Analysis of Buddhist experience - Intercultural communication

Danielle Hardisty

BUS 330 A F INTERCULTURAL COM FOR BUSINESS ASSIGNMENT

March 14, 2022

Analysis of Buddhist experience - Intercultural communication

Introduction

Buddhism was one of the most popular religions today, originating in India 2500 years ago.

Historically, the religion started with Siddharta Gautama, a royal prince who became the Buddha.

Siddhartha left behind his luxurious life as a prince when he saw the three signs of suffering; Buddhists

believe that human life is one of suffering and that meditation, spiritual and physical labor, and good

behavior are the ways to achieve enlightenment or nirvana. Buddhism entails many beliefs as it being

one of the largest religions globally, having practices such as refraining from harsh speech, dishonesty,

and gossiping. Through Intercultural communication, I have learned about the impact of the interchange

of information between individuals of different cultures in breaking down cultural barriers, building
awareness of norms, and enhancing self-awareness and communication skills(Hall,1976). Artistic

experience is a way to foster understanding and cohesion among members of various communities

worldwide. The cultural iceberg can be understood by discovering more about the different cultures.

The concept of behavior, for instance, what we see, hear, and language will open a venue in

understanding Buddhism. Attitude, for example, what we think, feel, like, and dislike will answer the

difference between Christianity and Buddhism. The pure meditation practices of Buddhism and cultural

beliefs that are part of Buddhism within the Buddhist countries. Through the cultural iceberg, values

regarding the principles or standards of the behavior and what might be necessary for life are

addressed. For instance, most Western Buddhists tend to emphasize meditation as the essence of

Buddhism, whereas it is not for most of the Buddhist world. The paper concept of Hofstede's

individualism-collectivism shall draw the line between individualist and collectivist in understanding

Buddhism and Christianity (Hofstede,2009). Learning about Buddhism culture opens a link of effective

communication among people of different religions. The study examines the Buddhist experience

regarding culture and religious practices and how their ideas and perspectives influence intercultural

communication and business operations.

Hsi Fang Temple

Fig1: Hsi Fang Temple San Diego, California

During my spring break, I traveled to California, where I visited Hsi Fang Temple to gain real-

world experience of their culture and how they conduct their services. Hsi Fang Temple, also known as

San Diego Buddhist Association, was founded in 1989, with its headquarters, Fo Guang Shan, in

Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan. The temple originates from the Chinese Mahayana Tradition, the 49th
generation of Linji lineage. Hsi Fang temple's primary mission is serving and sharing the Buddha's

teaching through community service, education, group cultivation, and philanthropy. Additionally, Zulia

Temple in Brazil. Like Hsi Fang temple, they emphasize the daily application of the Dharma and

Humanistic Buddhism, which influenced my choice in visiting this temple because, during the research

process, I learned that there are different Buddhist schools. I was curious to know more about

Humanistic Buddhism. The temple has several events, for instance, meditation retreats, educational

programs, Buddhist lecturers, and young adults programs. I was pretty impressed that they served food

and fruits to the visitors during my visit. I interviewed an elderly Buddhist member about several

multicultural issues ranging from religion to tradition, historical facts, and their thoughts on global issues

such as human rights and commerce. I come from a traditional catholic family who lives in a different

culture and holds Christian core values structured differently from Buddhism. Getting to know about

Buddhism is an entirely new and exciting cultural experience, providing a broader perspective.

My experience

During my visit, I took an interest in Buddhism and met some of the fantastic people at the Hsi

Fang Temple. During my temple tour, I had to attend the service there and met a monk named Yung

Ling. I had the opportunity to interview Yung Ling on his religious experience with Buddhism and some

questions related to the seven dimensions of Buddhism religion. Talking with Yung Ling gave me a great

insight into the practice of Buddhism and an overall fantastic experience. According to Yung Ling,

Buddhism can be well understood through Ninian smart's seven-dimensional religion. They include;

practical and ritual, experiential and emotional, narrative, doctrinal and philosophical, ethical, social and

institutional, and material dimensions (Lama,2011). All of the above dimensions are what constitute

humanistic Buddhism. Observing and talking with Ling clarified some similarities and contrasts between

or religions. For instance, they both provide principles that can govern interpersonal relationships. Yung
Ling elaborated on the Buddhism dimensions, which entails helping believers understand how to love

and live with each other. Buddhism aims at attaining Enlightenment, Nirvana, whereas the goal of my

religion, Christianity, is to obey God's commandments and love Him. The Buddhist law is Dharma, while

in Christianity, mainly Catholics are the Canon law, and in Buddhism, they don't believe in sin, whereas

in Christianity, there is existence sin. My faith teaches that one should treat others nicely the way they

expected to be treated. This was also the same when it came to Buddhism, which emphasizes

observation of morals. In reflection on my religion and Buddhism, I would also conclude that the two

religions depict a lack of morality, resulting in the human ego. The evidence of both religions shares the

theme of morality and love that are meant to eliminate human suffering.

Around the temple, I observed many beautiful things. Buddhism statutes and decoration are

very common, and it uses mediation images that are believed to possess Buddha qualities. This was also

similar to my religion (Catholic), whereby the statutes symbolize the presence of God. This kind of

correlation made me feel am actually at home, and it was easy to feel the emotions and understand the

ritual of the Buddhist prayer. Having my clear conscience am in the presence of the mighty power.

Despite having such similarities, there are some differences. For instance, the origin of Buddhism was

founded by Buddha, who was a prince, and my religion (Catholic) was Jesus Christ. Through His death

and resurrection, they were set free to worship his father (God). I will not fail to mention that when

analogizing how Buddhism and Christianity, there is a scenario whereby nowadays people are so

stressed, working at a fast pace and consequently, they do not pay attention to things around and the

quick information facts, the way of interaction between cultures, and also creating a hole in the concept

of self-conscious At many times they do not respect others. This is different when it comes to Buddhism

since they value compassion between other cultures, religion and most of all, they seek knowledge

through practice.
 Through his explanation, I understood that the ritual dimension is about the public and private

forms and orders of ceremonies. The experiential dimension is concerned with the aspect of emotion

such as fear, guilt, deliverance, and inner peace. Narrative or mythic dimensions are about the stories of

the universe, while ethical and legal dimensions talk about the rules and codes about human behavior.

The social and institutional dimension was elaborated in that it deals with a shared belief system and

concerns what Buddhism culture is concerned. To begin with, I asked Yung Ling about the practical and

ritual side of Buddhism, which provides important insight into the everyday methods used to achieve

relations to the sacred. The rituals can neither be very proper nor can they be part of everyday activities.

The examples of ritual behavior Yung Ling gave me include activities such as meditation, feast days,

scriptural readings, and hymn singing, which he participates in daily.

Secondly, there is the experiential and emotional dimension. In Buddhism, Yung Ling expressed

how self-involvement is regarded highly. Buddhists go through meditation to enhance their spiritual

well-being and growth, making Yung Ling very connected. All in all, the experiential dimension of

Buddhism is the most important of all the dimensions, as the core belief of Buddhism is obtaining the

experience of enlightenment. The Buddha's personal experience of gaining enlightenment is the base of

the whole Buddhist tradition. A realization of the truth achieves enlightenment by expelling all suffering.

Furthermore, Buddhists must practice meditation with the help of Samadhi, exercises, and gardens,

which help them focus.

I was also able to learn the values. Several values are promoted in Buddhism. These values are

seen in the Eightfold Path, which was made to help Buddhist practice the four Noble Truths. These

concepts and values are impermanence, karma, compassion, wisdom, and enlightenment. All objects in

life are not permanent, and so are all the thoughts and feelings that flow through people's minds. That

concept was impactful for me, observing how the Buddhist culture feeds their life with knowledge, and
has so much compassion with all the cultures, made me realize that it is truly important to learn about

yourselves, learn how to discover with observing the surroundings, learn how to understand about the

differences, being able to respect. The Buddhist presented me with the importance of self-

consciousness. As a Christian, I believe in salvation through and passion by Jesus; however, learning

about the values in Buddhism gave me a new perspective of salvation and even more value for

enlightenment.

There are many Buddhist holidays, but the Buddhist New Year is major. The exact day differs

depending on the country it is celebrated. The New Year is a three-day celebration in Thailand,

Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, and Laos starting from April's first full moon. These countries are

considered Theravadin countries because Theravada Buddhism is mostly practiced. The Chinese,

Koreans, and Mahayana celebrate the New Year in late January or early February, depending on the

lunar calendar. Hsi Fang temple practices Mahayana traditions, and therefore they are Mahayana

Buddhism. It is interesting how Buddhists can practice Buddhism in their ways and respect the ways

other Buddhists practice. Additionally, I have been invited to a celebration of the Buddha's birthday and

Mother's day that happens in May. I want to attend and learn more on this occasion as it is one of the

important and memorable days in the Hsi Fang temple calendar.

Apart from visiting the temple, some of the information I obtained from Auspicious. I inquired

about his beliefs concerning a god or gods. He claims that Buddhism has changed her life since she

joined the religion. Given Auspicious' ordination, I was curious about the guiding principles: focus on

value, start where you are, progress iteratively with feedback, collaboration, think and work holistically,

keep it simple, and lastly, automate. We recognized that the subject was challenging but intriguing

because, as an elder and spiritual leader in his community, people had high expectations of him, which

he acknowledges comes with many societal pressures.

which are the core teachings of Buddhism and are required to understand the faith. I learned that there

are way more valuable ideals besides what is read in books about Buddhism as it is simply trying to help

people find the way of Dharma, the way of a strong mindset and enlightenment. After clarifying, I

remarked that he lives by the moral principle of observing moral precepts before engaging in any

behavior.

Due to the societal debate, I sought an Auspicious opinion on whether Buddhism is a philosophy

or a religion. He stated that it had been a common topic in modern culture because many people

dismiss it as a religion owing to the lack of an everyday god or creed compared to other faiths. Even

while Buddhism comprises moral and philosophical teachings to provide insight and purpose to

contemporary life concerns, it still belongs under belief because it is guided by spirituality and contains a

set of ethical norms to be obeyed and adhered to by its followers.

During my visit, the temple offered no food, but I learned that all Buddhists practice

conscientious eating, and their diet is primarily plant-based. A plant-based diet includes fruits,

vegetables, grains, and a few animal products that Buddhism allows. Buddhists, I learned, are

vegetarians because they feel it is a method of demonstrating self-respect and protecting other animals.

However, opinions on vegetarianism differ according to the school of thinking. For example, the

Mahayana schools that His Fang temple adheres to indicate that Gautama Buddha stated in several of

the sutras that one should not eat the flesh of any animal.

I was curious about Auspicious religious background because many people identify with

Christianity in my neighborhood and across the USA. For instance, the majority of the people I know are

Christians, specifically Catholics. He admits growing up in a Christian environment. Still, he later falls in

love with Buddhism because it supports mindfulness and morals by finding value in nature without
being attached to worshipping a single deity. After leaving his hometown for college studies, she met a

friend who initiated him into the Buddhism religion. Since then, she has committed himself to accept all

of the religious rituals required, which saw him ordained as a spiritual leader in his community.

Visiting the temple was so valuable to my cultural experience because I learned that Buddhism is

all about caring about humanity rather than being tied to worshipping a common deity. The Hsi Fang

Temple, for instance, served people from all walks of life in the community without discrimination,

especially when performing community services. Apart from prayer services, the temple's management

promotes education through its "light bookstore" initiative, which donates Buddhism books to the local

learning institutions, children, and homes for the elderly.

Following my chat with Auspicious, I watched the "Buddha" documentary with my mother-in-

law as she was interested in learning about Buddhism and its values in the hopes of learning more

specifics by asking questions about ideas I didn't grasp. According to the documentary, humanity is

Buddhism's core and fundamental value. The religion's ideals aim to prevent humans from harming

others and instead protect all living things, including animals because they are vegetarians (Coseru,

2013, p. 22). My mother-in-law's perspective on life and human nature was a need to end suffering by

fostering love, tranquility, and self-control, which may be attained by being intelligent and human in

decision making. I also recognized that Buddhism is distinct from other religions in that it is not focused

on the relationship between humans and God.

In contrast to most faiths, whose spiritual and irrational activities, religion encourages variety

since its culture is physical and rational. Buddhists are exclusively concerned with cleaning their minds,

seeking good, and avoiding evil (Varner,2000). Like many other religions, Buddhism incorporated local

ideas and customs as it spread throughout the world. Owing to the lack of a common deity in the

religion, local painters depicted the arts of the Buddha in ways that mirrored regional states, which drew
most people into the faith due to familiarity with the ideals it fronted. As a result, localizing art played

an essential role in expressing religious ideas, values, and practices through portrayals of the human

body.

A reflection Analysis of the Buddhist experience

Due to a lack of preparation and some people being uncomfortable with being interviewed, it

was initially challenging to find someone to interview. My values are formed not only in my religion and

faith, but I have also shaped them during my life path. Even when I was young, I needed to become

independent and go out to work, learn, and adapt to different challenges, which brought me to the

United States. Learning more about Buddhism values has been essential to understanding a lot of what

I've been through and will help me in many ways, such as being a college student, athlete, and future

businesswoman, in a sense that I want to improve my mindset. Finally, during the interview, one should

display good communication skills and be conscious of the interviewee's emotions, especially while

asking sensitive questions. It was difficult for me to get answers due to language barriers as I was very

conscious of what I was saying because I did not want to say anything that could be wrong or something

that could trigger them, but I tried my best to be prepared.

Through the interview and the video, I learned how diverse various religions and civilizations are

owing to differences in beliefs and customs. Yet, we coexist and interact when performing business and

other social activities despite cultural and religious differences. As a result, I discovered how vital

diversity and inclusivity are in promoting a healthy community. I realized that, regardless of differences,

all religions and cultures embrace the common good in humanity by fostering virtue (Hofstede,2009).

Because I had not taken the time to create significant relationships with people from other cultural

backgrounds before the event, my beliefs about the Buddhist community's cultural and religious
practices were skewed. As a result, I realized the importance of cultural understanding in bridging

cultural gaps through loving and accepting the cultures of others.

Since I was able to familiarize myself with the Buddhist school of thought concepts, the

experience boosted my communication skills and increased my cultural intelligence. In terms of

dimension and cultural identity, I realized that Buddhism is often built on indigenous cultures, which

impact and define their worth and logic, a unique manner of recognizing and enduring. To avoid

preconceptions and be prepared with facts that provide insight and direction on their way of life, one

must also learn the philosophical beliefs of the cultures concerned to build intercultural sensitivity.

The experience will help me become a better intercultural professional, especially now that I

want to start a firm specializing in Airbnb. While anticipating clients from all cultures and religions with

varying thoughts and beliefs on housing and accommodation, I must be respectful and accommodate

their views and preferences. The experience has broadened my cultural awareness, which will help me

avoid culture shock and adjust to various companies and situations in the future. As a result, I will

promote tolerance and diversity to accommodate everyone while still operating a business using the

cultural intelligence I have gained.

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