Reflection Paper On Hsi Lai Temple

Improved Essays
For the class’ field trip assignment, I chose to visit a Hsi Lai Temple. This temple is the largest temple in America and is modeled after Chinese style of architecture. Before I even entered the temple itself, I was impressed by it’s beauty. As soon as I walked up the stairs from the parking lot, I was amazed yet overwhelmed by the sheer size of the temple. There were many things to see during my visit, as the temple features a variety of facilities such as a Bodhisattva Hall, garden, tea room, art gallery, meditation hall, harmony hall, and memorial pagoda. While making my way around Hsi Lai Temple, I was greeted by kind volunteers and felt at peace due to the quiet ambiance, lingering smell of incense, beautiful statues, and breathtaking …show more content…
Hsi Lai Temple serves as a place of Buddhist practice and an education center for people who are interested in learning about Buddhism. Upon arriving at the temple, I encountered a gateway that lists the four universal vows of Buddhists: “to save all sentient beings, to eradicate delusion and stress, to study the boundless Dharma, and to attain supreme enlightenment.” These are the goals that Buddhism aims for its followers to achieve, in hopes that they will someday achieve enlightenment too. For those who are seeking enlightenment and require some guidance, they can visit Hsi Lai Temple’s Arhat Garden; this is where statues of the Eighteen Arhats are displayed. The Arhats are disciples of Buddha, they overcame what Buddha claimed in the second Noble Truth to be the root of all suffering: desire, anger, and ignorance. They obtained spiritual enlightenment by understanding Buddha’s teachings that “everything is an illusion created by the five senses.” Therefore, they rid themselves of all passions, desires, and attachments in life. Each Arhat had their own unique way of practicing Buddha’s teachings and now serve as inspirations for many Buddhist practitioners today. In the Bodhisattva Hall, there are statues of five Bodhisattvas who are believed to protect and serve others with love, kindness and compassion. This is where visitors go to pray for protection and find hope in their daily lives, as each Bhodisattva represents a virtue that is important to all Buddhists. The Main Shrine of Hsi Lai temple, known as the “Precious Hall of the Great Hero,” is dedicated to Sakyamuni Buddha. “Born as Prince Siddhartha Gautama, he left his privileged life at the age of twenty-nine to seek the cause of life’s suffering in hopes of finding an answer that would liberate it.” He is known as the spiritual teacher and the founder of Buddhism. Therefore, he is recognized as the

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Buddhism Dbq

    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Images, paintings and sculptures of Buddha are represented throughout second wave China. Other pieces of art depicted the Bodhi tree, Buddha’s footprints, the lotus, lions, and The Wheel of Law. Each other these different arts illustrated distinct meanings. For example, the lotus symbolizes pure Buddha nature and The Wheel of Law, which represented the Four Noble Truths. Historians see these different arts and know that Buddhism became extremely popular in China.…

    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mindful America Summary

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Buddhism has been impacted and shaped a variety of cultural and societal trends within the western world, often altering its teaching to appeal to a western audience. Within the book Mindful America: The Mutual Transformation of Buddhist meditation and American culture, Jeff Wilson analyzes how mindfulness has evolved from a Buddhist principle to a widely accepted cultural phenomenon in western culture. Chapter one, entitled “Meditating Mindfulness: How Does Mindfulness Reach America?” deal with how mindfulness transitioned from a traditional practice of ordained Buddhists to a cultural phenomenon, progressing and altering throughout the decades in America. Wilson, drawing upon the texts written by western Buddhist scholars and monks, argues…

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Through the continuous impacts of Buddhism it has encompassed the greater community with an understanding in principal spiritual teachings and practices, providing insight towards adherents path to enlightenment or Nirvana. Buddhism is the way of life that avoids the extremes of denial and indulgence and proposes a middle way (Noble Eightfold Path). A significant figure that contributes to the Buddhist teachings in the global community is his holiness the ‘Dalai Lama’ the manifestation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion a central figure who has made social, cultural and scriptual impacts in the Buddhist society. In the same way a crucial aspect of Buddhism is the understandings towards its stance on ethical teachings and the personal responsibility…

    • 1690 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    A simple look at Buddhism and its 2,500 year long history. Through careful research, Samuel Bercholz and Sherab Chödzin discuss multiple aspects of Buddha and Buddhism. This book covers Buddha's life and historical background. In addition, the book discusses Theravada, Mahayana, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhism explaining the similarities, differences, and origins of each. The text provides meditation instructions, an explanation of reincarnation, images of Buddhist art and architecture, as well as definitions for the plethora of terms related to Buddhism.…

    • 1171 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Buddha Sculpture Analysis

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Cultures are usually diffuse within close regions along with communication of travelers to local people. Just like the practice of Buddhism has travel through the silk road from India to many other countries such as China, Japan, Korea and even Thailand. Today, I will compare the Buddha sculpture from Indian culture to the Standing Buddha sculpture from the Thailand culture. Although both works of art are from different geography regions, we tend to think the two sculptures are very different in the way of the author portrays and depict the idea of Buddhism; however, these two arts have many similarities in forms, compositions and proportions. By identifying the similarities and differences, we can get a better understand on how do other regions in southeast Asia adopt the practice of Buddhism from India and merge…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In this paper, I discuss the Buddhist themes of change from The Noble Eightfoldpath portrayed in the film Groundhog Day and compare that to Buddhism as discussed in this course. In doing so, I use examples from the film and class readings to make points about my analysis. I chose this film because I this is one of my favorite old films that never fail to make me laugh. I also realized while watching the film that there are some Buddhist themes throughout the movie.…

    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It has been observed by (PN, Aztec Religion) that there are certain ways through which Native Americans were met by the Columbus that distinct with the one, which Cortes faced. The key aspect that both categories of Native Americans diverged was the technology, which they use in making houses, weapons, and architectural structures. However, the religious beliefs and practices of these two categories of Native Americans were engaged differently as it is evident in the offered narratives. Such aspects show that the two societies were distinct from each other with respect to practices as they engaged in with the level of knowledge (Jeremy, 77-98).…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For this assignment, I decided to visit the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) located in the city of Los Angeles next to the Japanese Village Plaza. I choose the JANM because my interviewee is Japanese and the museum may help me understand more about the Japanese’s culture than just researching about their culture online. The JANM is an important landmark to the Japanese community because it serves to educate the population, provide entertainment, and expose about the Japanese culture to the common man. The architecture is certainly something to behold. The structure is nothing short of art with modern esthetics, reflecting light and a positive energy; the interior is spacious, airy, and reminds me of a zen oasis.…

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dalai Lama Impact

    • 1172 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Dalai Lama, Temple Puja and Buddhist teachings involved in bioethics can all have an impact and influence the lives and decisions of people of the Buddhist community make. The Dalai Lama is a significant person in the Buddhist tradition due to him making buddhism accessible to the Western World, Promoting buddhism through outreach to other religions, simplifying and clarifying the buddhist teachings and promoting world peace in line with the eightfold path. These have allowed him to impact on the lives of Buddhist adherents. Similarly, there are buddhist teachings such as the Eightfold path, the Five precepts and Panatipata which use the history and teachings of the Buddha himself to help guide the current Buddhist adherents. The buddhist…

    • 1172 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Bioethics In Buddhism

    • 1512 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The worship and teachings of Buddhism has had a significant impact on individuals and the wider Buddhist community. Buddhism claims to be a way of life that avoids the extremes of denial and indulgence and proposes a middle way. This is a key tenet that all adherents must follow, in order to achieve nirvana, the ultimate goal for all Buddhists. Subsequently, there are many teachings and practices which guide Buddhist followers on how to live a life in attaining nirvana, that affect people individually and society as a whole. The significant practice of Temple Puja and the teachings by the Buddhist texts, principles, the XIVth Dalai Lama and the Buddha himself, guide and outline adherents on issues that may impact upon their path of enlightenment…

    • 1512 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hsi Lai Temple Analysis

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Hsi Lai Temple is in 3456 Glenmark Dr, Hacienda Heights. Temple was extremely bright, flamboyant and temple itself was adorned with diverse monuments, letters, and flowers. When I position myself beneath the entrance of temple, I can observe entire Orange County cities. Entrance of Hsi Lai Temple was decorated with four different scriptures. First sculpture that is written on the right corner of the entrance is word Greed.…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Tipitaka, or as Buddhists refer to it, The Three Baskets, are a number of scriptures from which Theravada Buddhism develops. These ThreeBaskets refer to the three receptacles that contained the scrolls form which the Buddha’s sermons and teachings were originally written andconserved. The Three Baskets consist of Sutra (Discourse Basket) ,Abhidarma (Higher Knowledge and Special Teachings Basket), andVinaya (Rules and Regulations). Within the Three Baskets, there is the Sutra whichcontains the teachings of the Buddha.…

    • 450 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Magnificent Monument Memorializing an event/ or person is a brilliant idea that has spread globally and is continuously being used generation after generation. When observing a monument, many people do not understand the complexity behind the whole construction of the grand piece. One simply does not construct a masterpiece without putting any thought and effort into the process. In order for one to conceive an outstanding monument the physical location, architecture, and the purpose behind the whole idea of why a certain person/ or event should be memorialized, shall be taken into deep consideration when establishing a monument.…

    • 847 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “First Buddhist Women,” is a Therigatha book comprised of many poems describing how women of different caste found enlightenment through Buddhism. The written works in this books were once passed down orally and then finally written down in the first century B.C.E.. They center around the teaching of Siddhartha Gautama, the man born into a Sakyan chief’s family who would become the Buddha. Gautama wished to seek a way out of suffering, birth, old age, and death. In his efforts he established a new religion called Buddhism.…

    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Buddhism’s founder, Siddharta Guatama, had four powerful sightings that moved him, which led to the findings of Buddhism’s marks of existence. At the age of 29, Gautama saw an old man, who was disabled by age; a sick man, disabled by disease; a dead man; and a poor man, who was still contented. He realized…

    • 1383 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics