Finding Home Far Away From Home: Place Attachment - Essay Example

Topic – A Place (Essay) In a human life, there are few things which influence and motivate us in a significant manner to lead our life in happiness and harmony. Normally, every individual on this planet surrender to a place or specific location in order to support and preserve his life. In such a case, the most important place which plays a significant role in improving the quality o f my life in psychological and physiological manner is the Buddhist temple of xiqiao Mountain, which I visit on occasions. This in my life holds a special place due to its power of giving me divinity, strength confidence and will power. A person sometimes pays one visit to a place and remembers it for a long time. On the other hand, the emotional attachment to a place increases for some people with a continuous visit to a particular place. According to (Hiruy) “The place attachment could be defined as an emotional bond that people develop in relation to a place where they prefer to remain and where they feel comfortable and safe”. In a human’s life, the most important thing is the peace and harmony he feels when in connection with a place, object or person. If there is no peace and happiness in life, the large acquisition of power and wealth bring only frustration. I am an emotional person and believe ardently in love, emotional and physical attachments and divine power of the universe. I strongly assert that, to acquire emotional and mental happiness, one should make contact with one or many places or location on a long term basis. I am a person whose is born as Buddhist, and my parents since my younger years taught me to develop a strong belief in Buddha and his divine powers. However, once I entered teenage years, I got distracted to the faith in Buddha and his divine powers. It is recently, that some negative incidents had led me to polish the faith in Buddhist principles and his power in rejuvenating the mental and psychological well being of mine. However, it is not abnormal for a person living in developed nation like American and UK to visit restaurants, pub, nightclubs and sport clubs to mend their emotional mood swings and balance. But I have always found that being Chinese, the atmosphere of Buddhist temple in my locality, bestow me with incomparable positive strength and mental peace. Everyone around the world knows and acknowledges about the immaculate power of Buddhist principles and its environment in changing the complete internal and external outlook of a person. For a person like me, who is prone to a sensitive heart, needs a consistent comfort and assurance from divine power to get along with a life full of thorns and mystery. I have been to many places in my life, and enjoyed its ambience and natural environment, but nothing could offer me the psychic happiness which is delivered by the xiqiao Mountain temple ambience. This is a message to human beings that, nothing modern and sophisticated in life can compensate with the power of karma, as it is the basis of teaching of Buddha. Here, if I attempt to contemplate on the environment and ambience of xiqiao mountain in Guangdong province of China, I become breathless and over whelmed. According to (Foreignercn)“Xiqiao Mountain is located in the southwest of Nanhai District, Foshan City, Guangdong Province. It is 45 kilometers away from Guangzhou City. Xiqiao Mountain is one of the four famous mountains of Guangdong Province”. The most important highlight of this location is the scenic beauty and cultural heritage experienced from this divine locality. This is the place, which I have been visiting with my family since childhood years. And the kind of joy and positive strength xiqiao mountain delivers to me is embedded in my very heart and soul. This Buddhist temple I visit is of our ancestral origin and hence I have stronger bond to it. In general, this temple of Guangdong province is a place where all our relatives visit, and when I attend this temple, I also get to meet many of my relatives. I get more pleasure and satisfaction in visiting this temple of xiqiao mountain, as it also gives me a chance to revive my close bond with my immediate family and relatives. Everybody knows that the religious temple of a particular individual has an important role to play in giving him faith, willpower and determination. It is when I had tough times in my life, that I had more connection with my temple as it came me courage and strength to face the uncertainties of life. According to Buddhist principle, life is a journey where one needs to be cautious of actions one make in life, so that the karmic effect one reaps in life is good and fruitful. These principles and words of Buddha have given me so much inspiration that I feel proud of my religion, culture and principles in life. I have gone through my part of difficulties and contingencies in life and the place I always resort for happiness and bliss is our ancestral temple in the Xiqiao Mountain of Guangdong province. My parents has been so impressed by my attachment to this Buddhist temple, that they appreciated me for being so humble and accustomed to our culture and years old traditions. It is generally accepted by any person in this world that religious principles and concepts has great potential in developing the personality and ethical standards of a person. If an individual does not believe in ethical standards and moralistic principles, then the life of the person is wasteful and defective. In the very beginning of my life, my parents have suggested me to believe in the golden rules of our divine personality Buddha .This is the main reason why I found relief in visiting the Buddhist temple which is in Guangdong province of my home town. The other reason for my likeness to this particular temple is that it is near to me and relevant to our family origin. When it comes to my experience with Buddha, I can explain that my whole personality goes in to a relaxation mode, where I contemplate on the karmic laws of Buddha. It has become a routine for me to visit temple on a perpetual basis, and on occasion when I get into a tensed or frustrated mood. It is a fact that, how much ever we move away from the natural state of universe, we still get entangled in mental distress and physiological complexities. I have certainly come to experience that, love is the basis of any activity in this life, and being near to nature gives human the everlasting love and peace, which he has always hankered for. In case of my psychological well being, the temple I visits has played a significant role in providing me with happiness, which sometimes I find reluctant to express. This means the serenity and harmony which I absorb from the xiqiao Mountain temple environment is absent anywhere else in the world. Here my emotional connection to Buddha is relevant to any Buddhist temple I can find all over the world. I have strongly believed in karmic principles of Buddha, since couple of years through all thick and thin o f my life. One of the reasons for my strong connection to Buddha is because it is intertwined with the divinity of nature and universe. In the very beginning of my life, I have always been influenced by the teaching of Buddha and activities he has done to upgrade the spiritual life of people by following Karmic laws. Moreover, my parents have continuously nurtured me in such a way that, I attend temple and give interest to religious concepts with value and integrity. Moreover the positive vibes I get from visiting a Buddhist temple has assisted me immensely in suppressing bad and disastrous moments I faced in this life which is of mysterious nature. Life is not a journey only with happiness; it is the ugly side of life which has invoked me to be so close to church, where in I get all the motivation and faith to lead a harm free life. As per (Sirikanchana)“Peace is the essential teaching of Buddhism. As the means of practice, peace cultivated in a person’s mind is a source of an act of peace and a moral deed”. It is not that I do not visit my relatives or friends to make things easy for me in a social circle. The main point is that, the pleasure I receive from mingling with friends and society members is fragmental and short living. On the contrary, when I visit Buddhist temple, even though if it is only for a couple of minutes, I instantly connect with the divine power which allows me to see the gates of heaven open for me. Today, the world is full of calamities, disasters, crime, inhuman events and fraudulent activities and in such a circumstance I believe that only my favorite place which is Buddhist temple could give me serenity, love and peace of time. References Foreignercn, . "Foshan." foreignercn.com. N.p., 22 Sept. 2009. Web. 19 Sept. 2012. . Hiruy, K. (2009, March). Finding home far away from home: place attachment, place-identity, belonging and resettlement among African-Australians in Hobart. In http://eprints.utas. edu.au/8592/2/Hiruy_thesis_final__170309.pdf. Retrieved September 16, 2012, from http://eprints.utas.edu.au/8592/2/Hiruy_thesis_final__170309.pdf Sirikanchana, Pataraporn. "Buddhist Doctrine and the Culture of Peace." ignca.nic.in. Indira Gandhi National Centre for theArts, 1999. Web. 17 S ept. 2012. . Read More