Matt Learns About Buddhism

Shewara and I went on a small pilgrimage outside of Madison to the Deer Park Buddhist Center, one of the first Buddhist monasteries in North America and now conveniently located in Oregon, WI. I learned about the center from a few friends in grad school, so we went on a sojourn to check it out. When we arrived we four buildings: a large center currently under construction, the main temple, the residence quarter for the monks, and the stupa (pictured at left). The stupa sits on the location where in 1981 the Dalai Lama performed the kalachakra initiation for the first time in the western hemisphere. Right in the middle of a Wisconsin dairy field. The white stupa is crowned with a figure of the Buddha and surrounded with those colorful prayer flags you can find for sale in every Buddhist and hippie store in America. But I can tell you from personal experience they make great wall decorations.

Soon after arriving and making our presence known with the loud chatter and photography flashes of annoying tourists, a friendly young monk named Chogyam came out to greet us. He introduced himself and took us inside the main temple for a small tour. The single room was decorated wall-to-wall with thangkas, Buddha statues, and other Tibetan Buddhist decorations. We chatted about religion, art, and the apparent christmas lights on the stupa (visible in the picture and actually there for the Buddha's birthday celebration). Chogyam invited us back for a Buddhism class the following Thursday, where I did some meditation and learned about the Buddhist concept of consciousness. Buddhist theory seems very philosophical and complex, but also keen to incorporate new scientific findings into their own religious understandings. If only other religions could do that. (I'm looking at you, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism!)

Perhaps I'll hit up more classes later, but for now I am booked on Thursdays. I've had a fun Buddhist experience so far anyway.