The Zen Monastery was very different from any other place that we visited. For one, it was not a seperate building. It was in the basement of a building. Of all the places, it was by far the most simple. This seemed to fit with the ideas I have of Buddhism. It does not focus on the outside appearnce, it focuses on what is going on inside the person. Even the place where the meditation takes place was very simple. There was only a small statue on an alter. The room was simply decorated. Even though the room was not decorated elaborately, there was still of plenty visual distractions. The floor had a colorful tile on it, and the room had many clashing colors. I was expecting more of a plain room that was very uniformly decorated. This also fit with what the Zen leaders were telling us about not ignoring the outside world but trying to find a median between the inside self and the outside.

After listening to the Zen leaders, it almost seems like Buddhism is not so much a religion as it is a path. A religion seems to be when people seek salvation through an intermediary orginization. Buddhism seems to be different in that it does not require an intermediary group. They said that what they teach is within everyone and they need to follow their own path to find truth. Buddhism is more of a guideline for people to find their own path. This is why it is hard for me to call Buddhism a religion.

One common thing I found was when the Zen leaders talked about how what Buddhism is trying to show, is older than words or thoughts. It has been around before humans. This is just like Judiasm, Christanity, Islam, and Hinduism. Their sacred text are supposed to be before humans. The word is eternal. All of these religions and Buddhism transcend humans and tap into something bigger than themselves and this idea of something being before humans is a good example of this.

Hindu Temple

The Hindu Temple was a very interesting building. It had many decorations and statues to honor the many manifestations of God. I think this idea was the most interesting thing to me. I always thought that Hindus worshiped many gods. The Hindu religion is more similiar to the three previous religions we have studied than I thought. They all worship one God. It seems that they all worship the same God. The different religions just have different ways of doing this.

I thought the Hindu Temple building was closest to the Basilica. They both had alot statues and pictures. They were both decorated elaborately. I thought this was interesting becasue Christians do not believe in worshiping idols and they just have statues and pictures as more of reminders, while it seemed that the Hindus seemed to worship the actual statues.

The openess of the Hindu Temple also suprised me. The only place the seemed to be off limits was the immediate area around the statues of the gods they worshiped. Any person could wonder around the temple as they please. The openess of the religious ceremonies also surprised me. We were able to participate in the ceremonies even though we knew little of what was happening.

Wearing no shows was also interesting. I find it interesting that wearing no shows to a Christian Church would be disrespectful. This is just like how covering your head is a sign of respect to God in a synanagogue, but in a church this also would be highly disrespectful. This just shows how different culturals have different ideas of what respectful is. It makes me wonder what God views as disrespectful.

Mosque

Once again I had many stereotypes about Muslims shattered just by simply talking to one. I was shocked at how they almost view themselves has having a bond with Jews and Christians because they all worship the same God. They don't reject the teachings of Jews and Christians, they mostly make small changes but the messages stay the same. It was also good to hear the person we talked with talk about how people take the Quaran out of context to prove support their argument or to make Muslims look bad. The Quaran, like the Bible, is a book that proclaims peace.

It was also good to hear him address the stereotypes that people have about Muslims. I seems as if some people in the Western world want to keep people afraid of Muslims for certain political gains, so they try to spread these rumors about Muslims. Its seems as if this is happening in predominantly Muslims countries also. People there spread rumors of Westeners to make the people angry so the leaders can achieve a political end. Its a shame becuase Three religions that we have convered so far all worship the same God, just in different ways. Hopefully people will realize this and then these harmful stereotypes will stop.



Two things that really stood out to me about the Mosque was the gym. I thought it was interesting, because in this place of holy worship, there was a place dedicated to having fun. I think this shows that even though when they praise God they devout all their thoughts to him, doesn't mean that God does not want them to have fun when they are not praising him.



Another thing that stood out to me was the simplicity of the prayer room. It was a huge change from all the other places we visited. The big difference was that there was not alter or any place to sit. This says alot about the religion. It seems as if they want nothing to get between them and God. They want to focus every ounce of energy on him.

Synagogue

Visiting the synagogue stripped many stereotypes of the Jewish religion for me. It was interesting to see a place of where they worship in person instead of reading second hand accounts. It brings Jews to much more of a personal level. One thing that stuck in my mind was the observance that when the Jews that we spoke with talked about fasting or other inconviences of their religion, they acknowledged that it was annoying and unpleasent. In my experience growing up Catholic, inconviences were ignored and never complained about. Jews seem to take their religion as more of a personal duty while Christians seem to view religion as a privilege.

Three things that I found interesting about the synagogue were the fact that there were no statues or pictures anywhere. I know they do not believe in having them but it was weird to see a place like not having any pictures of religious leaders. In a Catholic church, the place is littered with statues and pictures of saints and Jesus. This was a huge difference for me.

Another thing that stuck out to me was the natural lighting that was required for a synagogue. Its funny because in today's world this could be seen as going "green" but Jews do it for much different reasons. It is required for them by the Torah. Maybe this is a sign of how wise these old religions are. Jews have been using natural for a long time and now things like these are becoming mainsteam and it is popular to use things like natural light. I think this a good example of how things change but Judaism remains mostly the same whether Nazis are trying to kill them or if it becomes popular to use natural lighting, they remain the same.

The third thing that stuck out to me was the fact that the Torah was covered with a curtain. This is just like how the tabernacle is covered with a curtain in a Catholic church. It is interesting how both sacred places of these religions are covered with a curtain. This is a good example how even though these religions believe in many different things and have had big disagreements, they still have many things that cannot them together. I think this is a good lesson to show humans that even though we might think we are very different individuals, we still have many common traits.

Tour 1

The sacred places at Dyersville and New Melleray were very different from each other. The sacred spaces at Dyersville were very elaborate and full of detail. Everything had a picture or something in it telling a story. The spaces were full of symbolism. In New Melleray, the sacred spaces were much simplier. There was not as much elaborate detail but it felt as if there was still just as much symbolism however. In New Melleray the church was much plainer while Dyersville was more extravogent. Both places though, were very large with high ceilings. That was one comming theme.
If I had to show how both were Christian, I would point out how in both locations, the sacred spaces centered around Jesus Christ. Both places were created to give Jesus and God thanks. Only Christians would give this much attention to Jesus. His image is everywhere in both places because he is such a central figure for the Christian religions.
I would have to say I liked the building at New Melleray more because it was so bright and simple. But I preffered to be in the Basilica because I liked the idea of it being open to everyone and it being a place where all can come and participate. The monks were more secluded and keep to themselves and that is their purpose. I like the idea better of everyone being together and worshiping together. Overall though, both places were very impressive.