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How does culture influence education
An outline of why it is important to learn about other religions
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Shiva Vishnu Temple
The wooded landscape of Parma, Ohio is home to the Shiva Vishnu Temple. Upon arrival one can see twin gilded shikhars, which adorn the rooftop of this unique building set among the trees. This Vedic temple sits on 32 acres of steep hillsides and woodlands which are highly visible from the long, wrap-around, glassed-in corridor leading from the parking area to the temple entrance. Once inside the building, shoes are to be removed before entering the sacred space. Brightly colored cloth pennants, interspersed with green leaves and fruit hang from a rope swag, adorning the entrance to the temple.
As with the many deities of Hinduism, there seemed to be many locations for the worship service, rather than one designated place. At 11:15 am, the large central room was just beginning to fill with people, dressed in a great variety of apparel. Some women wore saris, while others were in modern American garb. The male attendees wore contemporary attire, except for the priest and his attendant, who wore vibrant yellow dhotis edged in a deep maroon. One man even wore a baseball hat during the service, considered unacceptable in many churches.
Shiva Vishnu Temple is a kaleidoscope of colors and textures; bejeweled elephants, adorned cobras, fabric of magenta, turquoise, chartreuse, red and golden silks all vie for the visitor’s attention. The perimeter of the room contains thirteen different alters, honoring different deities, such as Nava Durga, Parshwanath Swamy and Mahivir Swamy. People stop to pray at these individual little temples, offering fruits, flower petals, and coins.
The service did not have a formal beginning; rather activity very slowly began to increase as deep toned bells blended with the pri...
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...splayed, just a going on about each individual’s business as they walked their own spiritual path. There seemed to be no organized seating arrangement, no pews to be claimed by a particular family. This seeming informality appeared to create a very relaxed atmosphere for the worshipers. Everyone sitting on the floor, feet bare or covered with socks, understated fashion, all resulted in an unpretentious aura.
I wanted to experience the Hindu Temple particularly because of the exposure to Hinduism and the insights that were gained in our class. I had hoped that a temple visit would further enrich the information presented during lectures, which it truly did.
If hatred stems from fear and fears arise out of ignorance, then learning about the ways of others, seeking to understand differences can only help us all to realize our oneness.
Works Cited none needed
On November 16th, 2013, I attended a concert choir, fall choral concert. This event took place on the Wheaton College Campus, in the Edman Chapel at 7:30 pm. The chapel was well-lit, with long pews for the audience to be seated. The concert began with the audience looking up into a balcony, where the ensemble stood in neat rows. They watched the conductor, who stood on a stage in front of the audience, waiting for their cue.
Following this historical situating, Scott then looks at how the Dhammakaya temple has used discourses on merit making within Buddhism to create a situation where “...
In my Catholic high school, our theology class visited a spiritual space each semester. Synagogues, temples, centers, and mosques were included. The most memorable of these visits was a trip to the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Penn Hills. At first, I was in awe of the décor—large, intricate murals and statues filled the space, and there were flowers and incense holders in every corner. The tour guide, a Hindu doctor and author, then occupied my interest. He described his belief in pantheism, a view that the Universe is divine in all respects. It was so interesting to hear about a belief contrary to the monotheist, dualist one I was brought up in. It made just as much sense, it was simply explanation of life and its meaning.
The sanctuary was bare, and the pews hard. I mentally tallied a comparison between my own church's sanctuary and this. The two, I found, were similarly austere, but with theirs tending toward items of religious kitsch and our own tending instead towards polished brass. Both lacked stained glass in the windows. I suspected, however, that where our sanctuary was plain in token tribute to the long-dead strict streak of our Calvinist tradition, theirs was bare because it could not economically be otherwise. And the lack of air conditioning ! Memphis' summer heat is unbearable and pervasive, and a roof overhead does nothing against the big blanket of humid air.
In the heart of downtown Fort Walton Beach, Florida lies a magnificent hill of earth created by prehistoric Native Americans as a political and religious center. Built about 1,400 AD, this structure of earth is known today as The Indian Temple Mound. This temple mound represents one of the most outstanding artifacts left by the early inhabitants of the area. Not only is it thought to be the largest mound located on saltwater, but also it could possibly be one of the largest prehistoric earthworks on the Gulf Coast. Many events that took place so long ago in the past have been discovered due to the objects found in this mound. In 1961, The Indian Temple Mound Museum was built. This museum was the first municipally owned museum in the State of Florida. Today the museum has a two-dollar charge to enter, yet it has become one of leading
As the sunrises over the crisp fall horizon, followers begin to surround the sacred space in anticipation for what is about to take place. The sacred space is soon surrounded by people who are dressed in the sacred colors, some wearing necklaces of their totem, while others wear headdresses that adorn with their sacred symbol. People begin to drink, play music, and prepare a banquet feast for each other, creating a festival atmosphere in hope that today’s ritual will be a success. As the ritual gets set to begin followers begin to crowd into the sacred space, surrounded with pictures and names of those who have reached greatness. As the ritual begins, music is played in order to bring everyone together and prepare for the events that are about to unfold. It is now that the followers have a very simple focus, to aid in the success of the ritual. Those who celebrate the ritual take there places in the middle of the sacred space, with the followers surrounding them; now that the ritual has begun the celebrants begin to perform and focus on certain actions in order connect themselves with the transcendent sacred. The followers who look on begin to aid by chanting, allowing themselves to also transcend. In hopes that the ritual was a success, everyone does their part until the last second of the ritual is completed, it is only then that it can be decided if the ritual was a success and they can either celebrate or grieve by signing in their most sacred song, bonding them once again with each other.
When New West began to investigate The Peoples Temple, it shook the members of the group and they attempted to fend it off by messaging the media group with several letters and calls saying “We hear New West is going to attack Jim Jones in print; don’t do that. He’s a good man who doesn’t good works.” After a bit of time passed, ex-members of The Peoples Temple
The most bizarre aspect after walking into the Jewish service was the clothing being worn by most individuals. Most individuals were wearing a scarf-type piece of clothing as well as little round hats on their he...
On Easter Sunday, a dozen adults and half that many children gathered at the Perry City Friends Meeting an hour before their usual worship time. They came, bringing plates of food for a time of fellowship before worship. The children had an Easter egg hunt, while the adults visited over coffee and snacks. After a while, the group moved to the meeting room for a time of singing. The meeting room, a plain room with a stage at one end and a few small tables holding brochures along the wall, has simple benches arranged in a circle around a central space. Someone had put a small table with a vase of fresh picked daffodils in the middle. Music is not a part of the worship at this meeting which is unprogrammed, so this time of singing together was special for the Easter holiday. One person played the piano, while people looked through the hymnal for their favorite hymns. Anyone was free to suggest a hymn, as no one is in charge of planning a worship service. When worship time approached, the hymnals were gathered up and put away, and one adult led the children downstairs for First Day School. Without announcement, everyone lapsed into silence. The silence at Meeting for Worship is not a passive silence; it is the deep, comfortable silence of people accustomed to joining together this way. It was not broken when a few more people entered the sanctuary to join the group. The silence continued for about an hour with each worshiper communing with the Holy Spirit in his or her own way, not interrupted when the children reentered to join in the silent worship. One man broke the silence to say a few words about the simplicity of Jesus’ teachings, and then the silence returned. At the end of the hour, without announcement, one woman turned to gr...
In today’s world, there are numerous places where people create a society that is full of diversity. Although these societies exist, we have people who do not have tolerance for others because of the differences among each other. These differences include race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and more. In our society, there are also multiple prejudices which prevent us from understanding each other. The relationship between tolerance and prejudice is that if we promote tolerance, we slowly end prejudice. The only way in which we can live happier and healthier lives is if we let go of all the negatives and begin to understand one another.
Samuel Seium. I attended a Sikh temple that is located outside of Baltimore, Maryland with a friend who is Sikh and commonly attends the services. The temple was the size of a regular sized church and appeared to have a common Sikh temple design. Before entering the temple, it is customary to take off your shoes. My friend and I attended this event on a Sundays. Although the temple is open seven days a week, in America it is common for Sunday to be the busiest day at the temple because that is when the major religious group in this country attends their services so the Sikhs at this temple do the same. In the prayer room, we sat on the floor and crossed our legs. There was a person in the front of the room that was leading prayers. However,
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.
Fisher, Mary Pat. "HINDUISM." Living Religions. 1991. Reprint. Upper Saddle River: Person Education, 2011. 73-120. Print.
While examining different religious paths within Hinduism from the perspective of four patterns of transcendence (ancestral, cultural, mythical and experiential) it is interesting to see how each pattern found its dominance over four segments of Hinduism: Vedic sacrifice, the way of action, the way of devotion and the way of knowledge.
Living in a diverse world should be something a person should be proud of. Getting to know a person’s culture and their beliefs should be a wonderful ability. Respecting one another is important, even though a lot of people still disregard that, which should discontinue. We should all start to learn how to make this world a better place,