The Ritual At A Buddhist Temple Essay

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.

The role of women in human affairs, religious beliefs, and social practices are highly concerned by scholars when women involved religious life. “God the Father/God the Mother”, third chapter in the book The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels, examines major distinctions between Orthodox Christianity and Gnostic community in the concerns of the roles and characterizations of women by relating scriptural views and texts. While sharing a common topic of women’s role in religious life, “Images of Women in Early Buddhism and Christian Gnosticism” is an article in the book Buddhist-Christian Studies by Karen Christina Lang that discusses the major images and examines four categories of women whose participated in the religious activities of both Buddhist and Gnostics communities. In “God the Father/God the Mother”, Pagels compares the views of women between Orthodox communities and Gnostic sources.

On Sunday, September 8, 2013, I visited the Wat Buddharangsi Buddhist temple of Miami in Homestead. Every Sunday, they present a meditation service in English for two hours from three to five in the afternoon. Once I parked, the place of ritual was conveniently located across the parking lot. There was a shoe rack outside of the temple. Before I came to this temple, I read the guidelines from their website. The requirements for new guests are to remove your shoes before entering inside. Therefore, when I saw the shoe rack, I was not in shock. I was relieved to see that the temple provided a neat spot to place shoes rather than having them scattered on the floor.

Buddhism is one of the most spiritual Asian tradition. The founder of Buddhism is Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha. Gautama was born in Nepal in fifth century BCE. He was born a prince by a royal family and growing up he was intelligent and open to everyone. Growing up he had a realization about his own true nature. He escaped from the desire and suffering and was called buddha. He was not the founder of a new religion but a leader of a sect of wanderer ascetics. Gautama lived in a time where religious views were challenged by new religions.

Gender roles and ideals in Hinduism and Buddhism are diverse. A number of texts regarding household gender roles exist in Hindu traditions, and little to none are appear to exist in Buddhist traditions. The gendering of abstract concepts in both Hinduism and Buddhism may also occur. The cases sited indicate that male dominance is significantly more common than female dominance in ancient and Classical Hindu texts while regional variations may continue to exist. Buddhists appear to internalize the gender norms of diverse regions. Mention of other gender roles are rear.

The ancient religion that is based from Buddha’s teachings is Buddhism, this religion is a crucial part the Indian culture from ancient times, to today. Buddhism is a religion that began because of Siddhartha Gautama, when enlightened he is referred to as Buddha. There are many principles that go along with the ways of Buddhism, as of any religion. The practice is centered around mental and physical control over one’s self. Buddhism has a large focus on self-discipline and one not having the cravings for mental and physical pleasure. There are many important rules or ways to Buddhism, but some of the more prevalent then others, for example the four noble truths, meditation, and reincarnation. Carithers article greatly encompasses the key factors

There are three main ideas behind any religion, the practical, theatrical, and its social aspects. Practitioners of Buddhism practice in many varying ways based off their geographical and social conditions.The real practice of any Buddhist is to concern themselves with their spiritual attitude that affects themselves and their community. Meditation is used to refocus the mind to develop a greater mental state. Buddhism can be defined as:the path, and livelihood to practice the spiritual development that leads to the true nature of oneself and reality.

One of Buddha’s teachings was about the Three Marks of Existence which including Impermanence, Suffering, and No-Self. The No-Self doctrine (anatman), “is the doctrine that there is no independent, eternal self or soul underlying personal existence” (Brodd, 186). What this means is that Buddha believed that things were changeable. That not one object or person could consistently stay the same, that there is always something to change even in a person. No-Self was one of Buddha’s several teachings. The No-Self doctrine is hard to interpret or understand if one does not practice Buddha’s teachings. Therefore, Buddhists have tried to explain this doctrine in many ways.

Throughout the semester we have studied various examples discussing how gender has implications for religions devotees. The first example, is from guest speaker Chris Emm’s presentation on Gender Transformation in Buddhist Narratives. Focusing on the question of who can and who cant become a Buddhist Monk or Nun. The first questions asked to one undertaking ordination as a monk is: “are you a man?” and “do you have a male organ?” and he must say: I am, and I have.” In the story of the Lotus Sutra, Śāriputra questions the Naga princess on why she is in the body of a woman, stating that her body is filthy and not a vessel of the Dharma. Naga’s daughter is then transformed into a male. The goddess used the power of numinous penetration and changed Śāriputra’s body to be like that of a goddess. Śāriputra is not female but is manifesting a female body, so are all females likewise. Although they manifest female bodies, they are not female. Therefore, the Buddha has

Power is usually described as “bad” and is mostly discussed by others about the abuse of power however this is not true, power can be used to help or protect individuals, which is exactly what the culture I had observed does. In this essay, I will examine the performances of power that is observed throughout the ritual ceremony, “chanting” in the Buddhism culture, displaying how the religion is used for concealing relations of power within this definite culture. Through this examination, I will use the theories of Karl Marx (religion as ideology) and Antonio Gramsci (hegemony being concept of power), to support the display of how the power distributes religion. By relating to the definition of power, I argue that, for the members of this community, ‘power’ is about ease and security- no inequality.

In early Buddhist traditions, men and women had no equal opportunities for the spiritual journey. Mostly the renounced women are under the monks and had to do their duties and obey their rules. “Maechi Wabi’s difficulties when she simply wanted to go forth as a maechi make perfect sense as one of the results of the ongoing problems related to Buddhism which, like most of the world’s religions, has deeply ingrained patterns of sexism that daily affect the religious lives of both women and men. Thai women seeking to focus their lives on religion are in an entirely different situation than Thai men seeking to do the same” (Brown, 24). The author points out that the women in Thailand face such difficulties like no free education when following a spiritual journey whereas men are encouraged to take the path by providing them with services like a place to live and free education, and also one is considered as a reputed person in the society. The author accounts that less girls or women take the extra mile along the spiritual journey when compared to men and the women who do gain little or no family support and recognition (Brown, 25). Also Brown states that the maechi have no advantage over many opportunities and services such as no free medical treatments or cheap rates, no free bus rides and no reserved seats, and in the case of work, no excuses for absences. This shows the true sexism that was there in

Importantly, this work avoided a Marxist analysis of the commodification of religion such as is described by the Comaroffs. In doing so it avoids claims about authenticity that end up as essentializing Buddhism, and instead shows that it “is not a static entity; it is continuously created through space and time” (16). Another important epistemological consideration is Scott’s treatment of Orientalism and the rationalization of modern interpretations

Hindu and Buddhist cultures are both rich in religion and expressing their faith through art. The Buddhist culture was formed by Buddha who went out to discover the causes of pain and suffering. Once Buddha realized what the cause was, he provided a set of four guiding principles know as the “Four Noble Truths” that are exercised in Buddhism (Kleiner, p. 13). The Four Noble truths are “Life is suffering, the cause of suffering is desire, one can overcome and extinguish desire, the way to conquer desire and end suffering is to follow Buddha’s Eightfold Path…” (p. 13). These truths are expressed in the following of Buddhism and commonly carried out through art. Buddhism is practiced throughout Southeast Asia and southern India where

Buddhism is religion that is based off of peace and spirituality taught by the teachings of Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gotama. Many who follow its teachings believe Buddhism to be more of a way of life or lifestyle choice rather a religion. Buddha is not a god, but one man that taught his followers a path of enlightenment from his experiences and values. Buddha’s main teachings were the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. The Four Noble Truths were teachings about suffering, pain, disease, happiness, loneliness, and aging. It explained why we as humans can overcome certain obstacles in our lives by looking at the more spiritual side of things such as “Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own

I decided to visit a Hindu temple because the Hindu religion was the religion that I knew the least about and was interested in. This assignment gave me an opportunity to learn more about this religion and what their worship services and rituals were like. The temple that I went to was called BAPS Shri Swaminaryan Mandir and it was located in Lilburn. As soon as I walked in, I was amazed by the beautiful architectural design of this Temple. It seemed like it took a lot of hard work and dedication to make the place what it is now. While I was at the temple, I watched the Hindus perform an ancient Vedic ritual called the Abhishek, a ritual bathing to honor the murti of their God.