Hindu Temple

Today I visited a Hindu Temple in Riverside. This experience really opened my eyes to the reality of people's devotion and practice. Today's experience was the first time I have been to any kind of religious congregation or prayer. First of all I have to say that I felt bad for being there, the whole time I found that I was just analyzing what they were doing and trying to understand why? These people really believe that if they throw flowers at a little statue, "wash" it, "cloth" it, and "feed" it that the spirit will come and bless them with its presence? That the gods will answer their prayers or bless them because they go through these motion? I felt bad because it just seemed like an idea that started out with good intention and most likely a very scared ceremony, but as preformed today I think that nothing was accomplished. Basically I blame the priest.
This priest was a man that I don't think I could ever show respect for and therefore it was hard to try to focus on his teachings. Personally when I'm really trying to learn I like to be talked to as a person with a decent understanding of the world. This guy even said that he was teaching 2nd grade basics of Hinduism... and then proceeded to speak as if he were talking to a group of 2nd graders. I think I completely discredited him once he started making gestures of a blow fish face with a huge round belly, showing a pregnant woman. How do you show respect for a man like this, especially for someone that is suppose to give you spiritual guidance. The funny part was that he was speaking as if focused towards the children yet he emphasized the fact that they had a library to put the children during this part of the meeting. Maybe he just assumed that we Redlands students had the same intelligence as 2nd graders since we were not well known in the practices of Hinduism. I truly felt bad for the people who came and look at this guy as a way to learn more about their religion, not saying that he doesn't know a lot but just the fact that he's not intellectual about the way he goes about his teachings. I was really looking forward to listening to how they view life and interpret ideas and opinions but instead it seemed more like 'story time' in grade school.
Overall i felt very welcomed and included in the whole ceremony. The priest did a good job of helping us understand what they were saying and why. For awhile I watched people walk around to the various shrines and give a prayer or offering. Being the terrible person that I am all I could think of was that who was going around after everyone left and collecting these gifts. Which is one of my problems with organized religions. I don't think people should benefit off of others worship. But I guess the church or temple needs to stay in business somehow.
Anyways what I was trying to say is that the whole experience just was hard for me to take in. I have a hard time reasoning the same way that these people do, but I felt no need to ridicule them for it. I'm very thankful that everyone has their own ideas and beliefs, in which the rest of us are able to learn from. The lesson I learned today was that even if an action makes no sense, if it helps a person in their troubles then it should be done.

Devotion

Everyone is devoted to something. Whether it be music, sport, family, religion..ect. We all find something to identify ourselves with. In doing so we create this connection between ourselves and whatever we hold dear. By doings so the actions and effects of these aspects of our lives impact us in a way that defines who we are. Upon losing these valued beliefs we loose part of ourselves, we have less to identify ourselves with. Religion is found and modified throughout everyones life. Events occur that change our perception of the world. We are unable to view it how it once was and sometimes in the worse cases are unable to live with the new realization. Becoming overwhelmed with the idea of the past and how things were can destroy us, make us believe that things should be different. No matter what happens in our lives we need to understand that things are constantly changing and that we need to accept the change, notice the bad and exploit the good.

In the movie Water, we see the freedom of a young girls life taken from her at age seven. No longer is there hope and promise in her life, but instead shame and poverty. All of this is a product of cultural influence, the destructive forces the societies ideals have on the individual. Once a person is cast out of society who would stay and live a life that was forced upon them. It was unknown if the girl held those Hindu beliefs but yet she had to live under those conditions due to lack of independence. She didn't know any better and was unable to seek a life that best suited her. Chuiya kept asking to return home, which is evidence that she did not hold the same ideals as the rest of the widows. How was she suppose to conform to a life that she herself was not devoted to? As a society, forcing ideals onto others should be what we are most ashamed of. Allowing people to live for what they are loyal to should be a driving effort in every community. I hope all of us try to provoke others to live based on their own beliefs, instead of ridiculing them for their differences.

The Meaning of Life

First of all I think there is no meaning to human existence. I don't believe in a divine plan for our being alive. If we were to have some purpose for our lives it would be well defined, we would have figured it out by now. During the readings for class there was a part explaining that whether we die rich and powerful, or penniless and friendless there is no difference. If we were created for a point then I feel as though there would be some sign of it. But many of us just devote our lives to enjoyment and living for pleasure as the Hindus believe.
Religion in many ways solves people's problems with the unknown. People want answers to life's questions so they turn to believe in a greater being as to put their trust in. I don't understand how you would give up your own search for answers and instead just believe that it will all work out because someone else is in control. Don't confuse that I think we are able to understand everything about the world around us, yet I think we won't learn more if we stop looking. It is human nature to follow a leader, those who lack leadership or believe in another's ideas more then their own are destined to follow. Children are brought up learning to follow rules and standard imprinted upon them, in this way they also follow in their spiritual ideals. Its widely known that its easier to follow then lead, this is why we praise leadership in our society. But more we should praise those with new ideas and force others to think about their basis of ideas.
If there is a meaning to life then it seems as though we aren't suppose to know it. many think there needs to be a meaning to their life before they die to feel as though they have done something. In the end it won't matter. Yes you can impact people still alive and make life easier or better for them but does that really matter for your own benefit. Maybe our purpose is to work together as to constantly better our situation and quality of life. This is what most people try to accomplish everyday, at work or at home. Therefore people should focus less on their own purpose and look towards the whole human race. How we can help each other to be a success as a whole, to make everyone's life meaningful to someone?

Prayer

Recently I watch the movie the "Number 23." In it there was a line that said something to the effect that "People pray so that god will answer their prayers." I disagreed with this statement. If the only reason that people pray is so that God will do favors for them then that doesn't seem right. Also it is obvious that usually we don't receive what we pray for. Praying has a much more spiritual and cognitive effect then just asking for something.

Mostly I think prayer is wishful thinking. Stating your feelings so that they are known to you and to God. When a prayer is sent out the person usually feels at peace with their problem or worries. I think that we pray as to set a point of what we think should happen and for the benefit of ourselves. Even when we pray for good towards others it is usually because we want goodness for them so that they are more enjoyable people and have a good effect on ourselves. All prayer is, is coming to terms with our own feelings and our own thoughts on a topic, of what we think should be done. Whether or not God is listening or chooses to comply with our demands doesn't matter. We feel better after prayer because we know where we stand and have resolved our own thoughts on the matter.

Prayer can also be used a sort of a link between a person and their beliefs. Communication with others through our own thought process is a little much to ask. Not all people vocalize their prayer which implies that we believe that we are heard without sound but with feeling. Even so why should we have to make a formalized prayer to be heard. Should it be known that we have problems everyday and always are hopeful towards the best. Maybe all this wishful thinking is overloaded and can be blurred together with what we really feel is important.

I believe that a prayer does good for people allowing them to focus on their true feelings and really think out what they want and why. This does more for the person then having them wait for God to answer, for they are able to work out the problem based on their own thoughts. As for things out of our control, I guess it doesn't hurt to try in case someone is listening...

Death

a) Relate the death of a loved one or friend and the main emotions you
felt as a result of his or her death. (An option may be to remember a funeral
you attended and relate what happened there.).


Death is my only real connection with religion. I care what happens to my loved ones when they pass away. More recently this has impacted me due to the death of all my grandparents within two years. All I could feel was shock, to lose someone that was so connected to your being was the toughest thing I have ever been through. I felt like I lost self identity, self confidence and some of my sense of belonging. Without growing up with a religious background I found that in my family is where I felt my core. I identified everything in myself with those people related to me.
The most difficult death was of my hero, my grandmother. My fathers mom was the most amazing person I ever knew. Growing up I viewed her as indestructible, but at she got older and sicker I never lost that sense that she was above death. The day she died I was completely lost in life, I lost the reason to become the person I always wanted to be. Over a period of time I realized that she would have wanted the same things for me after her death as she did while she was still alive. I try my best now to honor those wishes and try to become somewhat like the person she was. The idea of her is spiritual to me, it is what I value the most.
During her death I would say I had the most thoughts about religion and what was to happen once we pass on. I believe that although many of my family members have passed on they still have an influence in this world by the way they impacted us. I can't explain what I believe will happen after death. All I know is that there is nothing to be scared of and that I hope to influence someone else as greatly as those before me have impacted me.

Science and Religion

On Wed. Sept. 12th Dr. Townes, Nobel Prize winner in Physics, gave a lecture on Science and Religion. His own beliefs being babtist, his main opinion was that science and religion are converging. Dr. Townes point of view was that science and religion are much more similar then people think. As time goes on we are learning more and more about the world, as well as more of what is still unknown. He compared ideas that are seen to pertain to one area as being a focus for both; such as the siectific method, faith and experiments. Sowing that on a daily basis people test their faith by trying experiments. This will show them if there is a reason to believe. His definition of the two topis were;
Science~ "Attempt to understand how the universe works"
Religion~ "Attempt to understand purpose and meaning in the universe"
His talk in summary was ment to purswade people to keep an open mind, not be set on chosing either science or religion but to try to understand both.

Dr. Townes disscussion was influential because it showed the wrong of everyone. We all have set beliefs wheather they are towards scientific findings or religious history. Everyone believes in something and feels attached to it, enough to defend it. Yet by creating this wall of defining ourselves we force out other information that could change our beliefs. Myself I don't like having religious discussion with people because it creates such tension and is hard to have a civilized conversation when you are violating someone's beliefs. Dr. Townes himself said that he doesn't think what we know now should be set, that both religion and science are evolving. How can we set our beliefs on what was known thousands of years ago. It seems as though in the science perspective there is more of a willingness to accept change then in the religious view. I cannot justify this with my little knowledge of religion but it seems that most beliefs are the same today as they were hundreds of years ago. This makes things harder to understand if we figure we already know everything. Research i s what keeps our society growing and advancing, hopefully this is true in a person's religious understanding as well.
I agree with Dr. Townes that everyone should keep thier eyes open and search for discoveries in science and religion to futher our understanding of the universe and it's meaning.

Growing up with Religions

I never formally grew up in a religious setting. I have never been to church or ever heard a sermen. My parents both grew up with somewhat of a religious background, my mother more so then my dad. My mom's family is very into their churches, her brother and sister being a little too closed minded. I think that kept our relationship distant. My cousin and I were fairly close growing up but then once she reached high school she became annoyed at my beliefs and stopped associating with me. This was a shock for me, religion should be about love and family values. But in this case it tore our family apart. This is being a little harsh but it has truth behind it. Things like this have given me a bad prospect on religion. I couldn't be a part of a group that would potential separate me from society or the people I care about. Organized religion keeps this order of segregation from human traits of being part of a group and defending that group from strangers. This goes against the whole purpose of religion and therefore I find it hypocritical. One's own beliefs should be maintain though study and aide but in the masses I think it creates more problems then are intended.

Fear in Religion

Today while reading about world religions, I found that fear is a very common theme. I believe that many people are pressured into a religion as the result of fear. Fear of the unknown and what might happen if they refuse to accept the religion. People are always fearful of the unknown and therefore become weak to the beliefs of others.

I remember one of my closest childhood friends grew up in a super religious family. She was the only person I knew that had never been to McDonald's, but that's besides the point. She was keep under a tight watch and whenever she disobeyed her parents a harsh punishment was immediately inflicted upon her. I grew up watching this lively, free-thinking girl turn into a conservative woman with few thoughts of her own. Her sense of self was totally erased due to her conditioning to become exactly the same as her mother. I blame these changes on her parents scorn of any diffent thoughts she had on life. Eventually she was driven away from our friendship due to her belief that I was going to hell, this statement she rehearsed to me many times. I think this is a clear sign of her own fear of going to hell which kept her intimate with Christianity. I futile attempt she brought me with her to Awana Christian group, helping kids learn about the bible. I was only twelve but had noticed that during group conversation my thoughts were different from the group of kids where theirs was quite complementary. They all had grown up in the same settings and no longer held and of their own beliefs for themselves.

This story is not told to show negativity towards a religious group, but instead to show that some people are forced into beliefs against their will. This is my major problem with religion. One's beliefs should be synthesized on their own accord and be true to who they are. Otherwise they are living a lie, no one can believe something if its not in their own ideals, therefore there's no point living as if they do. If there is a God he will know that the person never really believed and so why force yourself, or worse yet, force your religion on others?