I have never been a religious person or practices a certain religion, yet I have

always wanted to learn about the many different religions. World Religions was a
great opportunity to do so and I learned so much. Before I took the class I went to
many Buddhist while I was visiting China1. I loved looking at everything in the
temples but always questioned what everything meant. After taking the class I
finally know exactly what I was experiencing at the Chinese temples. During the
class I also learned there are many different variations of Buddhism so for my site
visit I went to a Tibetan Temple to see if I could notice the differences.
I visited a Tibetan Buddhist Temple2, called Urgyen Samten Ling, for my eastern site
visit. My experience at the Urgyen Samten Ling was very different from what I
experienced in China. Not only do the rituals differ and the decoration of the
building but I had a better understanding of what was happening because of what I
learned in the class. During the service I was able to participate in Buddhist
chanting, meditation, and prayer that we had spoken about in class. I was great to
kind of know what to expect because we had seen pictures of Tibetan Buddhist
practices and art in the book. The service was spoken in Sanskrit, which I thought
was amazing to be able to hear their teachings in their language. But unfortunately
I dont know what they were saying and I couldnt make a connection to the
religious practices and the scriptural teachings. According to the Catholic
Encyclopedia "Religion... means the voluntary subjection of oneself to God." And I
was able to witness this beautifully by the worshipers at Urgyen Samten Ling
Tibetan Buddhist Temple.
I learned so much from World Religions 2300 and Im so happy I was able to take it. I
had little to no knowledge about the beliefs of Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism,
Hinduism, or any other religion. After in class lectures, reading, studying, and
watching documentarys I feel I have a much greater understanding of specific
religions. The class has made me really think about what religion is and why
humans have religion. I have attached a previous essay I wrote titled How
Materialist, Functional, and Faith Perspectives Define Religion that goes more into
depth about my opinions and research of religion. Another topic I learned about
throughout this course is weather not Hindu practices should be considered religion
or dharma. Much like many other religions, Hinduism did not begin as a religion. Yet
with all the followers and practices I believe Hinduism fits in with the definition of
religion, and Dharma is just a part of their beliefs. I have also attached the
document What is Dharma that goes more in depth on the subject.

References
1 I volunteered teaching English to children in China and was able to travel all over
the country.
2 Urgyen Samten Ling Tibetan Buddhist Temple offers a traditional approach to Vajrayana
Buddhism of the Nyingma school in the Tibetan tradition

"WHAT IS RELIGION? by Thomas A. Idinopulos." What Is Religion?, by Thomas A.

Idinopulos. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2016.
Readings in Eastern Religions. Ed. Harold Coward. N.p.: Wilfrid Laurier UP, n.d. 8196. Print.