For one of the papers we had to write, we had to visit a religious site that was not our own. I choose to go to a Buddhist temple because I was not too familiar with Buddhist teachings. This was my experience:

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I chose to go to the Nan Buddhist Temple in Gainesville to experience a different perspective in respect to religion. I grew up under the Islamic religion, but I wanted to see a different perspective to religion where God is not the center piece. The initiation of the service was the monk continuously hitting the gong. The service started off with chants and people facing a Buddha statue. Everyone at the service was required to be in similar garments that the temple provided to signify uniformity. The only individuals that wore garments that were different were the monks that lead the service. A handle bell acted as a signal for the people to stand up, as well as, sit down depending on how it was hit. The event was completely different from my religious experience due to a Buddha Statue being present and the people praying towards the direction of the statute. In Islam, you pray towards mecca and not towards a statue that embodies a being. There were a lot of similarities in regards to how the prayer was commenced and how the prayer was performed. We had to bow down being submissive to our own self and focusing on mindfulness. In Islam, mindfulness is practiced by submitting your will to God. Both religions focus on mindfulness and I got to experience and formulate a holistic perspective in regards to mindfulness.

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The space was arranged in a manner that is devoid of clutter. There were a lot of pictures and statutes of the Buddha, as well as, the lotus flower which has a firm foundation in the religion of Buddhism. The congregation is quite diverse ranging from predominantly southeast Asian decent to Caucasian. There equal parts male to female and everyone was in the same room, whereas, in Islam, the rooms are segregated of due to sex. There was also a large distinction between Buddhism and Islam, where they gave everyone a sheet that all the prayers on them so people could follow along. For the side of Islam, you must have the prayers memorized prior to taking part in prayer.

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After all my experiences with Islam and dabbling with other religious ideologies, I have come to be more atheistic than I am agnostic or Islamic. It has been quite interesting to see how logic and the laws of the universe has played a vital role in me solidifying my atheistic beliefs. In respect to Buddhism, I have gotten more in tuned with other practices such as meditation and practicing mindfulness. I find Buddhism more to be a system of guidelines that one can live their life by, rather than a religious institution. I have made the distinction between religion and philosophy to be a sole determining factor for me, in that a God or an omniscient being is worshipped. All in all, I was not truly expecting to be so influenced with such a short visit, but I have started implementing practices of Buddhism, into my everyday life. This experience has given me a more deeper understanding on the Buddhist religion and how certain practices occur on a communal level.