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Personal Narrative: Buddhism

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Enlightened I grew up raised as a Christian, therefore every other religion was off limits. My parents were very strict in following Christianity: the bible and our preachers’ teachings were important. This is all they knew and they were fine with it. I in no way blame them for this. They are faithful in their religion and I respect that; on the other hand, I embrace other religions and other peoples’ beliefs. One I find particularly fascinating is Buddhism. My friend, Jennifer, has been talking about this temple she goes to and kept insisting I attend one evening with her. I finally did and I have to say it was the most wonderful experience I have had in a long time. Buddhism is such a breath of fresh air. My experience started as soon …show more content…

They all said hello to me and shook my hand with such warm welcoming smiles on their faces. Then the monks came over and greeted everyone with a little bow. I was then asked to join everyone at the dining room table for some tea. I eagerly accepted their invitation, so Jennifer and I took a seat at the table. I noticed a cart off to the side where numerous teas and tea cups sat. One of the lady’s in attendance went to the kitchen and brought back a teapot filled with hot water and proceeded to fill some tea cups. She then added tea bags and passed the filled cups out to everyone. The tea was warm and had hints of spice and sweetness. While we all sat and enjoyed our tea the monks tried their best to converse with everyone, for there English was very broken and their accents made it even harder to make out what they were saying. I did not mind this at all though because from what I could make out I could tell they had a sense of humor, and were filled with joy from our company. The next half hour was full of amazing conversation and laughter. I learned they were from Thailand and two out of three there that night was only visiting. I also learned they were taking English classes that they enjoyed very much. The most impressive fact I learned about monks is that they only eat once a day and its food that people in the community bring them: fasting takes such devotion and commitment. I was highly impressed with these monks, to say the least. The night seemed to fly by and I found myself not wanting it to

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