Hsi Lai Temple Analysis

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 enlightenment. There are many rooms on the outside of the temple that look like they may be used for teaching or for programs being run at the temple. Furthermore, as you walk up the stairs, there are two bodhisattvas on each side of the entrance. Both of these Bodhisattvas are the protectors of the

How can we begin to understand such a diverse and ancient religion? The width of Buddhism is immense. It is a religion without any written rules. Buddhism is based on self-discovery. Buddhists are born with the quest to find their true form. They believe that they are prisoners of the physical plain until they reach nirvana. Nirvana is the ultimate goal for a Buddhist (Buddhism, 2007). It is the state that saves them from all suffering and evil. They believe that only nirvana can remove them from the never-ending circle of life.

State how this religion views human beings. What is human nature according to this religion? Why does the view of human nature matter?

Buddhism is a religion that focuses more on the individual and the actions of that individual, which was prevalent to me when I made my way into Portland and set foot in a Buddhist temple. The man I met within the walls of this temple was far from my stereotypical thoughts of Buddhist monks. The man I met looked like your plain old, average Joe, American man. Before I delve into the depths of my visit to this inspiring place, I need to sum up the Buddhist religion and why I chose to study this particular group of people.

The Horyu-Ji temple was built for the Buddhist people to have a worship place of commerce in which they could be one with nature and their surroundings. Consisting of three main buildings, this complex was designed to house a large group of people for centuries to come. The Pagoda (main temple) in the center of the corridors is believed to be the oldest wooden building in the world, and now is used to inspire people with it's external architecture. The Kondo, or the largest, is a two-story building with curved roofs and a double roof on the first floor, which is unique to itself with hints of culture from the Asuka period. Built in 739 BC, the Yumedono was built to honor Prince Shotoku -- who was believed to be Buddha -- after his death, and

The Temple is located at 15200 S.W. 240th Street at Homestead, FL. The Thai Buddhist temple is a Theravada temple and a place to meditate and enjoy peace and quiet moments. It was built in 1982 and is the home of several monks. It opens everyday from 7am to 5pm and everybody is welcomed to participate. It is not required a specific dress but it is not permitted people who is wearing shorts, miniskirts, and tank tops. When visitors enter the building they need to put their shoes outside and also one thing that I noticed is that there is now food or drink inside the

The aspect that was exceptionally evident in the ritual was the prominence of male authority. The temple had a large Buddha statue, positioned higher than everyone else and was in the state of meditation. There

Since 1976, the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas has occupied 700 acres of land in my hometown of Ukiah Ca. When I was growing up in elementary school our school and many other schools would take a field trip to the Buddhist Temple on the Chinese New Year to watch their celebration and have lunch. This had been my only time visiting until this research project. I had always wanted to know what it was like but never had the chance to visit until now. When I went home for Spring Break I decided to take tour of this religious community with my sister. Before our visit I had called to see when the perfect time to get a tour would be so we showed up around 8am when they first open. When we drove in we went

There were these rugs that were put at the front of the service, so people could sit their if they wanted to, but if you did not want to sit their you could sit in the chairs that they provided. Through the whole entire service, they spoke nothing but Thai, so for a person that did not speak Thai it was very hard to understand what the Monk and the people were saying. I also realized that the Buddhist religion are not bothered by anything, an example would be time, on their website where they gave the beginning and the end of their service when it should end but when the service was supposed to end the people were not bother by that fact that the service was running behind

We believe that truth is not found or defined by the culture, but by being as true as possible to the intentions of God and His Word. We also believe that truth isn't our preferences, what works with society, or feelings, but is defined by God and we submit to Him— an action of worship and obedience. We strive to be biblically faithful and we attempt to apply that to all areas of ministry and life.

The Buddhist temples were similar in that in their grounds they also had worship halls (with images of the Buddha or other deities), large gateways, and quarters for those who worked there (in this case, monks). They also had, in contrast to some Shinto shrines, libraries for sacred texts, storehouses, a bell tower, and often a pagoda. They were also usually bigger than many Shinto

They believed in the same system as the Hinduism religion. The people who had Buddhism as their religion also believed that they would die and reincarnate. This was a cyclic pattern called Sam Sara. Then an individual came along and said what they realized. There is only one way to break the cycle of Sam Sara, they had to follow the Four Noble Truths which was, "Life is suffering/ Suffering comes from selfish desires/ Suffering can be stopped/ Follow the 8-Fold Path." Then the 8-fold path was a code of laws in a way dictating the way of life for people who worshipped the religion. Upon following it to the fullest extent and gathering enough Karma they would enter Nirvana which was characterized by a state of spiritual bliss and a great connection to the spirit world. This belief system had influenced the religion

I had an experience I will never forget because it was so different than my own religion. I went to the service with a friend from my class. We decided to go to the Adult Buddhists service on Sunday at noon. We got there early around 11:20 AM. When we walked up to the temple there was a sculpture outside that was about as tall as the building. We later learned that it was custom to bow and pray before entering the temple. Once we were inside the temple we stood over and watched the service. We were late to the service but we never figured out how that happened. We went off the time of the website they use for their information. The first part of the service involved the members walking around the center room and chanting. Also there was a beating of a loud drum. There were probably around thirty people in the room. They continued to walk and chant for twenty minutes. In the ring of people there was a monk with a microphone chanting too. He was leading the chanting of the group. Once they were done with the walking they started to sit down with the monk in the front of the group. They began to read from a religious text and do more chanting. This went on for a good portion of the hour long service. My friend and I were in the outside part but able to observe the middle room. The next part seemed to be a prayer time for the

In this we can see that this religion's base can be found in positivity, they are centered around doing and saying things for the right reasons, moral reasons.

The Pagoda Restaurant is a charming and huge building which has shape of a pagoda. It consists of two floors. The whole building is well-ventilated thanks to a system of air-holes placed above and under the windows. For a long time it was the highest structure in the city centre, and was the first thing an arriving traveler would see when approaching the city. Stepping inside the Pagoda Restaurant, the customers could see a statue of the Buddha made of blue marble, symbolizing peace and the enlightenment obtained through right conduct, wisdom, and meditation releases one from desire, suffering, and rebirth. It is an unusual and unique building. It is a Western architectural and religious style that has been transplanted into, and adapted to, the East.