For the past two weeks, as a class, went to various temple and places of worship for the different religions we have been studying. I found that what we were told about the religions, for the most part, confirmed what we learned in class.

The first place we visited was the “Vedic Cultural Centre.” When we first walked in we were told to take off our shoes. We were then lead up stairs to the meditation room. Here there was a very simple mural on one of the walls that showed clouds and the symbol for Hinduism.

We were then lead to the main prayer hall.

Here we sat on the floor and someone talked to us about their religion and how they believe that there is a piece of God in everyone and how they respect all cultures. They explained how this specific centre will marry anyone without questions no matter what religion. Then they went into the different deities they have and that there are millions of different deities.

We then got up and walked over to one of the shrines and the speaker demonstrated the rituals that were done. She then showed us what the statues were.

We we then moved to the next one. She also described the different statues there.

We then concluded with the last shrine.

The next place we went to was the Thrangu Tibetan Monastery.

There we talked with one of the resident monks. He described the beliefs of Buddhists and how there are many different Buddhas like medicine Buddha or integrity Buddha. Each different Buddha someone can pray to, for example if someone is ill in any way they can pray to medicine Buddha to be cured. He then talked about how Buddism was formed and how the founder, Siddhartha, grew up in a palace and then left at the age of twenty for the first time. He discovered that there is and always will be suffering. He then went into the woods to meditate about the basic truths of life. After coming back he wrote down what he learned so others could understand the truths.

 

We then went to another Buddism temple.

Here we went through a meditation ritual with a guy named Scott. The first part is to go into the baby pose three times in a row. Then we got into the lotus position where you do cricross applesauce and then bring one leg over top then the next. Only two of us could do it fully.

After that we went to a Sikh temple where we ate food.

I must say I didn’t really enjoy it but I’m a really picky eater. A lot of people though enjoyed it.

When we were done eating we went to the main prayer hall where someone was reading the Sikh scriptures.

We then went up stairs where our guide talked to us about what Sikhs believe. We went through the basis of most religions, which is to connect with God. Then she went into the Sikhism and talked about the scriptures and the five K’s. The scriptures are a collection of works from the gurus. All of the works were poems written in Punjabi, which is a language of northern India. When Sikhism first began there was one guru named guru Nanak. He chose a successor and then when that successor was going to retire he chose another successor and so on. Then one guru didn’t pick a successor. The Sikh religion still goes on but now there are no new additions to the holy scriptures.

Sikhs can choose when the undergo the Amrit ceremony which is a baptism for Sikhs. When they do, they wear five ceremonial things. The first is called Kesh, Kesh is where you cannot cut your hair. Second, is called Kangha, this a brush that Sikhs use. Third, is Kara which is a ring that they wear. Fourth, is Kachera which is a pair of shorts. Last is called Kirpan. A Kirpan is a ceremonial knife that now a days is a necklace pendant that Sikhs wear when they undergo the ceremony.

Then after that full day of touring my class went to a synagogue. Sadly I wasn’t there for it, I was in Seattle for a band trip.

When I got back my class and I went to St. Andrews United church and the local mosque.

At the church the priest spoke to us about the things that they do at the church like community and charity work. The priest also talked about the history of the church because it is quite old.

We then went to the mosque.

Here someone talked to us about the five pillars of Islam, the praying ritual and just some general beliefs.

First the five pillars. The first pillar is where a true Muslim must acknowledge God and that he is the only God. Second, is that a true Muslim must pray five times a day facing Mecca. Third, is a true Muslim must give back to charity and their community. Fourth, is a true Muslim must fast during the month of Ramadan. Fifth, is a true Muslim must make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their life.

After the speaker went through that he showed us the prayer ritual. It looks fairly complicated.

Then we asked a variety of questions and we were done.

now we’re done with the religion field trips but just wait in two days we are going fencing for our next unit.