On April 3rd, Dong Hung Temple welcomed a field trip of Hickory High School students currently studying World Religions. I had the opportunity to serve as a temple volunteer for their visit, providing the class a brief tour of the statues on our temple grounds.
During our tour, I explained that there are four historical sites we hold special in Buddhism. They can be found in present-day Nepal and India and include Siddhartha’s birthplace in Lombini Garden, the Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya where Siddhartha attained nirvana and became an enlightened being, Deer Park where the Buddha gave his first Dharma talk, and the site of the Buddha’s passing into Parinirvana in Kushinagar. At Dong Hung temple, we have statues depicting each of these four historical sites to be appreciated. We visited each along our walking tour and discussed the important events in the Buddha’s life associated with each place.
Upon completing the tour of the Buddha’s statues, we went inside the temple where the students sat on cushions in a semi-circle in the Buddha Hall. Thầy Chuc Thanh welcomed the students and guided them through a meditation session. After finishing the meditation, Thầy Thanh introduced himself and spoke about his background as a venerable monk at Dong Hung Temple.
After sharing stories about the dharma, Thầy Thanh invited each student and their teacher to share something in life that they find difficult to handle. The students spoke honestly about uncertainty about their future, expectations from others, family concerns, keeping up with schoolwork, and relationships with coworkers, classmates, and teammates, and several other struggles. In response to their concerns, Thầy Thanh encouraged them to reflect on the five remembrances taught by the Buddha: aging, illness, death, separation from what we love, and karma. He explained that these are experiences all people will face in their lifetime, and by reflecting on them, we can learn to accept them rather than suffer in fear of them.
The students then had time to ask questions about Buddhist beliefs, the temple, and services. To close the visit, the students recited the lyrics of a song about loving-kindness (Metta), wishing friendship, love, and care in all directions.
It was a wonderful visit, and we were grateful to share the temple and the Buddha’s teachings with the students.
– By Lorraine
