After the field trip, I feel this field trip has changed my view of the similarities of Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism. Now I feel these three religions are actually quite similar after the field trip. Now the quote "All religions have a common meaning " from my Grade 5 teacher Mrs. Williams makes sense. In the field trip, we visited an Indian temple, and a Chinese temple, but sadly not the mosque as it was closed when we arrived.
The Indian temple we visited was amazing! I saw an amazing amount of different colors on almost everything there, and beautiful symbols such as the lotus flowers. I also noticed there was a variety of Hinduism gods such as Brahma, and Ganesh. I also witnessed some Hindu worshippers praying, and a worker bathing a precious god. The last thing I saw was the Hindu writings on the walls which was very linked to Islam. In grade 5, we visited a mosque, and I remembered seeing some Islamic writings on the walls. I also smelt some fragrant incense, and smell of the lotus flowers. I also heard some beautiful Hindi music, and a priest reciting the Rig Veda. In the end I felt privileged to come here, and I hope the Chinese temple, and the mosque had a welcoming atmosphere just like the Indian temple.
Next we visited the Chinese temple, and I was surprised with a few things. Although I have visited a Chinese temple many times before, I noticed quite a few number of new things. In the temple, I saw dragons, lanterns, many different types of gods like Guan Yin, rings, joysticks, a chimney, and some people selling fortune notes. The colors of the temple to be honest was expected. It was red, and yellow. I barely heard anything at the temple except for the prayers of some worshippers. I also smelt fragrant incense. After visiting the temple I came up with some links with Hinduism, and Islam. All their worshippers come to pray quite often, and they all have things no other place has. An example is the Hindu temple has a lot of colors on everything, while the mosque has geometrical shapes. Also the Chinese temple is the only type of place where the main color is red, and yellow. I also made links with Hinduism which is they both have gods in the temple. The atmosphere of this temple was very cold as no one welcomed us, and I felt lost at times.
After lunch we tried to visit the mosque. When we reached the gate, I was shocked. It was closed. So we sat beside the river and viewed the mosque. From my view, I spotted a dome, two minarets, no gods, people praying, dull colors, geometric shapes which had very intricate designs. I also realized the mosque was almost symmetrical. I also heard very loud speeches from the Imam telling people to come pray. I didn't smell things, but from the pictures of the other groups, I can tell that in the mosque, there was no smell. The atmosphere of the mosque was very serious especially during prayer time. The only new connection with the Hindu temple, and the Chinese temple is the worshippers definitely take their prayers seriously.
After the trips I realized that although all religions are far from each other, the religions all have some similarities. Some important similarities is their worshippers take praying seriously, have colors for purpose, and they all have symbols. This is what the similarities are. As you can see, we human beings have a similar thinking, no matter where we come from!
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