A Buddhist Experience
Tucked away on a side street in Charlotte, North Carolina is a Buddhist temple. For a moment you may be fooled, and think that you have somehow been transported from Charlotte, to a small town in Asia; you would not expect to see a building like this in an American city. But, before I tell you about what the building looks like, and what it was like to be inside of a structure of such beauty, I am going to give you a brief background on my personal religious affiliation. I was born into a Christian home; my parents had been saved several years before I was in the picture. I grew up attending either a Baptist church, or a non-denominational church. My personal relationship with Jesus began when I was seven years old; I knew at that young age that I was a sinner, and I wanted to accept Jesus as my Lord and savior. I remember realizing that on the top bunk of my bed while my mom was going through clothes on the floor with my little sister when I told her I wanted to be baptized. I was baptized in the Jordan lake located in Raleigh, North Carolina. Although we are not Jewish, my family and I currently attend a messianic congregation. We have always had a heart for the Jewish and Israel, so getting to worship our creator with them on the Sabbath is pretty special to us. Now, back to my …show more content…
Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama in the sixth century before common era; Gautama proposed it as a middle way between extreme asceticism and worldliness. Gautama taught that people are bound to life by desire and craving, and the only way to break free of that bond is to stop desiring. Buddhism, unlike Hinduism, does not sacrifice to, or worship gods. Buddhists believe that release from the suffering of this life comes from personal effort, therefore, gods have no relevance to them. The Buddhist religion is a fascinating one, and its place of worship is a magnificent
Tucked away on a side street in Charlotte, North Carolina is a Buddhist temple. For a moment you may be fooled, and think that you have somehow been transported from Charlotte, to a small town in Asia; you would not expect to see a building like this in an American city. But, before I tell you about what the building looks like, and what it was like to be inside of a structure of such beauty, I am going to give you a brief background on my personal religious affiliation. I was born into a Christian home; my parents had been saved several years before I was in the picture. I grew up attending either a Baptist church, or a non-denominational church. My personal relationship with Jesus began when I was seven years old; I knew at that young age that I was a sinner, and I wanted to accept Jesus as my Lord and savior. I remember realizing that on the top bunk of my bed while my mom was going through clothes on the floor with my little sister when I told her I wanted to be baptized. I was baptized in the Jordan lake located in Raleigh, North Carolina. Although we are not Jewish, my family and I currently attend a messianic congregation. We have always had a heart for the Jewish and Israel, so getting to worship our creator with them on the Sabbath is pretty special to us. Now, back to my …show more content…
Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama in the sixth century before common era; Gautama proposed it as a middle way between extreme asceticism and worldliness. Gautama taught that people are bound to life by desire and craving, and the only way to break free of that bond is to stop desiring. Buddhism, unlike Hinduism, does not sacrifice to, or worship gods. Buddhists believe that release from the suffering of this life comes from personal effort, therefore, gods have no relevance to them. The Buddhist religion is a fascinating one, and its place of worship is a magnificent