Extra Credit

On Saturday, April 16^th, I visited the Wat Lao Buddhavong, or Lao Temple, in Catlett, VA for the Lao New Year 2011 celebration. The Buddhist temple is nothing new to me, but in all honesty I haven’t been to the temple in more than six years. I even wore a ‘sinh’, or traditional Laotian skirt to play my part in the Lao tradition. The festival consisted of numerous Buddhist ceremonies, traditional Lao and Thai food (best part), souvenirs, Lao classical music and dances, young women’s pageant, and cultural shows and entertainment. “Songkan” is the formal and traditional name for Lao New Year’s Day. All Laotians often perform many auspicious ceremonies on this day, and it’s the opportunity to pay respect and remember parents, relatives, teachers, and others.

Throughout the morning, there was a religious ceremony inside the temple, and then there was the offering of food to the monks. When I was there, my mom got holy water for me outside of the temple and told me to pour it over all the Buddha statues nearby. This is supposed to be lustral water that honors the Buddha image. My mom also mentioned that pouring the holy water onto the Buddha statues was suppose to ensure good luck in your life.

Even though my religion is Buddhist, I felt new to this experience since I haven’t done something like this in years. When I was younger, I used to go to the temple with my parents a few times a year and we would meditate. I remember sitting on the ground for what felt like centuries with both feet facing the same way (sitting Indian style was frowned upon) and praying while the monks chanted words in which I could not understand at all. It was
probably only 30 minutes, but sitting on the ground while your feet fell asleep made the meditation feel even longer than it was. I also remember approaching the head monk of the temple with one of my parents and having to bow down to the floor three times before talking to him. Any time you approach a well-respected monk, you have to bow down three times. Whenever my parents requested for the monk to bless us, he would do some sort of chant and then spritz holy water onto our heads while we’re bowed down.

Meditation was never really instilled in my life but my parents liked to take me to the temple in order to educate me in my culture at a young age. Prior to re-living my meditation experience this year for the first time in years, I expected it to be boring and long. However, I surprisingly had a good time and was glad to become cultured with my own culture. Pouring the lustral water onto the Buddha statues was a holy experience that taught me how to pray in my head and wish good luck to myself and the people who are close to me. Entering the temple and seeing countless people made me realize how religious and dedicated lots of Laotian people are to Buddha and the Buddhist religion.

What I liked about the experience was the turnout of all the people who showed up to go to the festival. It rained pretty much all day and even poured during some parts of the day, but there were still a lot of people who went. Meditation played a big role during the festival, especially in the morning. After meditating with the monks, attendees were able to offer food to the monks by placing any food items such as sticky rice into a ‘begging bowl’. In Lao it means thak bahd. In Laos, the tradition for this is that novice monks line up in the village with their bahds and ask for food from the residents of the village. They then go back to the village to eat the food they receive. What I liked about the tradition at the temples in America is that regular people like me are able to take the food from the bahds after all meditation is finished! The only thing I disliked about the event was the rainy weather since I had to be outside the whole time I was there. There weren’t really any surprises of the day since I was used to what the traditions were for the festival. Despite the gloomy day, people were happy to be there and in good spirits that is was a new year.

The Peach Orchard

In Kurosawa’s film “Dreams,” I decided to watch The Peach Orchard clips. It starts off with a little Japanese boy who sees an illusion of a girl and follows her outside. He thinks she’s real, and the girl later leads him to a bunch of other illusions of people, or gods, who are blaming the boy’s family for cutting down the peach orchards that were outside of his home. The peach orchards had a significant meaning to the gods, and the boy quickly defends himself by saying that he fought for the orchards to not be cut down because he loved them. He cries and feels very emotional so the people feel empathy for him and forgive him. He dreams of the orchards being bloomed again and is happy, until he realizes that it’s only a dream and the trees are actually cut down.

His respect for the orchards increases more after he sees the illusion of the girl. You can tell that he feels more emotion towards the disappearance of the trees and he has a better appreciation for nature and beauty. In relation to the Shinto belief, I think this story emphasizes the importance of myth and kami (deities). Kami believe that spirituality is vital and that humanity, nature, and the spirits/gods intertwine with one another. That is why the gods who spoke with the little boy were not happy that what was important to them (the peach orchards) were destroyed.

According to Shinto ethics, myths reinforce ethics. For example, as a result of the little boy's family destroying the peach orchards, he was punished. His desire to be with the attractive girl was taken away because of what his family did. By the end of the clip, he spots just one tree that is an illusion and the girl is inside the tree for only a split second. Then the tree disappears. I think this symbolizes how the boy has lost touch with nature and he had an epiphany of what happened to him. This dream was very artistic in the way it was portrayed of how important nature is.

The Tao of Pooh

After reading the Tao of Pooh, I had a much better understanding of Taoism prior to the class lecture since I finished the book a few days beforehand. The principles of Taoism through Winnie-the-Pooh made the book a pretty easy read and relatable to real-life situations. For example, in order to explain that the “Three Teachings” of China reflects the Essence of Life, Hoff talks about the three masters Kung fu-Tse/Confucius, Buddha and Lao-tse on page two. He mentions them as The Vinegar Tasters, saying that from the Taoist point of view, sourness and bitterness come from the interfering and unappreciative mind.; life itself, when understood and utilized for what it is, is sweet (page 6).

In reaction to America being a Busy Backson culture, I believe that this is true and will be even truer in future years with more Busy Backsons. We live in a society where people are constantly in a hurry to do whatever they need to do. According to the Tao of Pooh, a Busy Backson is a person who is always on the run (page 96). He/she has no time and is too busy wasting time by trying to save it. A Busy Backson can’t save time; they can only spend it, and they can spend it either wisely or foolishly. For a Taoist, you don’t want to be a Busy Backson. I agree with this statement because I’d rather enjoy my surroundings and appreciate being alive. I’m more into living a laid-back, relaxing lifestyle than always being rushed. More people need to slow down and appreciate life to the fullest.

As far as Taoism being a solution to the problem of American culture and Americans as individuals, I think the idea isn’t bad, but probably not plausible. When Hoff explains in the chapter titled “Nowhere and Nothing,” he says that in the process of enlightenment in Taoism and the Tao Te Ching, being an adult isn’t the highest stage of development. The end of the cycle is the independent, clear-minded, all-seeing child, which leads to the person having the most wisdom (page 151). I feel like some Americans would squabble over this statement because in our society, you reach your full maturity when you’re an adult. However, in a Taoist’s mind, being filled with light and happiness = a child, and that’s when you reach your full potential. It would be a calmer place in America if Americans had the same mindset of the Taoists.

Buddhism Stereotype: hippies, not having fun and no sports in their lives

The first image I found is of a hippie meditating. A stereotype I discovered was that all Buddhists are hippies. It’s funny to read into this stereotype because I’m Buddhist and I certainly don’t look like/want to look like this. In Brad Warner’s book, Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate, he talks about Buddhism and if it existed in the west (Chapter 5). “When I started studying Zen in Ohio nobody wanted to know. Zen was hippie stuff. This was the eighties!” (25) Many Theravada Buddhists are conservative and have completely different views of what a hippie may have. I know for a fact that I don’t practice most of the beliefs that hippies support.

The image I found below contradicts what some people may think of when they think of Buddhists. A few folks out there may assume that Buddhists are all dreadfully serious people, don’t wear makeup and never have fun. Sadly, I fit the total opposite of all of this. I like to wear makeup and feel good about myself, I’m a big goof, and I enjoy socializing with my friends every weekend. Buddhists practice having a balanced state of mind in order to not react to situations especially with anger or without thought. Buddhists definitely know how to have a good time; the Dalai Lama is even known for having a sense of humor and frequently cracks jokes, laughs and smiles. My dad is even a friend of a Buddhist monk who is the head of the temple I go to, and he is also known for being a humorous man.

Another stereotype is that Buddhists are not allowed to desire anything. Therefore, they cannot play sports or achieve anything either. The Buddhist monk below is staying active by riding a bike! Tiger Woods is a champion golfer. Jackie Chan is a successful actor and martial artist. Steve Jobs (who I had no clue was a Buddhist) is the CEO of Apple. I’m a Buddhist and I like to work out and stay active outside. Buddhists play sports and some do it very well; they also achieve positive desires throughout their lives. In Chapter 2 of Warner’s book, it stated “most Western Buddhist teachers, need to have “real jobs” in the secular world. But there’s a myth going around Buddhist circles in the West that the only jobs that qualify as what Buddha called “right livelihood” are as therapist or yoga teacher “(12). The Buddhists I talked about above obviously do not have these jobs and I’m sure not all Buddhist teachers are therapists or yoga teachers. Brad Warner sure isn’t.

I wonder why there are so many stereotypes of Buddhism out there. It was a real eye-opener to read about all these stereotypes coming from my (a Theravada Buddhist) point of view.

Images from:
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/1421574938072999789asWNRx
http://www.blacktomato.co.uk/46531/bhutan%E2%80%99s-very-own-blockbuster/

Pop Culture Music & Hinduism #2

Aim #2: SUCCESS
1. Jay-Z, "Big Pimpin'," Hip Hop, 2000 [warning!]
2. Kanye West, "Good Life," Hip Hop, 2007 [warning!]
3. Pink Floyd, "Money," Rock, 1973
4. Lady Gaga, "Money Honey," Pop, 2008
5. Drake ft. Trey Songz, "Successful," Hip Hop, 2009



Aim #4: LIBERATION
1. Augustana, "Boston," Rock, 2006
2. Agnes Carlsson, "Release Me," Dance-Pop, 2008
3. Far East Movement ft. Ryan Tedder, "Rocketeer," Electro Hop, 2010
4. La Roux, "Bulletproof," Electro Pop, 2009
5. Fefe Dobson, "Take Me Away," Rock, 2003

Along with the aim of pleasure, I thought the aim of worldly success was more prevalent than liberation. I had an easier time thinking up of songs that had to do with success because success and pleasure correlate. When I think of success, the first thing that comes to my mind is personal achievement or money. According to Hindu belief, success comes in three parts: wealth, fame and power.

The music video I liked the best out of the five success songs was “Big Pimpin’” by Jay-Z. I like how Jay and his entourage are on a huge, expensive yacht with the ladies showing off how much bling he has while he raps about his rise to fame. The video exemplifies success because he shows that he has all the money in the world as long as he keeps doing what he’s doing. He is, simply put, big pimpin’.

For the aim of liberation, I chose to embed the music video “Boston” by Augustana mainly because I love the song. However, the song does show a relation to liberation. It mostly talks about a guy who lost his love and wants to leave California and go to Boston to start his life over. He wants to be free because he doesn’t like how things are going for him so he gets up and moves, wanting to leave everything behind. I love the passion in this song, and the lead singer looks so truthful when he’s performing. And good-looking.

I wasn’t really surprised that I found it easier to find success songs than liberation songs, but I was surprised by how much I liked the songs about liberation more than the songs about success. The lyrics to the liberation songs seemed more honest and truthful. Although all ten songs have the tendency to be catchy, the songs of liberation gave me a lasting impression.

In Hindu belief, worldly success can have its limitations. Drive for success is insatiable when it is your chief desire because it is not really what you want. However, in American modern music, when success and fame is shown, listeners and fans are supposed to want the lavish lifestyles of these artists. Artists act as if they love everything about their fame and fortune. Another limitation is that achievements are temporary, but pop artists make it seem like their wealth is prolonged for the rest of their life.

Pop Culture Music & Hinduism #1

Aim #1: PLEASURE
1. Spice Girls, "2 Become 1," Pop, 1996
2. Al Green, "Let's Stay Together," R&B, 1971
3. Alicia Keys, "Teenage Love Affair," R&B, 2007
4. Boyz II Men, "I'll Make Love to You," R&B, 1994
5. 50 Cent, "Candy Shop," Hip Hop, 2005



Aim #3: COMMUNITY SERVICE
1. Kevin Michael ft. Wyclef Jean, "Don't Make Any Difference to Me," R&B, 2007
2. Dionne Warwick and Friends, "That's What Friends Are For," Pop, 1986
3. Jackson 5, "I'll be There," R&B, 1970
4. The Fray, "How to Save a Life," Rock, 2006
5. Bob Marley & The Wailers, "Get Up, Stand Up," Reggae, 1973

While searching for songs relating to the aims of pleasure and community service, I began to think that they were both prevalent when looking for pop culture music. However, after finishing my assignment and going through other students’ blogs and realizing we had many similar songs, I came to the conclusion that it was much easier to look for other songs relating to pleasure than community service. When you think of community service songs, lots of popular hits come to mind and I guess a good amount of students were thinking of the obvious ones.

I think it’s easier to look for songs relating to the Hindu aim of pleasure because artists tend to write lyrics about what pleases them and others. Pretty much all you hear during this generation of music involves love and sex. I can go through my iTunes and about 80% of my songs probably have a meaning of pleasure behind it. I think music listeners of this generation have grown into expecting and predicting to hear music hits that pertain to pleasure because we are so used to it. There are also references in a lot of pleasure songs that have hidden messages in them (i.e. 50 Cent’s Candy Shop, Lil’ Wayne’s Lollipop, 112’s Peaches and Cream) that obviously refer to sex.

Songs that refer to the aim of community service are a little harder to think of because in my opinion, most of them don’t get written until there is a natural or social disaster going on in our society. I feel like the aim of community service is much more narrow than the aim of pleasure. What surprised me during this assignment was the amount of songs I knew of pertaining to pleasure! Literally every other song I had on my iTunes was either about love or sex. The similar songs I had compared to other students beforehand also surprised me. Next time I’ll do the assignment way in advance.

I think the Hindu understanding of these two aims of life differ from what was expressed in American pop music in that Hindus have a more peaceful and simplified mindset of what pleasure and community service are. American pop music, on the other hand, finds different ways to associate pleasure into the meaning of songs.