“Once a very old king went to see an old hermit who lived in a bird's nest in the top of a tree, "What is the most important Buddhist teaching?" The hermit answered, "Do no evil, do only good. Purify your heart." The king had expected to hear a very long explanation. He protested, "But even a five-year old child can understand that!" "Yes," replied the wise sage, "but even an 80-year-old man cannot do it," quote from the article “Following the Buddha’s Footsteps.” That ancient story explains the very teaching of Buddhism. I decided to go to a Buddhist church and learn of both about the temple and participated in their ritual prayer called prostration. The religion was significantly different then mine. Praying at a Buddhist temple is much more formal then in a Christian church and …show more content…
The whole experience of the Buddhist temple was enlightening. The whole temple had symbolism to it and the prayer was not just a humble request but also, a meditation to the mind. The biggest impact this whole experience had on me was seeing the whole teaching and symbolism behind the temple and going prostration. His Lai Temple has symbolism from head to toe. For example, he long path and stairs symbolizes the long journey toward enlightenment. The temple has two lion statue or “Temple Guard” that guarded the hallway toward the temple. The temple guardian has the “roar of a lion” the most ferocious cry of all to frighten away ignorance. The temple’s guardian roar represents wisdom. To the right is a female tiger and is represented so because underneath her paw in a baby cub and it represents a mother protecting her family. To the left is the male and beneath his foot is the earth represents males protecting the world. The front gate has Chinese
...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.
...in, I highly respect Buddhism and may incorporate some of the beliefs I was taught into my everyday life. I arrived at the temple only in order to complete a school assignment, but I left the temple knowing I will be returning. The incredibly welcoming monks in the temple mentioned that meditation takes time and practice to master, encouraging me to return and practice meditation in their religious hall as they give me lessons on how to improve my focus while meditating. The Wat Buddharangsi Temple is a place that I would recommend anyone to visit. The feeling of relaxation and peace is one that I would love to, and will enjoy, on more than one occasion, as it is now one of my favorite places to relax in.
At an early age I was introduced to Buddhism in my world history class. We were immersed in the religion during our study of India and then again in China. Having greater understanding of the historical roots and evolution of the theology and philosophy in the originating countries provides a context that lends to a greater appreciation of the artwork and visual interpretations of the time.
He also makes reference to the long history of religious intolerance and persecution within the Christian tradition, brought about by greed, mistrust, and ignorance. He emphasizes the need for continuous practice, prayer, meditation, mindfulness, and personal growth within individual religious traditions and cultures. We must make the spirit of the Buddha and the spirit of Christ part of our everyday lives. He explores the “Five Wonderful Percepts of Buddhism”: reverence for life, generosity, responsible sexual behavior, speaking and listening deeply, and ingesting only wholesome substances; comparing them to the teachings of Christ. These precepts are without a doubt, very similar to the principles thought by Christ and his apostles. Each precept or teaching works with the next, interconnecting and building upon each other toward the same goal to end suffering, bring about personal and worldly understanding, world peace, and spiritual
At the beginners course at the Shambhala Center, there is a step by step instruction on how to meditate for anyone who is interested. There are distinct steps to doing this, such as sitting cross legged while looking slightly down, sitting up straight, while relaxing every muscle in your body. The vibe of the room as a whole created an environment that let you completely relax and reflect. The goal of meditation is to completely detach yourself from the outside world and its problems, yet answer the questions about these very things. According to Shambhala’s buddhist roots, this meditation is to ultimately reach enlightenment. The english word for enlightenment is awakening, which is what Shambhala’s goal is for the world. This tradition took traditional buddhist teachings of enlightenment and put it into meditation, and related it to our daily lives. In The Shambhala Principle, Sakyong Mipham said “We can hear logics and theories, but ultimately change and growth occur when we are touched at a human level-when we personally feel and experience something”. Sheila, the meditation leader, made it clear that whatever came to mind while meditating meant something, and if you detach yourself from these problems, you can truly meditate. The experience changed my outlook on not only religion as a whole, but my personal view on
As I said before I didn’t know what to expect when I went into the temple. One thing I had never seen was the outfits that the Buddhists wore. I found them to be very interesting and simple. If I could have stayed I would have loved to know if they were different ones for different types of ceremonies or how often they do get to change them. There were many followers present when I went. Although I did go during a ceremony. At the beginning of the ceremony when the Buddhist was kneeling they also did too. There were also times where they were standing and had bowed at certain times. There was one thing I enjoyed more here than my own religion was when the Buddha had come to talk about the readings. He interacted with the followers instead of just lectured. It was nice to see some interaction. It was just different to not be able to understand the chants that they were saying. I could tell that they were in a different language, so if I was able to stay longer I would have asked what the chants had meant. I’m glad that I was given this assignment to be able to learn about another religion. Even though we had a chapter on Buddhism I don’t believe that you can learn everything from a book. There is more learning to be done when going to an actual ceremony or even asking someone about their religion and the values that are done
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
Almost everybody I have ever met can recognize a Buddha statue, but few folks who I have ever associated with understand the meaning of the Buddha. Myself included was one of those folks blessed with such ignorance. When the term Buddha was brought up, all I thought about was the pudgy bellies of myself and fellow offensive lineman on my high school football team. Nirvana! Hey isn’t that one of the great rock bands of the early nineties? Right? In this paper, I will explain who the Buddha was and the deep meaning of the message that Prince Guatama preached.
The purpose is to investigate the following; “Meditation in Christianity and Buddhism are different pathways leading to the same destination.” Buddhism is a philosophy than a religion was originated about 2,500 years ago in India and about 376 million followers worldwide. Prince Siddhartha Gotama (Buddha) worshipped for years to enlighten himself and found a “middle way” between his two lives, meaning finding moderation and balancing life’s extremes. Whereas, Christianity has about 2.4 billion followers worldwide and based on his teachings of Jesus, who lived about 2000 years prior. In Christian meditation, metaphysics and transcendentalism are used as philosophies because individuals think during their prayer to reflect on unseen things in a spiritual way, including Holy spirit and are observed to connect with God intellectually and spiritually. Nevertheless, Buddhist meditation is to focus on relaxing the brain by forgetting about the meaningless things.
The Buddha lived around 2,500 years ago. The story of his life is one in which all of mankind can relate to, the search for truth behind the human condition. His quest for a solution to life’s suffering and freedom from the continuous cycle of rebirth, would be the motivation behind him leaving his life of luxury to devoting himself to the practices of extreme self discipline. It was in his realization of the ‘middle path’ that would lead him to enlightenment, and what would become the foundation of the Buddha’s teachings.
...lusion, I have leaned much about the religion of Buddhism. I have leaned on how great and determined man Buddha was, and how his journey was one of the greatest accomplishment in the Buddhist religion. I also learned that Buddhism is not so laid back, but rather is very demanding and has a strict set of guidelines called the eightfold path. Buddhism is also like Christianity in that it has separate division or paths its followers chose to practice. One called Theravada and the other Mahayana. As well as leaning many new things about Buddhism, after reading this chapter it has changed my opinion on what Buddhism really is. I now have a greater respect for Buddhism and its philosophies. So in the end I am glad that I have read the chapter on Buddhism in Huston Smith’s book The World’s Religions. For now I am more informed and knowledgeable on the religion of Buddhism.
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.
Buddha was able to define and practice a set of beliefs that could truly be applied to how society works, by focusing on your inner self and following the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path you can only help improve your religious state of mind and being.
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.
Story, Francis. "Buddhist Meditation." Access to Insight: Readings in Theravada Buddhism. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.