BUDDHIST TEMPLE

BUDDHIST TEMPLE

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 …show more content… 

Behind the main temple was another small courtyard was two smaller buildings for worship to the left and the right of the courtyard. Another large building was to the back which looked fairly newly built. It seemed to be a place of serving food that contained no meat but some sort of meat substitute that was not artificially made from what the servers were telling me. Then to the right of that building was a small warehouse that looked to house desks and whiteboards for the weekly Vietnamese classes that are being held there. Outside of the warehouse was a basketball goal for the students that would come for Sunday school, and a small parking lot for more visitors. As I took off my shoes before entering the main temple before the first worship session began, I began to feel a sense of peace within myself as well those that were attending the worship session. Inside the main temple was a huge statue of Buddha surrounded with white silhouettes of the Lotus flower, which seems to be the symbol of peace. Tens of incense jars filled with sand litter the alter the room. The room smelled like incense, pleasant and peaceful. There were twenty rows of small cushions that were used for kneeling and sitting, and twenty rows of small raised shelves that were used for holding the prayers that were going to be recited during that session. People were filling the room really quickly, and seats were being taken.