Wednesday was an especially interesting day for me because we studied Christianity - the religion with which I have the most personal experiences (thought not necessarily all positive experiences) - and Buddhism - a religion that greatly intrigues me. As I mentioned in my first post, I was baptized and confirmed Catholic. However, I never actually identified with Catholicism for a number of reasons but especially because of my more liberal lines of thinking, which definitely don't align with the conservative nature of the Catholic Church. When acquaintances in college would ask me about my religious affiliation, my childhood friend and college roommate Sarah used to always joke: "Kate doesn't believe in a religion. She believes in the power of good." Wednesday was truly the first time that I had ever come across a faith that seemed to align with my beliefs and perspectives about life. Apparently, all that I needed to do was ride along on a bus with a bunch of teachers and wait to see where it would take us! ChristianityOur morning started with Eric Doolittle, North Central College Chaplain, speaking about Christianity. I didn't realize there are so many different branches of Christianity. He shared that there are currently 2,100 to 33,000 different denominations, which have formed as a result of theological and sometimes cultural differences -- evidence that religions are (1) internally diverse, (2) dynamic and changing, and (3) embedded in cultures, not isolated from them. Each denomination has unique beliefs, behaviors, and shared experiences. He also commented on the fact that Christians love to argue with one another about their beliefs and interpretations of the Bible, which gave me flashbacks of sitting around in college frequently listening to other Christians argue with Sarah, my very knowledgeable and progressive roommate who went to seminary and became a Presbyterian pastor. Though I never knew enough about Christianity to add in my own two cents during these discussions, it seemed to me that Sarah always made a strong case for her thinking in the debates. :) We spent some time this afternoon at St. Therese Chinese Catholic Church in Chinatown. The priest who spoke with us (I think his name was Father Christian) was stepping in for Father Li, the church's priest, because he was unavailable today. Father Christian was young and had recently become ordained. I appreciated his fresh perspective and found him more relatable than other priests I have met. He talked about the importance of meeting people where they are at with their faith and helping them move forward from there rather than imposing beliefs and behaviors on them. He also shared that St. Therese Church was originally an Italian church, and he pointed out the ways in which the Italian and Chinese cultures had merged in that particular space. It was neat to look around and notice the influence of both cultures, such as statues of Italian saints, Chinese dragons, and Chinese writing/characters. BuddhismWe visited two Buddhist temples in Chicago: Meditation Center of Chicago and SGI Buddhist Center. The two were wildly different in terms of their practices, or behaviors, which served as yet another reminder that religions are internally diverse. We met a monk named Gen Delsang Zamling at the Meditation Center. We learned that Gen = "Teacher" and Zamling (the name given to him by his teacher) = "Glorious Renounced One." It was fascinating to hear his story about being raised in Christianity, converting to Buddhism as an adult, and then being ordained as a monk at age 37. He began our time together with several minutes of meditation to focus the mind. During the meditation, I noticed that I had a hard time clearing my mind. You never realize how many little itches you have on your arms, neck, feet, etc. until you are specifically told to focus on your breathing and clear your mind of all distractions. The monk spoke with a calm, soothing voice, and it reminded me a lot of the voice that yoga instructions try to replicate. After the meditation, he gave us an overview of Buddhism. Here were his key teachings about Buddhism:
We also visited the SGI Buddhist Center. Though both Buddhist temples focused on the same beliefs, the ways they practiced (i.e. their behaviors) were completely different. At the Meditation Center, members primarily use meditation and individual & communal prayer, whereas SGI members engage in daily prayer and individual or group chanting of "Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo", which is Japanese for "I dedicate my life to cause and effect." At the SGI Center, we were able to observe four members do a group chant. As soon as they began to chant together, I felt like I was sitting in choir again, which is a very familiar experience for me. The sound took over the entire space and had a trance-like feeling. The Buddhist members told us that the same chant is repeated every time they chant. Though it's hard to learn the lengthy chant at first, members can lean on one another for support until they feel more secure, which spoke to the level of community and belonging within the very diverse group at SGI Buddhist Center. Based on everything I learned about the Buddhist faith on Wednesday, I think I could definitely get on board with Buddhism!
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