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Nda Yann Philippe Kouame Chung Mei Buddhist temple
. Section 1
On Sunday morning, I went to Chung Mei Buddhist temple, located in Houston, in order
to assist to Buddhist worship ceremony. When I arrived to the temple, I have been received by
the member of the community who takes care of the student and visitor service. He showed me
the entry to the ceremony room, which was already filled.
My observation can be summarized in three different parts that are the aesthetic aspect of
the building (the interior-exterior aspect of the building and the symbolic furnishing), and the
content of the ceremony which includes the rituals and practices and the sacred stories and ideas
that have been pointed out during the moment I spent in the temple.
From an architectural perspective, we can say that the Buddhist temple I visited was
divided in two parts: The main building and the big garden. Firstly, we can infer that the design
of the temple was inspired from the concept of serenity due to the emphasis on the nature. In the
garden, we can find small fountains, animals statues and statues representing some people. All of
which contribute to bring an effect of serenity in the temple. Concerning the main building, it is a
white one-stage building composed of orange-tiled roof, red pillars and many bay windows.
Inside of the main building, we can see that it is divided in many rooms. But the most
important for the community is the ceremony room that is used for special, rituals and worship.
Inside, some long benches have been placed for people to sit. On the walls, it is possible to see
many statues representing some characters belonging to the history of Buddhism. So, the main
room is divided in two: the benches for the believers and the stage for the people who lead the
ceremony (who were two).
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Concerning the symbolical aspects, the most furnished room is the ceremony room.
Firstly, it is impossible to miss the three big golden statues on the stage representing three
Buddhas, which are the most noticeable symbolic artifact in the temple. Each of them has his
own particularity (for example the Buddha on the right was the Buddha for the health and
medicine) and was holding different things (the Buddha on the left was holding a lotus flower).
Concerning the ceremony in itself, it was led by two persons, one was wearing a black
kimono (the one some of the believers were wearing) and the other one was wearing an orange
kimono (which makes him special and different to the others). The disposition of the room
during the ceremony was simple and special, the leaders were on the stage and the public was
divided in two: on one side the men and on the other side, the women.
The ceremony consists of reciting some sutras (In Chinese) while one of the leader, the
one in black is making a medium low pitched sound in a regular way by hitting a mallet on a
small drum. In other words, She repeats the sound in a regular way while the believers recite the
sutras. At a specific time, the leader in orange gives the order to stop by making a sharp sound
with a hit on a bell and one of the believers makes repeatedly some sounds at different levels
from high to low and stop.
After that the leader in orange makes one more sharp sound and the other leader starts to
recite again another sutra. At a specific time, it is the moment of worship. At this moment,
people prostrate and stand repeatedly. At the overall, they recite a sutra for each Buddhas. It is
also possible to observe two small statues at the extremum right and left. At the end of the
ceremony, the believers face the hallway where the leaders walk through when exiting the room.
Contrary to the other religions, I feel like the mood during the ceremony in the Buddhist
temple is more peaceful. Also, the number of believers present to the ceremony was not large as
I expected. Also, the book given to me to follow the ceremony contained the original language
