Religious Service Experience Essay

Superior Essays
Growing up in a Mexican American household, most likely one is to be raised Catholic. Therefore, as a young boy it became ordinary to follow and believe in what my parents instilled in me. Furthermore, I never had the courage to explore any other religion and get a sense of what other religions are about. However, now that I am taking Social Work 461 with Dr. Tillman, one of my assignments is to attend a religious service that is held by a group that is different from mine. As a result, I decided to attend a Buddhist temple to get an insight of what the Buddhist religion is about. One of the reasons why I chose to attend a Buddhist as oppose to any other religion was because of friend of mine who is Buddhist. I have always been curious about the Buddhist religion. In addition, my friend has invited me to attend a …show more content…
Therefore, I believe that the experience that I got after having visited the Buddhist temple has only added to my learning. I learned that every temple is different with different services, routines, chants, etc. More Importantly, there are still parts of Buddhism that I am unsure about, such as the whole 'no soul ' doctrine, and the fact that you have to eliminate desire completely. I agree that there are many things that we want and have in our modern society that we really do not need, but is it so wrong to wish for something or look forward to something. However, I still believe there is a lot to gain from it. From my experience Buddhism has always emphasized the importance of living and being in the present moment, which has been influential on me, especially since I am prone to analyzing the past and worrying about the future. This philosophy of being in the present, as well as the meditation practices that go with it, have helped me to live more in the present. Furthermore, as I mentioned earlier, the Buddhist philosophy of compassion, and loving peace instead of hating war, are also incredibly

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