Reporting on a Religious Service - Essay Example

Reporting on a Religious Service of affiliation Reporting On a Religious Service Field Information I attended a religious service at The Jain Centre of Northern California (JCNC). The religious affiliation of this place was Jainism. The address of the place was 722 South Main Street, Milpitas, CA 95035. The date I attended the service was on Sunday 12th October, 2014. The exact time of the service was 10 AM. The name and the type of religious experience I witnessed were the way people practice the Jainism religion and the way of prayer in Jainism. First Observations The inside and the outside appearance and depiction of the building was a combination of both the religious and outstanding physical landmarks. The outside pictures were a distinct depiction of a religious place that was encompassed in its architecture. The temple was fenced all round by metallic rails that demarcated the place from its neighborhoods. The temple had a dome that was indicative of the Shikar-bandhi type of the Jain temples. The temple was beautifully carved with pillars all over the entrance, and the inside of the temple was enclosed. The colors that were used on the outside included white with blue-print of the Jain signs and symbols. From the front, there was only one entrance to access the building with a dome on top of the entrance. The inside was also decorated with a combination of architecture, paintings, and colors that were similar to those that were outside. On my entry into the building, I took off my shoes because every other believer was taking off their shoes, and it was a sign of etiquette. The inside had two staircases. The downstairs was composed of many rooms that were meant for education and other programs in the temple. The upstairs was the main temple of the believers. The upstairs was an empty hall that had no furniture. However, the floor was covered with a mat. Inside this temple, there were idols that were decorated differently. The middle idol was the most decorated while the three on each of the sides were less decorated. The believers were seated on these mats with their legs folded and their hands laying on their laps. Most people in this service were middle class and the high class. Their ethnic group was mainly Indian, and their gender was composed of both males and females. Their ages were varied from approximately 3years to 70 years old. Description of the Service I went upstairs to the service because that was the location of the temple. On this Sunday, the people had attended the service for prayer. On the way they pray, before we entered the temple, the people should put something yellow on their forehead and wipe their heads a little of holy water. The yellow substance was placed in a silver bowl, and a device for obtaining the substance from the bowl was available. The people who attended the service were of two types. The first group came to practice the prayer, and another came just to pray. The people who came to pray were wearing casual wear, and they were just standing in front of the statues. The people who came to practice prayer had a different attire. The men were wearing white canvas and wrapped them around their bodies. The women were wearing traditional clothing. On starting the practice, the bell in front of the holy area was banged. The believers, then walked around the group of small statues in a circular manner three times. Then they went towards the bigger statue. When they got to the holy place, they put colored marks on the face of the big statue and the whole of its body. On entering this area, the people touched the ground and kissed their hands, and covering their nose by their canvas. After this, the believers stood in front of the holy place and brought out a certain tool. The tool was driven right and left while the believer was standing in front of the statue. After this, everyone brought a mirror and a small stick. The mirror was tilted to reflect the image of the statue, and the stick was driven right and left of the mirror. After that, everyone prostrated and knelt before the big statue. After this, they proceeded to sit in the temple and placed some food and fruit on the table in front of the statue. After the prayer, they proceeded to donate money in the fund. The fund was called Jiv Daya Fund, and it was placed in a beautifully carved box with a maroon lid. The service concluded at this juncture with all the people dispersing at their pleasure. Analysis of the field experience The service was an indicator of the doctrinal alignment of the Jain religion. The messages portrayed by the service is coherent with the basis of the Jainism religious doctrine. Jain worship is an individual based religion that aims at providing a sense of self-discipline towards the believer. It allows for the cultivation of the ideals of the personal and Jain religious doctrines in the propagation of life towards morality. The purpose of this religion is to promote non-violent action and promote the asceticism. The religion has been influenced by the Hindu religion, despite the subtle differences between these two religions. The religion believes in the spiritual realm and material benefits. The individuals can material, and spiritual realms are eternal and that the humans engage in both these realms in this life and the next life. They also believe in karma and thus providing a greater distinction from the Hindu religion. Their prayer is aimed at getting spiritual nourishment. They do not pray because they want something. This is because of their belief that if they pray to get something, then they will not accrue any spiritual benefit, and also fail to achieve material benefit. Prayer for them does not offer benefits to the worshipped because they are beyond human contact, and they are free from the desires and passions (Marret, n.d). From the experience, I understood that these people come for prayer for spiritual nourishment. This is divergent to the belief that people pray to obtain some benefits. Practically, the basic nature of the worship was based on a formalized and ancient system of worship. The worship process was designed to allow all the believers to go through a series of similar steps that were general. All the believers were required to go round the statue three times, and this depicted the specificities of the worship process. The prayer process is the same despite the different needs of the believers. This is indicative of the formality of the praying process and the spiritual upbringing in this religion. The current generation of this religion seems to follow the footsteps of the original worshipers. The worship by using canvas is indicative of the ancient system of worship in this temple. In this temple, the age groups that are present ranges from three years old to 70 years old. Despite the young ages, the people pray in a similar manner and believe in the karma. This has allowed for the passage of the ancient religion to the current generation. The architecture of the temple is also an indicator of the ancient worship with domes all over the temple (Marret, n.d). The features of these temples can be traced back to the ancient religion. This service showed that the religion is approached on the basis of the spiritual realm and the materialistic realm. The fund and the giving of money towards it is a depiction of the materialistic approach in this religion. Sociologically, the Jain religion is founded on the people that believe in the asceticism and the non-violent action. Most of the people that attended this service were of Indian origin. This is indicative of the close-knit that exist in this group of people. They are drawn to this religion because of the ethnic ties that relate to these people. The religion is not made up of people from different ethnicities, but mainly individuals of Indian origin. The leaders serve to unite the people under this religion. The leaders of the religion are respected by the believers because of the close link, they have with the spiritual realm. This nature of leadership shows that this religion is centered towards the spiritual other than the physical. There are those people that may have a closer relationship with the spiritual world than others. Therefore, the Jain religion is an example of a religion that is founded on the ancient doctrine of asceticism and spiritual realms. References Marret, P. (n.d). Daily Practices and Recitations. Jainism Explained. Retrieved from http://www.jainworld.com/jainbooks/explain/e9.htm Accessed on 15th October, 2014. Read More