The temple tries to fight these things to make the world a better place. (Thanhtrang).
Social Context:.
As far as I can tell, it appeared to me that the people who attended the temple were middle class. I noticed that they all drove nice cars and were nicely dressed. Nothing I noticed was really fancy or there was nothing that really stood out. There were people of all ages in attendance on Sunday. The ages varied from children to the elderly. In total there were approximately 50 people that attended the service. There were about 30 females than 20 males. All of the people that attended the temple were of Asian descent.
Material Dimension:.
One way a sacred place is designated is that shoes are never worn into a place that is considered clean or holy. Of the two buildings that were there, only the actual temple where the service is held, do they take their shoes off. They do not take their shoes off to go into the other building where the meal is held. I think that they only take their shoes off in the actual temple because it is the place where the worship and praise actually takes place so they show their respect in that way to Buddha. The worship space consisted of an open room with Buddha statues in the front, surrounded by flowers, candles, incense, and fruit. As a way to show their respect and love for him, their ancestors built the Buddha statues. To remember what Buddha has given and done for them, they recite his teachings, pray, and bow to him. The incense is also to give Buddha thanks. It is believed that the smoke goes around in ten different directions. The candles stand for wisdom. The flowers come from the story that when Buddha died, the sky rained down flowers. It is believed that in the forest where Buddha died, all of the trees bloomed flowers. Flowers are always used in remembrance of Buddha. The fruit is meant to remind people that there is an outcome. Also in the front is where the sister who gave the message sat.
