For my religious site visit, I decided to go to the Tibetan Yungdrung Bon Institute in Miami. For the first time ever, I would experience the practices and culture of another religion outside of my own. The Tibetan Yungdrung Bon Institute was not a temple like I expected, but instead, the prayers and rituals were performed in an apartment. Even though it was not a temple, the close attention to authentic decorations was very interesting. After leaving all my anxiety and shyness behind, I entered the building and waited until one of the instructors came down to take me to the room.
Yungdrung Bon Buddhism, which means “Enlightened teaching” or “Eternal Light,” is the native Buddhist spiritual tradition of Tibet originated in Zhang Zhung. This
…show more content…
At first glance, I thought the symbol of the yungdrung was a swastika, thus promoting the events of the Holocaust, but I was completely incorrect. Instead, the yungdrung symbol has nothing related neither to Hitler nor the Holocaust. Even though it does look somewhat like a swastika, the actual symbol of the yungdrung rotates to the left, rather than facing to the right like an authentic swastika. The left-turning or reversed swastika is lunar. In the Tibetan Bon faith, the left-turning ancient twists of the cosmos is the reasoning as to why Bon practitioners walk around consecrated mountains, sanctuaries and spin the prayer wheel, counter-clockwise. Holy days and their sanctified ceremonies are centered on the lunar calendar to the practitioners of …show more content…
All these teachings and practices contain Bön Theg-pa Rim-gu (The Nine Gradual Views of Bön), Bön Go-zhi Zöd-nga (The Four Portals and Treasure as the Fifth) or Bön Chi-nang Sang-soom (The External, Internal and Secret Bön). Altogether, these teachings are performed through three distinctive paths. One of the paths is known as Pang-Iam or the Renunciation Path, which is known to be the path most frequently obeyed by nuns and monks. The second path is known as Gyur-Iam, or the Transformation path. The final path is known as the Drol-lam, or the Liberation Path, which is also referred to as the Direct Path. This path is known as the Direct Path because one does not have to abandon nor transform their destructive past experiences like in the former paths; instead, they can simply relate to the Ta-Gom-Chöd Soom or the View, Meditation and Characteristic Behavior of Dzogchen. Furthermore, in Dro-lam, one is able recognize Ja-lu Wö-ku Chen-po or The Great Rainbow Light Body, which pertains to the Enlightenment of one’s body and
The purpose of this paper is to provide a reflection on the field trip to the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago. After a brief Introduction to the Context, the Watercress tool will be used to highlight my observations.
Molloy, M. (2012). Experiencing the World’s Religions. Tradition, Challenge, and Change (6th ed.)Chapter 5. Retrieved from https://newclassroom3.phoenix.edu/Classroom
Particularly, people believe that others partake in religion for support or because serves a fulfilling purpose in their life. However, most individuals who are fully invested in a religion or practice feel as though it is a concrete science backed by their narratives and faith in them. This is displayed in Nina’s Adventures. With the use of this religious narrative as a “scientific explanation,” Nina’s Adventures tackles the outlook that religion is an illogical subject, backed by the secular version of a myth. As Buddhist believe in rebirth fundamentally, they see their religious narratives as pieces of concrete truth, like a science.
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.
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.
“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.
A pilgrimage is a journey for the search of moral or spiritual meaning. After reading the pilgrimage article about the three different people’s pilgrimages, these journeys’ seem to have had a major effect on the travelers’ aspect of religion. Embarking on these journeys’ can teach the followers a whole new side of their religion that they have never seen. The concept behind a pilgrimage to have an experience that recognizes the origin of their religion and comprehend and verify their beliefs. The goal at the end of the pilgrimage is to let go of their individuality and tap into a larger level of their religious community. This journey consists of different sites that have a very meaningful background in their religion. These sites have years of stories that connect to an emotional side of the religion. Different religions like Christianity, Hinduism, and Muslim are strong participators in this life changing experience they call a pilgrimage.
Leadership is the key to survival. It means the position or work of a leader, a person who guides or directs a group. In the classic novel, ‘Lord of the Flies,’ by William Golding, leadership plays a large role in how the boys create law and order on the island. Three of the main characters are Ralph, Jack, and Piggy, who represent leaders in society. The well-known Autocratic, Democratic, and Laissez-faire leadership styles are expressed through the authors’ tale requiring leaders for prosperity.
“The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you freed” ~Buddha. Out of the abounding religions in the world the 6th most practiced of all the religion is Buddhism, or the worship of the god Buddha. Buddhism has had a colossal effect on the Asian culture and it has had an effect on the way that we (as American citizens) view the Asian culture and the beliefs of Asian men and women. This paper is about into how the culture of Asia has been changed because of the Buddhists believes. Also how their temples have shaped the way that we as Americans view Asian architecture or the kind of things that are in Asia that are because of Buddhism. Many different
Let’s celebrate the malleable reality (Jason Mraz, “Live High”). It is no secret that I am a ratty seventeen-year old girl, my opinions change like the seasons. In the Daoist religion, the Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi, rejects barriers. Daoists observe that most people see the world from their perspective and divide things into opposites and similarities. To attain understanding of the world, it is imperative to go beyond simple opposites. For Daoist philosophers, change is not necessarily change, but adaptation. Basic Daoist teachings suggest paranormal and normal are not opposite, but relative.
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.
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.
E. Preview Main Points: Today we will take an in-depth look at the beliefs of the Four Noble Truths and Karma and the customs of meditation and the Sacred Mandela. We will also explore its history in India and of Buddha, and how the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh have truly shaped this life changing religion.
My interviewee Tony Khanna, a fellow co-worker, took me to his temple he goes to worship, on a Sunday evening. He took me to the Sri Meenakshi Devasthanam located in Pearland, Texas. The first thing I noticed upon arrival at the temple is the beautiful architectural building design outside. I was in amazement of how beautiful the temple was. I had not seen something so beautiful in quite awhile. The temple is visible from a quite a distance away and has two stunning white towers. When coming up to the temple from the parking lot Tony indicated to me that the temple was established in 1977 and was a replica of a famous temple in India. There was a huge white gate we had to walk through to get to the main temple. Once inside I was greeted by many Hindu's that were quite pleasant and talkative towards this outsider that I was. Before the visit one of my questions to Tony was if Hindu's welcomed outsiders within their temples. He indicated that Hindu's are very open and that I would be welcomed. I was quite surprised for this to be so true. With in the confines of the temple there were many different kinds of symbols that I was not quite familiar with. A couple that I noted was a Diya, Om, and Swastika. There were