Cultural Immersion Experience

Hi, my name is

Lydia Salinas. And this is my presentation on um the

Cultural Immersion project. My minority group that I picked was

um

the religion of Buddhism.

And these are the four elements

learned

and I will be using prey

for um this presentation.

Um

So,

as stated by Cook, um in 2021

Buddhism is a set of teachings and practices

set forth by the South Asian spiritual master.

Um Gaut

Thas

Siddartha um excuse my, if I mispronounce it.

Um

And the first element

that um

that I think was a,

a big takeaway from this um immersive uh multicultural project was

um the theory of liberation from worldly suffering and the cycle of um

rebirth.

What?

Um so,

oh, what is meant by this is um

So Buddhism is a religion that was started by its founder

Thomas Siddartha during the fifth century BCE.

Um

and it's has uh a set of beliefs and attitudes centered around

the liberation of this worldly suffering,

worldly suffering and the cycle of rebirth, which is known as Samarra

um in order to attain

nirvana, which is salvation uh marked by the liberation of worldly sins.

Um these sins are described as um greed, which is um named Rava,

a version which is named uh de

de

and ignorance, which is named uh Moha

Buddhism is known to be a world religion,

meaning um that its reach has spread widely throughout the world's continents.

Um And it has a set of uh the second element was the principles and focus of values. Um

So,

um

according to Stanley Tamia,

1970

Buddhism highlights three principal focuses of that or values and practices.

Um observ observed throughout the,

throughout the practice of this religion.

The first value and principle is merit making

or as it's known,

comedic Buddhism.

The second uh principle value is the rituals of protection or a apotropaic

Buddhism.

The third is practices of mental clarification or Neni

Buddhism.

And then the third element

um is

the continuity and Buddhism and the three Jews.

Um So, there is great diversity found in the, in the Buddhist practice.

However, um there are concepts in this religion that are deeply rooted and

um

these form the foundation um for its practice

as Cook. Um And Joanna 2021 stated

the Buddha, the Dharma and the sta

are known as the three jewels of Buddhism.

These are the first practice and rituals in which a

person first encounters a religion takes part in it.

And these are recognized across all variations

and traditions of the Buddhist practice.

So, as stated um before the three jewels are the Buddha,

the Dharma and the Sanga.

So

the Buddha

refers to um

the founder

um which is Si Siddhartha

Gautama.

Um

The Dharma is the practice to um

stay close to its community and its members. Um

And this, I'm sorry,

the Dharma is uh consists of the teachings of the

Buddha and then the Sanga is the community practitioners.

So,

um

these three rules are the first practices um that a person um,

begins to practice in the religion.

Um,

and then the four noble truths are at the core of the Buddha's first sermon in

the Deer Park in Sarna.

Um, the Buddha,

um, which was Siddartha

first, um,

decided to leave his home and start practicing,

um,

what is now known as Buddhism and this is where he gives his first sermon.

It's called the Buddhist first sermon in the Deer Park in Sarna.

Um,

and, um,

that is when he talks about the four noble truths.

Mhm.

Next, we have the second topic which is the topic of, um,

history, the, the historical context of, uh Buddhism.

Um, and how, um, Buddhism got its, um origin.

So, um, Siddartha Gautama

is the founder, um, and he lived in the fifth century BCE, um, in Lumbini,

now, President Day Nepal near the Indian border.

Um, he was born into power and his father was a local ruler and a person of, um,

who enjoyed many riches.

Um,

however,

Gautama was not absolved from, uh, despite his upbringing.

And despite uh coming from a place of uh

uh royalty and higher power,

he was not absolved from observing the suffering of human existence.

Um following an event that served to leave a lifelong impact on his life.

And this would influence his teachings and development of this religion.

Yeah.

Um According to Cook, um and Joanna

2021

Gautama faced an encounter with an old ill and uh dead human being.

Um This um encounter had an impact, a very significant impact on him, which then

was the cost that propelled him to flee his role of royalty

to uh quote, devote himself to the pursuit of spiritual liberation.

Um So when Siddarth

Siddhartha

Gautama was um

raised in a uh and um educated

um towards becoming a part of um

his father's um

local ruling and um

you know, be prepared to hold power and be in a position of power.

However, he came in contact with um this older

uh ill and a dead human being. His um he immediately changed everything

and decided to um

essentially escaped from his role as a ruler and uh quote unquote,

devoted himself to the pursuit of spiritual liberation.

He achieved this liberation in modern day

Bihar in India.

Um where, where, as previously mentioned, he gave the speech, preaching,

preaching the foundational tenets of Buddhism,

which are known to be um the four noble truths,

three events and um key lessons,

uh

three events and key lessons.

So um my first encounter ever was uh at the Buddhist Temple.

Um It was a Buddhist ceremony that I attended which

um was approximately 30 minutes from where um I live at the Fat

Temple,

uh Fat Bao Temple in Mission Texas.

Um It was a, a typical Buddhist service. Um The Fat Bao Temple

um has uh the, their, a motto in Crypt or a written in their um

website called,

where they aim to help others build a lasting partnership with Buddhism.

Um According to the Fat

Temple,

um

I uh while I was there, I observed and practice um

um by having several or other Buddhists um sit cross like on cushions on the floor.

Um They were facing the statue of the Golden Buddha.

Um Most of the room was occupied.

Um There was um

no space and all of the seating was um

um

all of the Buddhist um members um

were paying their respects by facing the Golden Buddha

which um

uh upon looking at the statue. Um You could tell that it was adorned

with um

incense all around it and offerings like candles and flowers.

Um After everybody was uh had taken a seat,

um the sound of a gong played and everybody stood up.

Um and then a,

a monk um based on his attire of the long uh Rob

uh entered the room and they began to lead the service.

People took an initial bow. I I followed um to the golden Buddhist statue

and then mantras and sacred chants um in their, in the

Southern Southern Southeastern language followed it.

Um The bowing was consistent and um it lasted throughout the entire period

or the

direct the duration of the service um accompanied

by chanting and burning of the incense.

Um And then there was a hitting uh uh of a wooden object

that was in rhythm with the sacred chanting and mantras throughout the service.

Um

Throughout the service,

we were also made to stand up uh keep bowing and kneeling to the Buddha

and uh chanting mantras.

Um

And uh the key lessons that I learned here were um

at

first, I was um

I had a little bit of anxiety and I was uh

a bit nervous uh coming in and observing

a practice that was uh very, that seemed very natural um to all of the prac practice,

practicing Buddhists.

Um

But I uh it really helped me to broaden my horizons um and to

um learn to be more

accepting and open minded of other people's cultures.

Um The second service was also the second um that was also a Buddhist service at the

same uh temple since there was a limited resource as to other temples I could seek.

Um this second time around though I felt more welcomed and more familiar and

knowledgeable about the service's progress and the

chance um observed throughout the ceremony.

Um And during the second ceremony, I was able to participate more fluently.

Um I was able to follow all of the movements, the bowing down. Um

I was able to follow a little bit of the chat. Um

I was given a paper with um some um

ways to pronounce the chat.

Um And the second time around I sat in front of the Golden Buddha

was a bit closer, so I was better able to appreciate the statue.

Um It was a statue of a Buddha in a sitting position with its hands placed in front

um in a prayer position with its eyes closed and um

a calm demeanor on the face.

Um The second time around, I was also able to do more research.

Um And uh

uh was able to see how the statue represents a human form to

remind us that humans can realize the truth according to Midwest Buddhist Temple.

Um a summary of the organization, um It was very respectful.

There was a culture of respect and um

I would not say adoration but a lot of admiration for the Buddha and its practices.

Um And it's at its core, it's about um

leaving

um

other worldly,

I guess, quote unquote since. Um and um doing a lot of self um

reflection, it was very immersive and engaging as well.

Everybody was engaged uh chanting, bowing down.

Um And following this uh ritual practice throughout the entire session,

um It was very culturally rich as Well, it was a very culturally rich um experience.

Mhm.

Um Like I had mentioned,

I felt a little bit anxious but um as I

progressed through the first service and throughout the second service,

I was able to become immersed and I felt um

more welcomed by everyone

and at ease.

Um And the practical applications of um

of this uh practice was um

being able to apply uh C BT or cognitive behavioral therapy,

um which focuses on

um.

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