One of our assignments for our cultural class was to attend the religious ceremony of another faith. Well instead of going for the obvious evangelical or catholic faiths, we decided to be a bit more adventurous. We heard about the Buddhist Temple Zu Lai first from a friend of ours. And so Friday afternoon we made it a goal of ours to visit the place and have a meditation session there. Well the place turned out to be a lot farther away than we thought. I think it took us at least a good hour and a half to find the place. When we arrived though it was everything I was hoping for.
The temple was a very peaceful place. Based on the writing I realized that it wasn't a Japanese Buddhist religion. Instead it looked like it was Chinese in origin. Throughout the temple ground there were several monk like statues. I realized that the architecture was all intended to communicate peace, perfection, organization. At the center part of the temple there was a place where you could light incense, actually it was a stick that you lighted with a cigarette lighter and placed it in a big vase with other sticks. From my Japanese background I recognized the ritual as a type of prayer, often made in behalf of someone. Beyond the vase was a big room with a large statue as the focus of attention. In the room with us was what appeared to be a priestess performing some rituals or saying prayers as she paced the room. It was all very fascinating. After checking out the other parts of temple we started heading back and caught a heavy downpour of rain. Despite the soaking rain I enjoyed the opportunity to visit the Temple Zu Lai. Even if you aren't Buddhist or even religious, I would definitely recommend the experience. I can guarantee that you'll come away with a more clearer, less agitated state of mind.
The temple was a very peaceful place. Based on the writing I realized that it wasn't a Japanese Buddhist religion. Instead it looked like it was Chinese in origin. Throughout the temple ground there were several monk like statues. I realized that the architecture was all intended to communicate peace, perfection, organization. At the center part of the temple there was a place where you could light incense, actually it was a stick that you lighted with a cigarette lighter and placed it in a big vase with other sticks. From my Japanese background I recognized the ritual as a type of prayer, often made in behalf of someone. Beyond the vase was a big room with a large statue as the focus of attention. In the room with us was what appeared to be a priestess performing some rituals or saying prayers as she paced the room. It was all very fascinating. After checking out the other parts of temple we started heading back and caught a heavy downpour of rain. Despite the soaking rain I enjoyed the opportunity to visit the Temple Zu Lai. Even if you aren't Buddhist or even religious, I would definitely recommend the experience. I can guarantee that you'll come away with a more clearer, less agitated state of mind. 
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