Yungdrung Bon University Symbolism

Because of the Dalai Lama’s celebrity, many aspects of Buddhism are embraced by the West, such as meditation and in therapeutic counselling. Also, there is a thriving industry in Buddhist related

The author tells the story of his two disciples, engaged in a messy but sincere search for a new truth: through heavy drinking in San Francisco, night meditations, climbing of the mountains of California and other adventures, the protagonists will find what they seek in Buddhist philosophy, thanks to the Zen school of the city ofSan Francisco.

5. Robinson, Ken. “Educating the Heart and Mind.” Dalai Lama Center, 25 August, 2011, Vancouver. Guest Lecture.

Awakening 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.

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.

References: Merriam-Webster. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/religion Molloy, M. (2012). Experiencing the World’s Religions. Tradition, Challenge, and Change (6th ed.)Chapter 5. Retrieved from https://newclassroom3.phoenix.edu/Classroom

“What does Eastern Religions mean to Americans?” Starting in the 19th century, Buddhism began to make its way to America through the immigration of the Chinese whom brought their religious traditions with them. Buddhism continued to gain popularity in America when Buddhist texts, as well as Buddhist teachers, were brought here to share and spread their religion. It wasn’t until the late 1950’s/early 1960’s that we see the interest in Buddhism, particularly Zen Buddhism, blossom throughout the country. Through the memoir “Sacred Hoops” by Phil Jackson, an NBA player and coach, we are able to see how Zen Buddhism not only altered his life, as well as his players, but how the religion also adapts to American culture. From reading both “Sacred Hoops” and learning about Buddhism throughout this semester, I would argue that Eastern religions, specifically Zen Buddhism, is not only a way for Americans to escape the reality of American culture but also provides a complete alternative to Christianity and other similar religions that are predominate in America.

In Rabbi Diamond’s Interreligious Experience and Engagement class, I have learned how to show respect and appreciation for all beliefs and religions across the world. In just Los Angeles alone, there countless religions practiced. It is important to educate oneself about other religions to understand the world around us, while also strengthening our own faiths. Most of the semester, we have focused on the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths and how to show interfaith relations between the two. On October 10 at 9:30 AM, for my interfaith field experience, I took the time to visit Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, a Buddhist Temple in Culver City, California at “12371 Braddock Dr., Culver City, California 90230”. I thought it would be interesting to visit a place of worship much different from what we have studied in class thus far.

I took the opportunity to visit Karma Thegsum Choling Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Center (KTC), located at 1000 Armeda Ave, Irving, TX 75061. The meditation center had recently moved from their Dallas location to Irving. After going through the course material on Buddhism, it got me curious to learn more about the culture, experience live worship ritual, meditation, and architecture of the temple. To understand the religion and culture better, I requested a friend of mine to visit the temple along with me. Since he practices Buddhism and also is a Tibetan, he acted as a personal guide during my visit to the meditation center. With little knowledge about Buddhism, he helped me understand the meaning of different symbols, prayer flags,

Sarah Belden REL 1111.223 Warren Kappler 16 March 2013 The Accidental Buddhist By: Dinty W. Moore I’d never heard of this book before I started this class. I’ve always been interested in the nature and customs of different cultures in other countries. That may be one of the reasons why I took this class. I believe another reason is that I had already taken Western Religion and wanted to learn more. This book didn’t really spark my interest at first but after I got to reading it I seemed to keep going back to it and reading more.

Gender relations being an important part of the society, plays a major role in understanding religion and religious practices. In this essay, I am discussing two patterns on a ritual at a Buddhist temple, based on my observations, and how they connect to gender-related religious theory. The ritual I attended was at a Buddhist temple named West End Buddhist Temple in Mississauga. It was based on meditation led by a monk, the male instructor. It started with a story of Buddha, the divine figure of the religion, followed by a set of instructions and pieces of advice by the monk. This was accompanied with a guided silent meditation session. It ended with chants and prayers to god and the divine, Buddha. The ritual had several parts which explicitly or indirectly exposed the role of gender in the ritual and to a small extent in the religion. Theories of religion based on gender are tools to better understand how gender is interconnected to religion and its role in religious practices. This essay argues how, observations on pattern of male dominance during the ritual aligns with Mary Daly’s theory on androcentrism in religion. It also analyzes how the observations on pattern of equality among the participants interrelates with Antonio Gramsci’s theory of counter-hegemony.

There is a time in all religious experiences that people look for spiritual growth by reflecting on the basics of life. An estimated 376 million people are considered to believe and follow Buddhist practices, the question of the four elements (sight’s), aging people, the sick, funerals processions and religion. These elements that Siddhartha Gautama saw, that led to him to seek religious enlightenment, and to give up his privileged life. These four elements come up in every religious walk at some point. Reflection on these elements can have astonishing effects in someone’s life. By looking at these elements, and by showing the effect they had on Siddhartha Gautama’s life, will show that anyone could grow in their spiritual belief by reflecting

Milarepa’s captivating life story depicts a man willing to commit sins on behalf of his mother’s command to one that decides to leave his family, in order to achieve enlightenment. This autobiography allows him to remain to be a beloved yogin because of his drastic and fulfilling spiritual transformation, thus encouraging Tibetans to seek a similar path to nirvana in their lifetime. However, Milarepa proves that one’s journey to liberation and enlightenment has to be earned and fought for spiritually and psychologically.

We live in what is sometimes describes as a “secular age,” meaning, in effect, that religion is not an especially important issue for most people. However, there is much evidence to suggest that this is not true. In many societies, including the United States, religion and religious values shape the

This report will aim to explain how these sacred sites are designed in order to facilitate rituals and reflect a persons experience and closeness with the divine as they partake in the sacred rituals of their religion.