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Q: Buddhism with Chinese Characteristics?
What would that have been like?
I picture the lay people screaming at each other across the temple and they nibble on chicken feet and spit the bones on the floor before following them up with a load of mucus.
The monks would be passing golden statues of their great god budd back and forth and comparing who has the heaviest icon.
Can you add anything else to this picture or suggest any other forms of something with Chinese characteristics?
It isn't hard, just take any idea and basically skewer it to the point of absurdity.
I have a story.
My wife is Buddhist. We got married, tried for a baby, and unfortunately lost it.
So, under direction from the MIL we had to visit the local temples and do the circuit of all the Buddahs that were relevant to our cause. The three joss sticks stuff etc. No problem for me, because I am a believer. Not in any specific religion I need to add, because they all sort of combine into one for me.
So, we were doing this every weekend. All over the Guangzhou area.
Christmas time, I said "lets get the train to Beijing and have a few days away". Yup so off we went.
So there we were, at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, and I nudged the wife... "lets say a prayer".
" No way" she said.
"why not?"
Her answer... " Because if the prayer is answered we have to come back to say thanks, and I don't want to spend the money to come back"
There you go. Buddhism with Chinese characteristics.
As an add. I like going to temples. I go along, do a little prayer and contemplate. But after our baby was born and the thanks were given at the relevant places, my wife refuses to go anymore.
The great thing about temples in China, is that they are the only place where people are equal. Sure, the rich people plant their massive incense sticks, but so do the poor who are praying for a miracle. But the size does not matter there
I have a story.
My wife is Buddhist. We got married, tried for a baby, and unfortunately lost it.
So, under direction from the MIL we had to visit the local temples and do the circuit of all the Buddahs that were relevant to our cause. The three joss sticks stuff etc. No problem for me, because I am a believer. Not in any specific religion I need to add, because they all sort of combine into one for me.
So, we were doing this every weekend. All over the Guangzhou area.
Christmas time, I said "lets get the train to Beijing and have a few days away". Yup so off we went.
So there we were, at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, and I nudged the wife... "lets say a prayer".
" No way" she said.
"why not?"
Her answer... " Because if the prayer is answered we have to come back to say thanks, and I don't want to spend the money to come back"
There you go. Buddhism with Chinese characteristics.
As an add. I like going to temples. I go along, do a little prayer and contemplate. But after our baby was born and the thanks were given at the relevant places, my wife refuses to go anymore.
The great thing about temples in China, is that they are the only place where people are equal. Sure, the rich people plant their massive incense sticks, but so do the poor who are praying for a miracle. But the size does not matter there
Not Chinese (really) characteristics in 'Christian church' in my area:
There is a mass or some gathering every Sunday at 10am. I'm not really sure, what is really going on in the church, but....there are maybe 250 bicycles nicely parked on the pavement. Some 5 or 6 piles of bikes parked neatly on some 20m stretch of the pavement, which you can pass with ease.
If you imagine bikes are new, it looks like bike store has 250 bikes on display on the pavement. At rainy weather, every pile has cover over the bikes.
I'm not very often there on Sundays, but I'll find out what's going in there once.
I can't really describe in English, but there is a cross on the outside wall of the building, like builder would missed/withhold bricks on the top of outside wall, and missing parts resemble cross. That's why I think, it's church.
For comparison, you can't pass on the pavement in front of BoC or Postal Bank, because 7 bank's customers parked their 'aero-planes' 'across' the pavement. Why would somebody park bicycle across the 2m wide pavement?
