditional identity closely, one may sometimes see a mainstream identity in most of that organization’s people. Usually, a culture is any group of individuals that share the same beliefs, philosophies, and customs; identity can be defined as the image and viewpoints that others see when they look at someone. When looking into someone’s traditional organization, one can easily see two opposing identities. Similarly, Robert Bellah explains the formation of identity in his essay “Community, Commitment, and Individuality” which shows how identity comes about. Traditional society places a moral authority over its subjects, while the mainstream society does not. Such power can be seen in the Old Chinese customs inside of Maxine Hong Kingston’s essay. Her essay “No Name Woman” discusses a story of a Chinese mother abusing her own power to teach her daughter a lesson in morality. Some people within a group are responsible for giving power and identity; power is the ability to have more influence inside a culture at the expense of someone else. In addition, Dean Barnlund argues that because both groups want to increase their own well being, their opposing identities must clash with one another. He talks about cultural behaviors in “Communication in a Global Village.” All of these authors provide key wisdom into such things as culture, identity, and power. Customs can sometimes become a problem. One discovers that it is mandatory that one must reexamine his own identity. Until then, many problems may surface when transitioning between two contradictory cultures. In o...
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
Chinese artwork is a form that contains and demonstrates many different meanings and morals that can be linked back to not only religion, but the overall meaning of life. This paper will discuss the sculpture titled Seated Buddha and how it represents peace, enlightenment, and the overall importance of how these two components influence the mindset of the people involved in the Buddhist religion. The Seated Buddha was created between the 5th and 6th century in China. The artist of this piece is unknown, but this does not hinder us at all from seeing what the artist was trying to portray through the different aspects that they included in the Seated Buddha sculpture. This piece is crafted from stone and a chisel was then used to create the
The Buddha or “enlightened” learned one, preached the message of challenging ones self. To do so, one must strangi-fy the self by stepping out of comfort levels and selfi-fy the other by evoking empathy. Artists have realized and depicted the Buddha in various ways across culture and across time, using the edict of Buddha to create an image that exemplifies his ideals about the self, based on cultural preference. From the Great Stupa conception at Sanchi to the Chan Buddhist depictions of Shakyamuni Descending the Mountain, imaginaries of the Buddha attempt to portray him in a certain light and to elicit certain emotions about his role, discipline, and feelings. Through cross-cultural mingling, the identity of the Buddha adapts and changes