Research of Religion

Lisa Hill

LIBA300 Core Seminar II

Final Paper (Analysis and Integration Project)

February 19, 2015

        Religion is a topic that is not often spoke about in my small social circle.  Even growing up we did not attend church services or speak of any religion.  My father grew up the same however, my mother was raised Christian but never speaks about it.  Simply because I did not grow up with religion, I am an Atheist.  I do believe there is a God or higher power that watches over us.  I believe there is a Heaven, where the people that spent their days being “good” went after death and I believe there is a Hell, where the people who were not so “good” went.  

        Having a course where the heaviest graded assignment was to complete an Immersion Project opened the door to an adventure I would not have otherwise chosen to do.  Given the opportunity to choose which religion to experience, Buddhism was the one that struck me the most interesting.  Something about the peace of meditation I wanted to experience for myself.  The belief in God or another higher power is something I’d like to research with Buddhism.

        Belief in God: 39% of interviewed Buddhists said they were “absolutely certain” in their belief in God.  Shockingly enough there was 19% that do not believe in God.  Within the interview, was there a language misinterpretation?  

When I began researching Buddhism I had no idea there were different branches.  Zen Buddhism “was first introduced into China by Bodhidharma in A.D. 527 and it was the Chinese that evolved it into its present unique form” (Spirit of Zen reference pg 31).  The power of Zen only comes to those whom are prepared to receive it and to others Zen is just nonsense.  I have come to understand that there are similarities with religions.  Buddhism comes into close contact with Taoist teachings, “for in the sayings of the later masters the word ‘Tao’ is often used synonymously with ‘Buddha-nature’ or the ‘Dharma’ (Law)” (Spirit of Zen pg 33).  According to the author of The Spirit of Zen, Alan Watts, Zen is summed up as:

        A special transmission outside the Scriptures;
        No dependence upon words and letters;
        Direct pointing to the mind of man;
        Seeing into one’s own nature.

I decided to go to the Des Moines Zen Center on 35th Street during their Wednesday evening Zazen (a form of sitting meditation).  Due to the lovely winter weather we received just a few days prior, heavy traffic from the people heading home from a long day at work and difficulties finding the location, I had arrived five minutes late.  The Zen Center is part of a small, brick, strip mall style building in the midst of a residential neighborhood.  They are the middle of three businesses.  I had anticipated they were in a stand-alone building but assuming got the best of me.  When you walk into the Zen Center, a Buddha with a bowl for donations is near the doorway.  it is required to take off your shoes and hang up your coat.