So I'm going to take a risk here and utilize my rights to say whatever i wish on this blog and insert some brief religious opinions. I hope this does not offend anyone....and if it does, I guess you can just quit reading my blog :)
I'm obviously not saying any of the following as any sort of expert (or even as any sort of extraordinarily educated person)....I am simply expressing the thoughts that are in my head after a few months of observation of religions different from those commonly found at home.
Here goes....
One of my main purposes of coming on this trip was to learn. It's unfortunate that the US does not share the same culture as Europe and Australia in regards to the "gap year" (year of travel after secondary school before university)....because I honestly think you can learn more about life and yourself with a few months of travel than you can in four years of college.
Anyhow....personal learning:
In order to learn, I have made sure to approach every new person, place, cultural experience, religion, and yes, even toilet, with my eyes, ears, and mind wide open. Here is what I've come up with so far....
Katy and I have been immersed in Buddhism as we have just spent 6.5 weeks in Southeast Asia, where orange-robed monks line the streets and 95% of people in Thailand and Cambodia (around 70% in Laos and 50% in Vietnam) are Buddhist. To sum up the belief system as briefly as possible, the Buddha taught that life is suffering and desire is what causes this suffering.....in order to reach enlightenment, you must go through an eightfold process that includes various rebirths until you finally reach the desired nirvana. Essentially, basic needs and desires are foregone and finding this path to enlightenment is the focus of your life. In Mahayana Buddhism (found in Vietnam, Japan, China...and Nepal: these are the monks we observed yesterday), the path to enlightenment is a group effort and you work together towards it. In other parts of Southeast Asia and Thailand especially, Theravada Buddhism is practiced...where the path to enlightenment is an individual one.
Some background before I delve in: As any of you who are close to me know, I am not an organized religion type of girl. I was brought up to believe that if you are a good person, and do good things, good things will come back at ya.....or to sum it up with a word, karma. (Which is quite ironic because that is a major concept of Buddhism, which I am about to struggle with). Now this doesn't mean that I think organized religion is wrong in any way....it's just not my cup of tea.
Now that you have a brief history.....
Yesterday we visited Swayambhunath (aka the Monkey Temple), a gorgeous Buddhist temple set high on a hill filled with resident monkeys. As we climbed the hundreds of steps to the top, we passed tents full of monks. A peak inside the tents revealed many monks sitting Indian style on the floor, with a pile of Sutras (Buddhist scripture) in front of them and a ring of mala (prayer beads) in their hands (utilized to count mantras, or Buddhist prayers, multiple times a day). Most of the time, one of the monks would be chanting the prayers over the loudspeaker, giving the whole place an eerie cult-like feel. When I asked our local guide if they sat and read the scripture all day, he said "No, no. Sometimes all day, but most days just however long they feel like...maybe only 5 hours or so." 5 hours? Every day?
Eyes (and mind) wide open, I continued to climb to the top of the temple and pondered a daily life that was comprised of sitting inside a tent, encountering minimal interaction with my peers (fellow monks) and no interaction with the rest of the community. I highly respect anyone who dedicates themself to a purpose and has the commitment to stick to such a large undertaking. However, I can't grasp the concept of clutching on to something so strongly that is not tangible. I feel like, for myself, that type of energy and passion would be reserved for something such as a human relationship (with a partner, raising a child, caring for a parent), or even something simpler, such as a strong dedication to a career or lifelong hobby.
Obviously monks from all over the world do not base themselves in this exact type of environment, but it is routine for monks to spend all day meditating or chanting. And it is not just monks. All of the temples I visited yesterday were full of Buddhists praying and making offerings. This is a frequent occurrence in this religion, often happening multiple times a day. So even the "commoners" in these types of religion spend a good part of their day occupied in rituals.
I understand that religion is based on the unknown, and I do comprehend the draw that believing in a higher power can provide, especially in dire times. But it is one thing to observe friends and family practicing religion at home: they go to church once or twice a week, they may pray often...and I'm sure the most dedicated of followers try to live their daily life as the religion guides....but they dont' spend every day, all day, actively participating in religious rituals.
And here is where I make enemies......
What if everyone is wrong?
Let's speak specifically to monks for a moment:
What if this afterlife that they are seeking doesn't really exist? Then they have spent their whole life not only "sitting " and restricting themselves from even the most basic joys of living life (enjoying meals, conversations with friends, the beauty of a sunny day, a sly fiiration with a member of the opposite sex) ....but have they actually even been contributing members of society? I 'm sure dedicating yourself to Buddha is extremely respected in the religious community, but have you helped any living, breathing, individuals that you can actually interact wtih? Have you ever helped an old lady cross the street? (definitely not, monks and women cannot touch). Did you ever even have the opporunity to hold a job that helped the community (nurse, teacher, firefighter, etc, etc)? Have you ever cared for a child or a pet? Yes, I understand that the monks are 100% dedicated to the temple, and spend hours upon hours rebuilding, repainting, and honoring the life of Buddha.....but Buddha is not a man that they can meet.....he supposedly was a prince in Northern India that acheived the desired enlightenment in 500 B.C.....but who knows.
Again, this is not meant to offend anyone.....I think maybe I am just trying to learn the motivation behind the whole concept and thinking that by writing this, maybe someone who is more educated on the subject or whose mind simply works differently than mine will throw me a bone and fill me in on the draw to this type of lifestyle.
And one more tangent and then I'm done.... let's briefly touch on the big bad wolf of Buddhism:
Desire.
....desire is the root of all evil.
Really?
Now if they are referring to desire as far as selfishness or inappropriate lustfulness (ie: towards a child), then yes, desire may lead to bad things. But...are you harming anyone by having simple human desires? Have you ever actually hurt another individual when you thought, "gee, I could really go for a milkshake right now?"
Lets remember that a big component of this evil "desire" is sexual desire. Hello?? Was I the only one who took a biology class in school? The whole entire reason that animals (thats us, people) are built the way they are and function the way they do is for REPRODUCTION. Spending one's whole life celibate goes against all the laws of nature....I know this belief spans to other religions as well, but it is still a concept that boggles my mind. One article I was reading about Buddhism claimed that desiring sex could only lead to suffering because sexual activity will never fulfill sexual desire. Again, I will pick my jaw up off the floor and attempt to comprehend where these backwards thoughts could have originated from.
And that is all I have on that for now...feel free to send me criticism, comments, or knowledge that can help me to understand some of this!
And as for Katy and I....we go off the grid tomorrow as we embark on our 10 day trek in Annapurna Sanctuary in the morning....peak elevation 4130m. Wish us luck and stay tuned for pictures within the next few weeks :)
I'm obviously not saying any of the following as any sort of expert (or even as any sort of extraordinarily educated person)....I am simply expressing the thoughts that are in my head after a few months of observation of religions different from those commonly found at home.
Here goes....
One of my main purposes of coming on this trip was to learn. It's unfortunate that the US does not share the same culture as Europe and Australia in regards to the "gap year" (year of travel after secondary school before university)....because I honestly think you can learn more about life and yourself with a few months of travel than you can in four years of college.
Anyhow....personal learning:
In order to learn, I have made sure to approach every new person, place, cultural experience, religion, and yes, even toilet, with my eyes, ears, and mind wide open. Here is what I've come up with so far....
Katy and I have been immersed in Buddhism as we have just spent 6.5 weeks in Southeast Asia, where orange-robed monks line the streets and 95% of people in Thailand and Cambodia (around 70% in Laos and 50% in Vietnam) are Buddhist. To sum up the belief system as briefly as possible, the Buddha taught that life is suffering and desire is what causes this suffering.....in order to reach enlightenment, you must go through an eightfold process that includes various rebirths until you finally reach the desired nirvana. Essentially, basic needs and desires are foregone and finding this path to enlightenment is the focus of your life. In Mahayana Buddhism (found in Vietnam, Japan, China...and Nepal: these are the monks we observed yesterday), the path to enlightenment is a group effort and you work together towards it. In other parts of Southeast Asia and Thailand especially, Theravada Buddhism is practiced...where the path to enlightenment is an individual one.
Some background before I delve in: As any of you who are close to me know, I am not an organized religion type of girl. I was brought up to believe that if you are a good person, and do good things, good things will come back at ya.....or to sum it up with a word, karma. (Which is quite ironic because that is a major concept of Buddhism, which I am about to struggle with). Now this doesn't mean that I think organized religion is wrong in any way....it's just not my cup of tea.
Now that you have a brief history.....
Yesterday we visited Swayambhunath (aka the Monkey Temple), a gorgeous Buddhist temple set high on a hill filled with resident monkeys. As we climbed the hundreds of steps to the top, we passed tents full of monks. A peak inside the tents revealed many monks sitting Indian style on the floor, with a pile of Sutras (Buddhist scripture) in front of them and a ring of mala (prayer beads) in their hands (utilized to count mantras, or Buddhist prayers, multiple times a day). Most of the time, one of the monks would be chanting the prayers over the loudspeaker, giving the whole place an eerie cult-like feel. When I asked our local guide if they sat and read the scripture all day, he said "No, no. Sometimes all day, but most days just however long they feel like...maybe only 5 hours or so." 5 hours? Every day?
Eyes (and mind) wide open, I continued to climb to the top of the temple and pondered a daily life that was comprised of sitting inside a tent, encountering minimal interaction with my peers (fellow monks) and no interaction with the rest of the community. I highly respect anyone who dedicates themself to a purpose and has the commitment to stick to such a large undertaking. However, I can't grasp the concept of clutching on to something so strongly that is not tangible. I feel like, for myself, that type of energy and passion would be reserved for something such as a human relationship (with a partner, raising a child, caring for a parent), or even something simpler, such as a strong dedication to a career or lifelong hobby.
Obviously monks from all over the world do not base themselves in this exact type of environment, but it is routine for monks to spend all day meditating or chanting. And it is not just monks. All of the temples I visited yesterday were full of Buddhists praying and making offerings. This is a frequent occurrence in this religion, often happening multiple times a day. So even the "commoners" in these types of religion spend a good part of their day occupied in rituals.
I understand that religion is based on the unknown, and I do comprehend the draw that believing in a higher power can provide, especially in dire times. But it is one thing to observe friends and family practicing religion at home: they go to church once or twice a week, they may pray often...and I'm sure the most dedicated of followers try to live their daily life as the religion guides....but they dont' spend every day, all day, actively participating in religious rituals.
And here is where I make enemies......
What if everyone is wrong?
Let's speak specifically to monks for a moment:
What if this afterlife that they are seeking doesn't really exist? Then they have spent their whole life not only "sitting " and restricting themselves from even the most basic joys of living life (enjoying meals, conversations with friends, the beauty of a sunny day, a sly fiiration with a member of the opposite sex) ....but have they actually even been contributing members of society? I 'm sure dedicating yourself to Buddha is extremely respected in the religious community, but have you helped any living, breathing, individuals that you can actually interact wtih? Have you ever helped an old lady cross the street? (definitely not, monks and women cannot touch). Did you ever even have the opporunity to hold a job that helped the community (nurse, teacher, firefighter, etc, etc)? Have you ever cared for a child or a pet? Yes, I understand that the monks are 100% dedicated to the temple, and spend hours upon hours rebuilding, repainting, and honoring the life of Buddha.....but Buddha is not a man that they can meet.....he supposedly was a prince in Northern India that acheived the desired enlightenment in 500 B.C.....but who knows.
Again, this is not meant to offend anyone.....I think maybe I am just trying to learn the motivation behind the whole concept and thinking that by writing this, maybe someone who is more educated on the subject or whose mind simply works differently than mine will throw me a bone and fill me in on the draw to this type of lifestyle.
And one more tangent and then I'm done.... let's briefly touch on the big bad wolf of Buddhism:
Desire.
....desire is the root of all evil.
Really?
Now if they are referring to desire as far as selfishness or inappropriate lustfulness (ie: towards a child), then yes, desire may lead to bad things. But...are you harming anyone by having simple human desires? Have you ever actually hurt another individual when you thought, "gee, I could really go for a milkshake right now?"
Lets remember that a big component of this evil "desire" is sexual desire. Hello?? Was I the only one who took a biology class in school? The whole entire reason that animals (thats us, people) are built the way they are and function the way they do is for REPRODUCTION. Spending one's whole life celibate goes against all the laws of nature....I know this belief spans to other religions as well, but it is still a concept that boggles my mind. One article I was reading about Buddhism claimed that desiring sex could only lead to suffering because sexual activity will never fulfill sexual desire. Again, I will pick my jaw up off the floor and attempt to comprehend where these backwards thoughts could have originated from.
And that is all I have on that for now...feel free to send me criticism, comments, or knowledge that can help me to understand some of this!
And as for Katy and I....we go off the grid tomorrow as we embark on our 10 day trek in Annapurna Sanctuary in the morning....peak elevation 4130m. Wish us luck and stay tuned for pictures within the next few weeks :)
This is why we are friends! I love you! Miss you tons!!!
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