Analysis Of The Sgi-USA Chicago Buddhist Center

Buddhist patients believe that space has a great impact on their lives. They believe that the space they inhabit directly affects their health (Das,1997). Spatial interactions can be manifested as patients bringing items from home to the hospital in order to create a healing space for themselves, or it can simply be a patient meditating in their room in order to change the energy in the space. Each patient will have his or her own personal view on space, and the nurse should be sensitive to this.

The main focus of Buddhism is that the faith centers on correct understanding of human nature and ultimate reality, The Buddha was also called the Enlightened One, he taught that the way to eliminate suffering begins with understanding the true nature of the world. He rejected speculation about such matters as God, the nature of the universe, and the afyterlife, urging his folloers to focus instead on the Four Noble Truths by which they can free themselves from suffering. “We do not believe that this world is created and ruled by God.” The disbelief in God does not make Buddhism an atheistic religion. The Buddha rejected the concept of the atman, or soul. In

The Orange County Buddhist Church located in Anaheim at 909 South Dale Avenue is one of the few temples that practices and teaches Jodo Shinshu Buddhism in America. Although Shinran Shonin first established these traditions about 800 years ago in Japan, it did not reach the United States until the late 19th century by Japanese immigrants. Since then, Shin Buddhism has grown and developed Americanized features that contribute to its message of acknowledging the interdependence of all aspects in the universe as a way to reach a state of self-realization and happiness. With the help of Buddhist believers, the establishment of Shin Buddhist temples continues to grow and more people are welcomed to absorb the unique beliefs about oneness and transcending duhkha.

When I visited the Phat Da Buddhist Congregation in San Diego, a Vietnamese Buddhist temple in San Diego, I was taken by surprise that the service was given in Vietnamese. The decorations on the wall, the sacred images displayed at the altar, and the vibrant color of the monk’s robe were still familiar, but what was being said was (very) foreign to me. I quickly became impatient and preoccupied with the question on why I was there in the first place. What would I write about for my final Buddhism assignment if I could not understand what was being said? One thing was clear, the day I visited, they were celebrating Buddha’s birthday with huge display of rituals and ceremony, and a big birthday cake at the end.

There were several events during the Vietnam War that can be considered “turning points”, which can be described as the occurrence of an event that changed the course of history. One such event was the Buddhist crisis in 1963. The Buddhists of South Vietnam had experienced decades of religious persecution during French colonialism that continued with the Catholic government, which was backed by the United States (Toong, 2008). The demonstrations, protests and self-immolations that followed as a result of this religious persecution and the media coverage it generated encouraged the Kennedy administration to back a coup d’état against Ngo

Whenever I thought of Buddhist I saw bald men or women with orange robes, white socks, and brown sandals. Obviously, not the older woman with gray hair that was now facing me and the other twenty congregants in the meditation room. She was obviously the leader.

Buddhism has been around for over two thousand years, and continues to do so in many countries around the world. This religion originates in Asia and has a very unique adversity, much of its structure arose from the end of World War II, predominantly Asian nations needed to restructure society (RoAT 167). The word ‘Buddha’ means one who has awakened and will no longer be reborn. Thereafter, one who will enter nirvana, the state of being free from suffering.

The Buddhist Temple of Chicago practices one of the most popular sects of Buddhism in Japan called Jodo Shinsu, also known as Pure Land Buddhism (Shotō 1). Instead of stressing the Eight Fold Path, as traditional Theravada Buddhists do, Pure Land Buddhists chose to interpret the teachings of the Buddha more freely (Wangu 1). Furthermore, Pure Land Buddhists seek guidance from Amitabha Buddha, a deity figure from Mahayana Buddhism (Wangu 1). As the current ruler of the Western Paradise of Sahavaki, it is believed that when Amitabha Buddha was on the verge of enlightenment, he made a vow claiming that if he attained Nirvana, he will help those who seek his name reach Nirvana as well (Wangu 1). Now, devote Pure Land Buddhists proclaim

The Kannon Bosatsu, or Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, is a carved wood statue of a Bodhisattva figure standing about two and one half to three meters tall. This statue shows a high level of detail on the Bodhisattva 's body, and is carved so smoothly that it could be mistaken for a stone carving. The show of skilled craftsmanship can be seen around the shoulders with the interaction of the cloth with the jewelry the Bodhisattva. The statue is placed on an ornate pedestal to cause the figurine to appear taller, giving it a feeling of authority, which contrasts with its calm, expressionless face. While the figure appears to be standing in a meditative state like the Buddha, the jewelry present all over the body of this figure distinguishes this figure as a Bodhisattva instead of a Buddha. In his book, The Story of Buddhism a Concise guide to Its History and Teachings, Donald S. Lopez Jr. establishes the importance of imagery in Buddhism. One major point he makes concerning the worship of Buddhist figures, is that the disciples of Buddhism not only believe that the figures are a mere representation of Buddha, but that the figures actually become and are animated by Buddha, an argument which seems to hold merit as truth.

I visited the Mid-American Buddhist Association, they are a part of the three schools in Northern Buddhism. These schools are Elder teaching, modern Buddhism, and Depant, or strict Buddhism. They are different from other Buddhist communities because they all speak different languages and they all have different cultures which coexist peacefully. I went to Mid-America Buddhist Association with a classmate Angelique Failor, and the address is 299 Heger Lane Augusta, MO 63332.We went on November 12 and we got there around 11:00 a.m. and we stayed until about 12 p.m. We also went back on Sunday, November 13 and we got there around 10 and stayed till 12. Before we entered the Meditation Hall we took our shoes off , and then Master Jiru greeted us. He took us to a sitting area where we could ask him questions. He talked a little bit about their history, and let us ask what we needed. He told us that the land was cleaned in 1995 and the first structure that was build was the Meditation Hall in 1997.The Buddhist community is 15 minutes away from Saint Louis and it is now 17 years old. The community built around the Buddhist have been there at least 10 years based off of the Victorian style homes. Theses Buddhist are funded by a Buddhist community started on Washington University’s- St.Louis campus. Master Jiru actually is from Thailand but lived in New York before coming to Missouri. They believe they are the most diverse Buddhist community because they have many different

In American religion has expanded over time with many categories. In many specific religions, Americans have found interest in the something new and different. In the nineteenth century, Buddhism in America became the new form of religion. In “The American Counter With Buddhism,” Tweed researched the depth of the Victorian culture in relations to the expansion of American Buddhism.

The Hsi Lai Buddhist temple is located in Hacienda Heights and is the largest Buddhist temple in the West. The building was constructed to be a religious site by a Buddhist organization in Taiwan. The first thing that catches the attention, is the Chinese architecture of the temple and all of the Chinese words on the outside of the temple. The words on the four pillars of the gate, represent the four bodhisattva vows the Buddhists take to complete

Albert Einstein once said, “the religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal god, avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all natural and spiritual and a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.”# Many great minds like Albert Einstein have converted or become Buddhists. Many people from the west are turning their attention towards Buddhism because of the Buddha’s simple way to life and the lack of worship or prayer to a divine being.

While engaging in these different Buddhism exercises, a lot of windows opened up for me, and I also got the chance to view things differently. The Buddhism precepts exercise really opened my eyes to see that all living things can feel and experience the same feelings and emotions that we do when we go through happiness, sadness, and anger. I never took the time to think about how certain things came to me, such as the food on my plate or the money in my pocket. Certain foods have to be taken care of and nurtured way before they get on my plate. Other people in this world have jobs to make sure the plants grow, the animals are taken care of, and for those things to get to me, other people have to butcher and clean and transport those things to the

On June 11, 1963, Malcolm Browne took a photograph. His image would become the symbol for a period in the Vietnam conflict known as the Buddhist Crisis. Browne’s photo was of a monk sitting in the middle of the street, moments after dousing himself in fuel and lighting a match. The monk’s name was Thich Quang Duc, and his suicide would have repercussions not just in Vietnam but overseas in the United States as well. His action stimulated major growth in the Buddhist Crisis, inspiring leaders of the movement to increase militant actions against President Ngo Dinh Diem’s regime. Duc’s self-immolation was symbolic of something much larger than a single political act, representing a movement that would completely alter United States policy in Vietnam and eventually lead to the assassination of President Diem. Revered reporter David Halberstam wrote of Thich Quang Duc’s self-immolation in his book The Making of a Quagmire of, "…a young Buddhist priest with a microphone saying calmly over and over again in Vietnamese and English, 'A Buddhist priest burns himself to death. A Buddhist priest becomes a martyr.'” The fact that the priest was speaking in English showed that he wanted American reporters to get the story, he wanted Americans to understand what was occurring. The photograph captured a dramatic moment in time, but shared only a glimpse of the magnitude with which the Buddhist Crisis would affect the future of the Vietnam