The International Buddhist Temple in Richmond, BC.
As you can probably tell from my blog, I love learning new things about religions. Taking Religious Studies courses in university has enabled me to learn so much about religious traditions that I did not know much about before, such as Hinduism and Buddhism. However, while learning about a religion from a scholarly, 'outside-looking-in' perspective does have its advantages, it also has several limitations. It is sometimes hard to understand exactly how a particular religion is practiced by its followers on a daily basis, and what it means to those people. How can you picture priests chanting in Sanskrit and smell the thick odour of incense without actually going to a Hindu temple yourself?
So this year I've been trying to experience religions first hand by actually visiting temples and places of spiritual practice. I visited two different Hindu temples this spring, but I had also been yearning to go to a Buddhist temple. I find Buddhism to be very interesting and alluring, but also very confusing (the whole 'no-soul' doctrine just escapes my grasp...). This past semester I took a Buddhism in China course, and we were supposed to go visit the International Buddhist (or "Guan Yin") Temple in Richmond, but didn't; and so I decided to go this summer to really experience Buddhism for myself.
So, on a sunny Saturday morning in June my girlfriend and I drove out to Richmond to go to the Saturday dharma talk and meditation at the International Buddhist Temple. This temple follows the Mahayana tradition, which is prevalent today in China, Korea and Japan. The temple is pretty extensive, consisting of a classical Chinese garden, two main courtyards, and several halls. We found the meditation hall, where women sat on the right-hand side facing the middle, and men sat on the left. At the front of the hall sat the person leading the meditation, and behind him were three statues of Gautama Buddha (the historical Buddha). The man leading the meditation and talk explained that he was not an ordained Buddhist monk, but a lay follower. Nonetheless, he was still wearing the traditional clothing of a monk.
The first meditation we did was a simple breathing exercise, where we focused on mindfulness, by paying attention to our breathing and on relaxing our entire body, starting from the top of our heads and moving down. This was meant to anchor us in the present. We had to then try to empty our minds, acknowledging thoughts that might cross our minds, but not dwelling on them. I have done this type of meditation before, but since I am not a regular practitioner it is still challenging to completely block of all thinking. It was also one of the longest meditations I have ever experienced - it literally felt like an eternity before he hit the gong! The next meditation we did was a walking meditation, which involved everyone walking in a circle around the hall; slower walkers on the outside and faster walkers on the inside.
After walking around for about a quarter of an hour, we were given a booklet with some 'sutras' and chants written inside, and together we recited the Heart Sutra (an important Buddhist scripture), as well as a description of the 'Five Aggregates' (form, sensation, perception, mental formations, consciousness). Thereafter we chanted one or two pieces of Buddhist scripture. When this was done, the man leading the session gave a talk on Buddhism. I especially enjoyed this, not only because I was hearing about Buddhism from an actual Buddhist, but because all the other temples I have been to have only talked in other languages (the most I've gotten from listening to a message from a Hindu priest was one line in English: "Everything is impermanent, except for devotion to God"!). This man gave an amazing introduction to Buddhism, acutely summing up everything I've learned about Buddhism in about an hour or so! It was literally "Buddhism 101". He talked about the Four Noble Truths (life is suffering, suffering is caused by desire, if we stop desire we will stop suffering, we stop suffering by following the Eightfold Path), went over the Eightfold Path, and explained how one becomes a monk.
He also talked about Buddhist philosophy, and mentioned some things that I found were particularly insightful and beneficial. The first was about compassion: He said that being sympathetic to someone gave you power over them, or put you above them; meaning meant that you are in fact looking down on them. Being compassionate however, he explained, means bringing yourself down to their level, being equal, and understanding that you are just as capable of suffering what they are suffering. Another thing he told us was that it was silly to hate war/injustice. He said that this hate only breeds negative thoughts/attitudes in oneself, and does not affect those causing the injustice (and in many cases that hatred is actually what they really want). Instead, we should focus on loving peace, and acknowledge that we have the potential to act just as atrociously as those we despise.
Once the talk had concluded, we wandered around the temple grounds for a bit.We looked inside the Main Gracious Hall (shown above), where a traditional Buddhist ceremony/worship was taking place. In this hall were five enormous Buddha and Bodhisattva statues. According to wikipedia, the statue of the Buddha in this hall is the largest in North America! Across from this hall was a giant statue of Avalokitesvara - the deity of great compassion - with multiple arms and eyes.
So this was my surreal experience at an authentic Buddhist temple. 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. Isn't it normal to have some desire? I agree that there are many things that we want and have in our modern society that we really don't need, but is it so wrong to want to enjoy a delicious mocha every once in a while? But, while I might not be converting to Buddhism anytime soon, 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 valuable.
If you are interested in the International Buddhist Temple, check out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Buddhist_Temple
http://www.buddhisttemple.ca/index.php?lang=en
(The Dharma Talk and Meditation is every Saturday from 9am-11am).
