Blog III
In the past years that I have spent time with my Bhutanese friends, I have seen some of their unusual behaviors which have made me question why they would do them. For instance, one of my Bhutanese friends dropped a book which fell on her feet and she immediately reacted to it by picking it up and slightly touching it on to her head. I questioned her as to why she would do that and her response was that it was something sacred. Books represented something sacred because they are objects from which you gain knowledge and from which you learn and thus they needed to be treated with respect. Furthermore, when my friend dropped a picture of her family onto the floor, she did the same thing. The reason behind it was that respecting certain objects like family pictures or any other object that you may consider important or respectful would be treated the same way. It was really subjective as to what a Bhutanese person might consider worth placing onto their head, it was merely a sign of respect.
Another significant religious influence on my Bhutanese friends is noticeable when it comes to their treatment towards other living beings. One of my Bhutanese friends was actually my roommate my freshman year and she would refuse to let me kill bugs that would some how find its way into our room. Even after I would swat a bug she would mumble a little prayer. By Buddhist standards, all living beings are equal and have equal rights to a life. When you kill a bug, in a way you are taking a life, particularly a helpless form of life so she would say her prayers for the little one and hope that its spirit/soul is liberated and finds its way in the after life. That was another interesting theme that I noticed among the Bhutanese Buddhists. The concept of past lives and after lives is a constant connection with most of their ‘altruistic’ behaviors.
In the past years that I have spent time with my Bhutanese friends, I have seen some of their unusual behaviors which have made me question why they would do them. For instance, one of my Bhutanese friends dropped a book which fell on her feet and she immediately reacted to it by picking it up and slightly touching it on to her head. I questioned her as to why she would do that and her response was that it was something sacred. Books represented something sacred because they are objects from which you gain knowledge and from which you learn and thus they needed to be treated with respect. Furthermore, when my friend dropped a picture of her family onto the floor, she did the same thing. The reason behind it was that respecting certain objects like family pictures or any other object that you may consider important or respectful would be treated the same way. It was really subjective as to what a Bhutanese person might consider worth placing onto their head, it was merely a sign of respect.
Another significant religious influence on my Bhutanese friends is noticeable when it comes to their treatment towards other living beings. One of my Bhutanese friends was actually my roommate my freshman year and she would refuse to let me kill bugs that would some how find its way into our room. Even after I would swat a bug she would mumble a little prayer. By Buddhist standards, all living beings are equal and have equal rights to a life. When you kill a bug, in a way you are taking a life, particularly a helpless form of life so she would say her prayers for the little one and hope that its spirit/soul is liberated and finds its way in the after life. That was another interesting theme that I noticed among the Bhutanese Buddhists. The concept of past lives and after lives is a constant connection with most of their ‘altruistic’ behaviors.
No comments:
Post a Comment