RELIGIOUS SITE VISIT ANALYSIS 1 Example of “A” Religious Site Visit Analysis Alexandra I. Florida International University RELIGIOUS SITE VISIT ANALYSIS 2 Setting I attended a Buddhist Meditation Service. Through speaking to one of the attendees I learned there were two types of service in the week. One was a meditation service and the other is called a Dharma talk. A Dharma talk is a public teaching of Buddhism. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend that service. The meditation, although simple, was still very interesting. When I first arrived to the building it did not seem like much. It was plain on the outside and looked just like any other building. I was completely amazed when I walked in. There was an enormous golden Buddha that immediately caught my eye. He was at the center of the temple. In front of him were various bronze candle holders with lighted candles. On each side, there were large bouquets of pink flowers. In front of this area there were three very small tables. They were from the floor to about mid-calf. Three mats laid in front of the tables. Throughout the beige carpet floor were mats lined in rows. There were wooden poles around the room and the walls and roof were made of stone. On the roof between stone were rows of red and white floral tiles. Hanging from the roof were pink and white flower lanterns with a banner that had Chinese writing attached to the end of it. On the sides of the room there were tables with arrangements of candles and flowers. Most of the people I saw were Asian, mostly women and a few men, all middle aged or older. I also saw two American women and an American man around that seemed to be around their thirty’s. Everybody was dressed exactly the same. I felt very excluded. Everybody had light pink pants, a red shirt, and a mint green vest or jacket. The only ones dressed differently were three monks. They wore white robes with an orange sash. Everyone was wearing socks. It was a very small room. It felt very warm and welcoming. Service At the beginning of the service everybody was kneeling on the ground. Behind the setup of the Buddha and a bit to the left was a monk kneeling in front of a gong. He banged it a for a few minutes rhythmically. Then he walked behind and around the Buddha and came out the other side. When he reached the front, he grabbed a wooden fish and stick. He began to hit the fish with the stick at a very slow beat. Then the monk started to hum and the people followed. The humming was slow and deep. After about twenty seconds of slow beating, he would do four or five very fast beats and the people will bow. He walked around the room and between the people. When he reached the front the people stood and bowed. Two other monks went to the front mats with him. About four minutes later, they kneeled and bowed again. After this they continued humming and continued the cycle about 5 times within ten m.

1. RELIGIOUS SITE VISIT ANALYSIS 1
Example of “A” Religious Site Visit Analysis
Alexandra I.
Florida International University
RELIGIOUS SITE VISIT ANALYSIS 2
Setting
I attended a Buddhist Meditation Service. Through speaking to
one of the attendees I learned
there were two types of service in the week. One was a
meditation service and the other is called
a Dharma talk. A Dharma talk is a public teaching of Buddhism.
Unfortunately, I was unable to
attend that service. The meditation, although simple, was still
very interesting. When I first
arrived to the building it did not seem like much. It was plain
on the outside and looked just like

2. any other building. I was completely amazed when I walked in.
There was an enormous golden
Buddha that immediately caught my eye. He was at the center of
the temple. In front of him were
various bronze candle holders with lighted candles. On each
side, there were large bouquets of
pink flowers. In front of this area there were three very small
tables. They were from the floor to
about mid-calf. Three mats laid in front of the tables.
Throughout the beige carpet floor were
mats lined in rows. There were wooden poles around the room
and the walls and roof were made
of stone. On the roof between stone were rows of red and white
floral tiles. Hanging from the
roof were pink and white flower lanterns with a banner that had
Chinese writing attached to the
end of it. On the sides of the room there were tables with
arrangements of candles and flowers.
Most of the people I saw were Asian, mostly women and a few
men, all middle aged or older. I
also saw two American women and an American man around
that seemed to be around their
thirty’s. Everybody was dressed exactly the same. I felt very
excluded. Everybody had light pink

3. pants, a red shirt, and a mint green vest or jacket. The only ones
dressed differently were three
monks. They wore white robes with an orange sash. Everyone
was wearing socks. It was a very
small room. It felt very warm and welcoming.
Service
At the beginning of the service everybody was kneeling on the
ground. Behind the setup of the
Buddha and a bit to the left was a monk kneeling in front of a
gong. He banged it a for a few
minutes rhythmically. Then he walked behind and around the
Buddha and came out the other
side. When he reached the front, he grabbed a wooden fish and
stick. He began to hit the fish
with the stick at a very slow beat. Then the monk started to hum
and the people followed. The
humming was slow and deep. After about twenty seconds of
slow beating, he would do four or
five very fast beats and the people will bow. He walked around
the room and between the people.
When he reached the front the people stood and bowed. Two
other monks went to the front mats

4. with him. About four minutes later, they kneeled and bowed
again. After this they continued
humming and continued the cycle about 5 times within ten
minutes. The last time they stand up,
they were instructed to face the right and repeat the cycle. The
speed and beat of the song
changed. It was a bit faster and more upbeat. Five minutes later
and the service was completed.
Everybody turned back to the front bowed and were dismissed
by the monk. The service was
very peaceful. There was a large sense of community and
togetherness. I felt relaxed and content
when I left. As I mentioned earlier, it was simple but it was
very much enjoyable.
Central Beliefs of Buddhism
There are three main training and practices in Buddhism. One of
them is Sila. It has two main
principles. They are equality and what is commonly known as
the Golden Rule (Robinson,
2009). I found equality very apparent in the service. Everybody
being dressed the same kept

5. RELIGIOUS SITE VISIT ANALYSIS 3
everyone equal. The second practice is Samadhi which is
concentration, meditation, and mental
development (Robinson,2009). It leads to wisdom and a strong
mind (Robinson, 2009). The
service was a practice of Samadhi. The third is Prajna, which
leads to wisdom and enlightenment
(Robinson,2009). According to Robinson, if your mind is calm
and pure, then you will achieve
wisdom (Robinson, 2009). I think the service works towards
this. You spend the whole time
trying to attain a sort of calmness through meditation. One that
we aren’t typically used to. The
Eightfold path is a set of guidelines to take in order to achieve
the practices properly. The last
three are all related to concentration and meditation. The one I
found most apparent in the service
was Samma sati, or right mindfulness. With Samma sati, one
becomes aware of their mind and
feelings, and their body (Robinson,2009). I think this is more of
a personal experience, than it is
a group experience. I did feel this greatly. We live in such a fast
paced world; it can be hard to
become aware of ourselves. Spending just twenty minutes

6. meditating, I became aware of all the
parts of my body, how they felt, and how stiff they were. It was
then that I could relax and really
feel at peace. One of the things I did not understand was why
there was a large statue of . Buddha
and why the people bowed to him. I had learned a while ago that
the Buddha was not a God and
the people did not worship him. I was a bit confused. After
doing some research, I learned that
the people bow as a sign of gratitude (White, 1993). The
Buddha spent his life teaching people
the principles of Buddhism, so that they may reach
enlightenment (White, 1993). Because he
provided the guidelines, people bow to his statue and pay
respects to his images as a way of
thanking him (White, 1993). I think the service provided a sense
of moral encouragement and
community. A big part of their beliefs is to act in a moral way.
They disregard wealth and
material things. They focus on internal happiness and well-
being. They believe morality is way
to achieve this (White, 1993). Meditation is a way for them to
become right minded and moral.
The fact that they dress the same and come together to

7. accomplish something personal is
evidence that the service builds a sense of community.
Symbols in the Service
The service started with the monk banging the gong. The gong
has three purposes. The first is to
announce the time of a meeting (Buddhist Symbols, 2015). The
other two have to deal with the
actual meditation. The gong marks different phases of the
service and as an aid in the humming
during the meditation (Buddhist Symbols, 2015). The candles
throughout the room are a symbol
of wisdom (Buddhist Symbols, 2015). This makes sense to me
because one of the goals of
meditation is to gain wisdom. The flowers symbolize the
teachings of transience (Buddhist
Symbols, 2015). The reason they are at the sides of the Buddha
is because he taught that
everything is constantly changing (Buddhist Symbols, 2015).
They are a reminder of this
throughout the meditation. Finally, there is the symbol of the
Buddha who sits at the center of the
room. The Buddha serves as a symbol of an ideal or goal of

8. enlightenment (Buddhist Symbols,
2015). Images and statues of the Buddha are a representation of
wisdom and compassion
(Buddhist Symbols, 2015). None of the symbols in the service
are used as a form of worship or
praise. They are there as a reminder of what to strive for during
the meditation. They are an aid
in the path to enlightenment.
RELIGIOUS SITE VISIT ANALYSIS 4
Culture
Most of the people I saw at the service were Asian. I was not
surprised by this because they are
often associated. However, Buddhism originated in India.
Buddhism came to China through
missionaries who were sent to Asia to trade (The Buddhist
World, 2008). While in India, they
learned about Buddhism and then brought it back to China and
taught the people about it (The

9. Buddhist World, 2008). Buddhism became extremely popular
with the people, especially during
times of war (The Buddhist World, 2008). Buddhism flourished
quickly and China became a
center for Buddhists (The Buddhist World, 2008). In the
nineteen-sixties, there was suppression
of Buddhism (The Buddhist World, 2008.) Because of this there
was a large decline of followers
and many monasteries were closed (The Buddhist World, 2008.)
However, about ten years ago a
policy that was more liberal towards religion was created and
there was an increase in interest
towards Buddhism (The Buddhist World, 2008). It makes sense
to me that this is so popular
among the Asian community. They are very peaceful people.
They are rarely seen committing
violent acts or even fighting among each other. They have a
strong sense of community and a
strong value for morality. Although, this part of their culture
may have roots in Buddhism. It is
such an ancient religion and has been a part of the Asian
communities for so long. It is possible
that its core values have been instilled as part of the culture
even when it is not being practiced.

10. RELIGIOUS SITE VISIT ANALYSIS 5
References

11. Buddhist Symbols. (2015, March 08). Retrieved March 21,
2017, from
https://buddhisttemplechicago.org/buddhism-basics/buddhist-
symbols/
Robinson, B. A. (2009, August 16). Buddhism's core beliefs.
Retrieved March 20, 2017, from
http://www.religioustolerance.org/buddhism1.htm
The Buddhist World: Buddhism in East Asia - China, Korean,
Japan. (n.d.). Retrieved March 21,
2017, from http://www.buddhanet.net/e-
learning/buddhistworld/east-asia.htm
White, B. (1993). A Basic Buddhism Guide: 5 Minute
Introduction. Retrieved March 21, 2017,
from http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/5minbud.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/buddhism1.htm