Should Religion Restrict the Way You Live? (WW5, Group Uno)

The moment I stepped into the main entrance of The Cloud Water Zendo Center, a small Buddhist worship center located in Cleveland, I instantly felt a serene sense of calm surround me. The walls were painted deep colors of yellow and red, decorated with many framed pictures and paintings of bamboo, monks, lilies- just about anything to do with nature. I looked down and noticed small stands that held figurines and sculptures of the lotus flower and meditating Buddha. There were two rectangular tables in the center of the room, surrounded by chairs, and in the corner a small, round table held an assortment of teas. Incense poured freely through the air, its scent filling the entire building, as the greeting from the monks broke the silence in the room. After introducing ourselves, the head monk proceeded to escort me into the meditation room to begin the morning service.

As we entered the room, I saw three of the center’s members meditating on one side of the room. On the opposite side, there was a group of visitors sitting in chairs, whom I joined. Directly in the center was the head monk, and at either side of him sat two other monks. In front of the them rested an enormous, elaborate, gold rupa of a Buddha in the lotus meditation position, surrounded by offerings and additional rupas. The service began with one long chant that proclaimed the general Buddhist beliefs on how to live life, and then proceeded into the Sanskrit mantras. These were led by the head monk and chanted by each follower and monk. These chants rang through the room, accompanied with drums, gongs, and bells being hit by the monks to the rhythmic tempo pulsing through the room. The long Sanskrit mantras carried on for about twenty minutes. Once they had finished these four main mantras, they began a chant, which was created specifically for Cloud Water Zendo, written in English, but chopped up into broken-sounding syllables. Five minutes of silence, and then a thirty-minute meditation session followed this. During this session, we all moved into the back of the room where there was another altar-like setup with the Buddha rupas, and cushions for meditation lined up on the floor. This thirty minutes of silent meditation took me aback at first. How was I supposed to feel comfortable sitting cross-legged, staring at the back of my eyelids in a room full of people I have never met before? I reluctantly took my place on the floor and forced my legs to form the shape of a pretzel. I looked up and saw that everyone around me had already assumed their “silence” modes. It comforted that no one else had their eyes open, which would allow them to gawk at me without my knowing. So I closed my eyes, felt the creases in my forehead cease, and joined the blinded silence.

This span of silence proved to be very calming, and even interesting. There was only one interruption during this entire session. After we were about three-fourths of the way through the thirty minutes, the head monk steadily stood up, holding a large, solid wooden paddle in hand. He began to walk around with the paddle, reached the end of the line of monks, and then turned back around to face the way he came. He started back down the aisle, hitting each monk and center member on the back along the way. Any speculation to how hard he was hitting was put to rest by the loud thud it made against each practicing Buddhists’ shoulder blades.

Once the meditation ended, we all went back into the main room, found a place at one of the tables, and helped ourselves to some tea, if desired. The head monk then proceeded to teach their weekly lesson. After he finished, we had time for conversation. I started off by asking one of the female monks what made her choose Buddhism as her religion. With no hesitation, she replied, “I came to it gradually over time. It was something that just made sense. Looking back, I was raised with Buddhist principles without even knowing it.” This related to, and well defined the basic beliefs about Buddhism. Not only is Buddhism a religion, but also a philosophy; a way of life, in which one can freely express his or herself. It was not necessary to alter any other beliefs that one may have had in life prior to coming to Buddhism, because it is believed that Buddhism can be “added on” to your ways of life, and did not even conflict with or restrict you from other religions. She continued, “It’s like a process of improving yourself. It doesn’t shut you off from anything else.”

I thought back on my experience with other religions, namely Catholicism. Out of all the masses I had been forced to attend at church, had I ever seen someone get hit over the back with a wooden paddle? No. But had I seen everyone in the parish accept wine and bread as literal blood and flesh? Yes. Had I seen perfectly respectable people get rejected from the parish because of their personalities or appearances? Yes. Had I seen other religions and alternative ways of life be openly ridiculed in front of the entire audience of five hundred people? Yes. Was the church seemingly wealthier and of a better reputation and social standing than the Buddhist center? Yes. Would I ever want to go back to the Buddhist center? Possibly. Would I ever want to attend a Catholic mass again? No.