A Visit to a Buddhist Temple
A visit to a Buddhist temple for a service is a chance for a new experience and to expand personal cultural horizons. I approached with an open mind on learning and experiencing what exactly the service had to offer. The service started at 9:30 and was very quiet. People just came in and knelt on the floor or sat in benched towards the back of the room. The front of the room was open and most people just went up and sat or knelt on the floor. There were some alters to a few gods. There were flowers, candles and incense burning at the front of the room. The service opened up with one and half hours of meditation.
A time for reflection and prayer. At about 11:00 one of the monks went to the front and knelt facing the congregation. People sat up and faced him. The monk gave a long talk on the feelings of others and how we all should be considerate of those feelings. He spoke on the source of strength as the time one spends in meditation. He spoke for nearly an hour. (Brooke). Then several monks began chanting and coming from the back of the temple and marched to the front – others from the congregation began to join them. They were carrying various flowers, vegetables and incense burners.
Some were also carrying incense which was not burning yet. hey replaced the older flowers with fresh and put food around the alter. They also put out more incense. When finished people began leaving. That was the entire service lasted about three hours. The people are very reflective on how they impact those around them. It was nice to see how other cultures worship. I was glad to take part and visit this new world. Bibliography Brooke, Cynthia. “Heartland Sangha: American Buddhism. ” Heartland Sangha: What is they do? 1. 108 Aug 2001 1. 19 Feb 2009 <http://www. heartlandsangha. org/>.
