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 experience varied dramatically from person to person. It even drove one among us to leave early. Unfortunately, I identify with those who were uncomfortable with the experience within the Hsi Lai Temple. This is not to say it was a negative experience or that there was nothing to learn from it, but there are multiple versions of simplicity and this was only one of them. It just happens that this is not the example that I perceive as true, nitty-gritty simplicity. It was chock full of “affairs”