Temple Analysis

When I first arrived at the temple, I was a bit confused but everything went smoothly because of the friendly staffs. The first thing I noticed was the tranquility inside the temple. As it is a place with the emphasis on meditation, they make sure that temple is quite and peaceful without any distractions. Another notable thing was the smell of the incense that they offer to the Buddha. They explained that the aroma of incense, which is typically made from herbs, flowers and other natural sources, purifies the atmosphere and inspires us to develop a pure mind and it also creates a feeling of serenity. However, I find it to be a bit distracting as the incense produces a very strong smell. The structure of the temple was pretty simple and straightforward. …show more content…
He explained that it was founded by a prince in India. As a young boy, he was curious about the nature of human and their sufferings. As he developed the awareness that life brings with it sickness, aging and death, he began to search for a deeper understanding of the nature of human mind and ways to end the suffering. Thus, he achieved enlightenment and found a way to deal with the sufferings. It was called the four noble truth – suffering, the cause of suffering, the caseation of suffering and the path that leads to it. Shifu further explains that our sufferings are caused by the three poisons known as ignorance, anger and greed. He states that their temple practices the teaching of Buddha, in particular a school of Buddhism known as Zen or Chan. He explained that the essence of Zen Buddhism is that all human beings are potential Buddha, and that they have to look for the truth by themselves with the help of meditation. He also explained briefly about the life of the monk. He stated that the Buddha, his teachings - Dharma and the monks - Sangha, are the three jewels in the Buddhist traditions. The monks shave their head and wear a robe to be able to completely focus on the practice and teachings of Dharma. He also introduces us one of the basic meditation of Buddhism. He also explains about the significance of the Lotus symbol in Buddhism. He stated that although Lotus are usually found on muddy areas, they are able to still pure and clean. He give the analogy that we could also be like Lotus in this muddy