A Reflection On The Temple's Wat Buddharangsi

Buddhism is not about God or Gods, it doesn't supply a hypothesis about what may occur in after death, nor does it express perspectives about creation; it is situated in the realm of day by day living. Furthermore, Buddhism is largely associated with the condition of being awaken by the nature of humanity. As the fourth-largest religion in the world, Buddhism has proven to be both influential and significant. While most religions have profound theoretical foundations that they are built upon, and while most individuals within such religions have faith that the theory is true, Buddhism does not address theories; nor does it agree or disagree with any religion, but rather acknowledges religion as a means to live in a positive manner. This religion is about not only living a peaceful life but also about enlightening a person through the regaining of wisdom and grace from within. The purpose of this paper is to examine the depth of Buddhism through Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and karma.

For this experience, I decided to explore Buddhism in order to enhance my involvement with the religion and build a strong understanding. What intrigued me about Buddhism was the social aspect and diversity that it had to offer. In order to explore this religion from a critical and analytical viewpoint, I decided to attend a weekend service offered at San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin. The San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin main temple is located in the Japantown section of Central San Jose. What made this temple stand out amongst the others was its historical standing in the community. It is one of the oldest temples established in the United States. In order to learn more about the history, environment, and community as a whole, I decided to contact the temple’s staffs. After a brief phone call, I was able to schedule a tour. In preparation, I decided to do a brief research on Buddhism to familiarize myself with the religion beforehand. With all preparations and research necessary, I was ready to visit San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin.

As a scholar taking the class ‘Introduction to World Religions”, I had the opportunity to take part in a culture that is not normally found in the western world. I entered the Mon Buddhist Monastery in Akron, Ohio on October 2nd, 2016 only to be amazed at their way of life. Going into the temple, I knew of the basic religious practices and traditions that the monks and Buddhists had participated in daily. When I was coming up to the monastery, it did not look like anything other than an old brick building, but once we were inside it looked like a recreational area. Somewhere where they would meditate, hold daily activities, and teach the younger Buddhist about their way of life. On the far back wall, there was a stunning shrine dedicated to the Buddha where one would pray. Many figurines were displayed as well as flowers and offerings along it.

“The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you freed” ~Buddha. Out of the abounding religions in the world the 6th most practiced of all the religion is Buddhism, or the worship of the god Buddha. Buddhism has had a colossal effect on the Asian culture and it has had an effect on the way that we (as American citizens) view the Asian culture and the beliefs of Asian men and women. This paper is about into how the culture of Asia has been changed because of the Buddhists believes. Also how their temples have shaped the way that we as Americans view Asian architecture or the kind of things that are in Asia that are because of Buddhism. Many different

I have always been attracted by the study of religion and interested in the different disciplines that study religion such as: psychology, historiography, anthropology, etc; there are many aspects related to religion that can be analyzed. I believe in the existence of something superior; I do not belong to any specific religion, but I sympathize with some specific ideas of different religions. I used to get the ideas that I believe that are more logical and put it in practice. Taking advantage of the research paper ordered in class, I decided to visit a Theravada Buddhist temple. This temple is located in 15200 SW 240th St, Homestead, FL, Miami, and it is called “Wat Buddharangsi of Miami.”

In The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, Thich Nhat Hanh provides a citation from the Buddha, which gives insight into the cure of our distress. “I teach only suffering and the transformation of suffering” (Thich Nhat

It was a rather casual Wednesday morning when I arrived at the gate of the Fo Guang Shan Hsi Fang Temple. As the dews drip from the tall bush of grass in front of the red gate, I rang the bell to ask for permission to enter the sacred Buddhist Temple. A female monk named Miaozang slowly opens the door to let me and a fellow student in. Having been born and raised in Vietnam, which is predominantly a Buddhist influenced country, yet grew up in the States in a Catholic high school, I did not strongly identify with any particular religion. Thus, I took this opportunity to learn more about Buddhism by interviewing the monk and took part in a guided meditation session. Each small details from the moment I entered such as the sense of the incense, the lion statues, the mild background chanting, and so on are intentionally set up to make sure that I, the visitor, can have the most wholesome Buddhist experience while being inside the temple. Buddhism, through its teachings, which are called Buddha Dharma, and other rituals such as meditations and chanting, strives to set up an environment that helps its practitioners reach the state of enlightenment, where one can see the reality of the world and the truth behind everything.

The speaker started the service by speaking about Buddha as a philosopher, not God. This Buddhist temple practices Theravada, and bows to 3 things: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Theravada is one of the four types of Buddhism. The other three types are Mahayana, Tibetan, and Zen/Chan. Buddhism exemplifies as a very pragmatic religion (The Four Noble Truths). “The followers take joy in a straight-forward approach to life, and they do not indulge in metaphysical speculation about first causes. As most religion have a theology and worship a deity, Buddhists do not have one. This religion believes that it is impossible to make a permanent relationship with anything because the world is constantly changing” (The Four Noble Truths).

1.The Western Paradise Of Amitabha Buddha, 10'2" x 16', Cave 217 Dunhaung Gansu, 346, Tang dynasty, Paint.

Everyone is subject to the traumas of birth, sickness, decrepitude, death and to what they most dread (an incurable disease or an ineradicable personal weakness), as well as separation from what they love. The desire of the body and the desire for personal fulfilment is the cause of suffering. Happiness can be achieved only if these desires are overcome, and this requires following the ‘Four Noble Truths.’ These Truths refer to the diagnosis of suffering which consist of the essence of Buddha’s teachings. These are: everything in life is permeated by suffering; pain is experienced from birth, through life with its sickness, unsatisfactory nature, dejection and despair, and eventually death. The cause of this suffering is craving, desire, a thirst for pleasure, attachment to things and existence; all of which lead to samsara. This cause can be eliminated by the cessation of craving and desire and instead focus on the cultivation of non-attachment. This can be achieved by following the Noble Eightfold Path; a path with eight aspects involving right views, right attitudes, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right contemplation. It is taught in the Four Noble Truths that in order to eliminate suffering the cause of it has to be identified. The Dalai Lama states that “physical comforts cannot subdue mental suffering, and if we look closely, we can see that those who have many possessions are not necessarily happy. In fact, being wealthy often brings even more anxiety.” From this quote we can deduce that the cause of suffering in this instance is the accumulation of material possessions and wealth. Hence in order to eliminate this suffering, the accumulation of wealth and material possessions must be stopped. By following this path the Buddhist aims to attain nirvana, a condition beyond the limits of mind and feelings, a state of

Religion is an important and prominent aspect of life. There are hundreds of religions established that influence thousands of followers. Personally, I am a follower of the Christian faith. My worship experience is in a church of like-followers praising an omnipotent God. In preparation for this research paper, I visited a worshiping venue for a religion outside the comfort zone of my own. In anticipation for the day of my visit, I did some prior research to a get a bit of background knowledge on my venue of choice. After some research and deliberation on a particular religion and venue to attend, I chose the Wat Buddharangsi of Miami: a Theravada Thai Buddhist Temple. Theravada Buddhism is a type of Buddhism that places emphasis on human pain in regards to God’s permit of evil on Earth. It is summarized by the Four Noble Truths that are based on the acknowledgment of suffering, its cause, and how we overcome this law of life (Livingston 246). Many of the practices of this religion include meditation. This alone peaked my interest because I see meditation being beneficial for not only religion, and not just specific to Buddhism, but useful for everyday life. Solidarity and peace gives you the opportunity to not only affirm your thoughts and beliefs, but also gives you a chance to focus on self-control. From the information I have gathered thus far, I could tell it would be an amazing learning experience that I wouldn’t regret.

Borobudur located on the island of Java is a Buddhist temple that has created disagreement among the academic community. There are two schools of thought in which scholars—such as art historians and archeologist—debate about what the real significance and purpose of Borobudur is about. For example, a group of scholars argues that Borobudur is stupa. This contrasts the other scholars who contends that Borobudur is a mandala. Although both groups of scholars adequately analyze Borobudur and provide evidence to support their arguments, the argument that the Buddhist temple is both a mandala and stupa is rational. In this paper, I will present evidence from both sides of the argument, in which Borobudur has ignited copious amounts of controversy for in the scholarly communities. However, at the end, I will argue that I disagree with both schools of thought because Borobudur is actually both a stupa and a mandala.

One of the best approaches to acquire a perception of Buddhism religion is to immerse yourself into it. For the midterm assignment, I had the opportunity to immerse myself into a religion that is interfaith. Through my interfaith visit, at the Jade Buddha Temple in Houston, Texas, I was able to learn about Buddhism.

I have always been attracted by the study of religion and interested in the different disciplines that study religion such as: psychology, historiography, anthropology, etc; there are many aspects related to religion that can be analyzed. I believe in the existence of something superior; I do not belong to any specific religion, but I sympathize with some specific ideas of different religions. I used to get the ideas that I believe that are more logical and put it in practice. Taking advantage of the research paper ordered in class, I decided to visit a Theravada Buddhist temple. This temple is located in 15200 SW 240th St, Homestead, FL, Miami, and it is called “Wat Buddharangsi of Miami.”

The First Noble Truth of Buddhism is also referred to as the truth about suffering or dukkha, which posits that suffering, comes in various forms such as pain, desire and or deaths. However, the three types of sufferings coincide with the ones the Buddha witnesses on his journey outside his palace: they were sickness, old age, and death (Hardy, 2005; Young, 2013). Buddha argued that human beings are exposed to cravings and desires and even if they are able to satisfy these particular desires that satisfaction is merely temporary. In that case, pleasure is ephemeral and whenever it lasts it results into monotony (Velasquez, 2011; Besser-Jones & Slote, 2015).