A class of boys receives instruction at the Hsi Lai Temple
in Los Angeles, California
MARIO RITTER: Welcome to the VOA Special English program EXPLORATIONS. I’m
Mario Ritter.
Religious faith is both deeply personal and a community
experience. In the United States, religious communities of many kinds co-exist
and sometimes work together in interesting ways.
This week, learn about
Buddhism in America. The ancient religion has its roots in India. Today, many
forms of Buddhism are practiced in the United States. Hear what American-born
clergyman Kusala Bhikshu has to say about the religion’s popularity.
In
the state of Tennessee, members of the Catholic religious group, the Dominican
Sisters of St. Cecilia’s, lead simple lives of work and service. Not much has
changed in their community over the years. But more young women are joining.
Some see this as a sign that young people are placing growing value on faith and
service.
But first, we hear from Muslim students at a Christian
university here in Washington DC. Christopher Cruise tells us how students are
dealing with the differences in their religious beliefs.
Catholic
University Muslims
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: The Catholic University
of America has welcomed a growing number of Muslim students in recent years. It
is not just Catholics who feel at home there. Reef Al Shabnan is a Muslim from
Saudi Arabia.
REEF AL SHABNAN:
“Being in a religious environment where religion is practiced it makes it more
understandable and easier to practice the religion itself.”
She likes
Catholic University because of its conservative values.
REEF AL SHABNAN:
“Family values, I mean the nuclear family, pro-life the position of the school
on those issues go along with my position as well.”
Christine Mica heads
the university’s admissions office.
CHRISTINE MICA: “While they may not
be Catholic, there is this sense of security and safety of practicing their
faith on the campus here.”
Wiaam Al Salmi came to Catholic University
from a university with no religious ties. She says faith is a way of life
here.
WIAAM AL SALMI: “The environment here is also religious and the
teachings that they teach here is similar to the teachings that I grew up with
and so going to pray that’s nothing out of the ordinary for them. So they
understand.”
In a five-year period, the number of Muslim students more
than doubled - from forty-one to ninety-one. Most were from Saudi Arabia. Tanith
Fowler Corsi is Catholic University’s Assistant Vice President for Global
Education.
TANITH FOWLER CORSI: “We attribute that a lot to our
connection with the Saudi Embassy here in Washington D.C., and there has been a
conscious effort to develop a good relationship with the embassy.”
Kenny
White, a Catholic, says he is good friends with a Muslim student. He says seeing
his friend pray has strengthened his own beliefs.
KENNY WHITE: “It’s
inspired me. He’s a very faithful Muslim and very devout and that’s inspired me
to be even more devout in my faith.”
I’m Christopher Cruise.
MARIO RITTER: You are listening to Explorations in VOA Special
English.
More than two thousand years ago, a prince in the area of India
began a life of spiritual teaching. His teachings became the Buddhist religion.
Today, Buddhism is practiced all over the world. Listen as we visit a religious
center in California that prepares boys for Buddhist
training.
American Buddhism
MARIO RITTER: Boys
have their hair removed at the start of a five-day retreat. This gathering gives
them a chance to learn about Buddhism’s teachings and the life of a Buddhist
monk. Many Chinese Americans go to the Hsi Lai Temple in Los Angeles. Miao Hsi,
director of outreach, says American Buddhism is divided largely along ethnic
lines.
MIAO HSI: “This is
why there is Chinese Buddhism, there is Tibetan Buddhism, there is Japanese
Buddhism, and so on. So I think that right now, we have some form of American
Buddhism as well.”
MARIO RITTER: Kusala Bhikshu is an American-born
clergyman. He says Buddhism has a long history in the United States.
KUSALA BHIKSHU: “And it now has dug its roots into the soil of America, so
there are people, myself being born in Iowa, people who were born in America who
are coming as a convert to Buddhism, some becoming ordained as Buddhist monks or
nuns, and … and bringing those teachings to everyday Americans.”
MARIO
RITTER: The Dalai Lama may be the world’s best-known Buddhist. He enjoys wide
respect among Americans. He has some well-known followers, including actor
Richard Gere.
There are Tibetan Buddhist centers around the United
States. This one near Redding, California, is a teaching and spiritual center.
Kusala Bhikshu says his center in Los Angeles brings together several Buddhist
schools. He studied under a teacher from Sri Lanka. His center is in a
Korean-American neighborhood, and was opened by a monk from Vietnam.
He
says Buddhist teachings differ a little from one tradition to the next. At the
Hsi Lai Temple, the central teaching is the same: a respect for the tradition, a
desire to change because of the American experience, and a search for unity
among people of all beliefs.
MIAO HSI: “Every being is connected. It’s
like we are connected to this world. So I think we should be working towards
harmonizing with one another. Harmony and peace would be something that we
should all work towards.”
Buddhists say there is a bridge that links the
many forms of American Buddhism. It is the American-born children who share a
Buddhist faith and American culture.
MARIO RITTER: It is easy to think
that many traditional ways of life have disappeared into the past. But tradition
is very much alive for this Catholic religious community in the eastern United
States. This group, based on faith and giving, is gaining youth and
renewal.
The Dominican Sisters
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH:
The Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia’s is a Catholic religious order in
Tennessee. St. Cecilia’s looks and sounds much like it did when it first opened
one hundred fifty years ago.
But there is also
something new: the voices and laughter of young woman studying to become
Dominican sisters. The current group of first-year students is the largest in
many years. Sister Catherine Marie is a spokesperson for St. Cecilia’s.
SISTER CATHERINE MARIE: “There are two hundred seventy of us, and
our growth of late has been rather extensive. This year, we had twenty-seven
young women enter. Last year, it was twenty-three. Great blessings to
us.”
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Sister Catherine suspects these women want to look
deeper into their faith. Studies have shown that Americans are interested in
spiritual issues; yet their involvement in organized religion is falling. She
says the Dominican Order was founded during a period of social
unrest.
SISTER CATHERINE MARIE: “There was a whole lot going on in
the world that was very irreligious. And yet from this emerged an idealism and a
wholehearted desire to give of self.”
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: That desire
led Sister Kelly Edmunds to join St. Cecilia’s. She remembers how students at
the University of Sydney reacted to Dominican sisters who served there.
SISTER KELLY EDMUNDS: “Just to watch them walking down the main
boulevard of campus wearing their habits…it was just such a powerful witness!
And I had friends in engineering who were like, they knew I was Catholic. So
they would say to me, ‘Who are these nuns on campus?’ And so it was a really
great witness to me of the power of religious life.”
SHIRLEY
GRIFFITH: Sister Victoria Marie came to St. Cecila’s after completing a study
program in civil engineering.
SISTER VICTORIA MARIE:
“So it was a big shift in my life to go from utility to relationship, from what
am I going to do? To who am I going to be for the Lord?”
SHIRLEY
GRIFFITH: A religious worker does not spend all day at work or in prayer. Sister
Kelly was surprised by how much time she has to simply enjoy life.
SISTER KELLY EDMUNDS: “Just to be outside and to enjoy the beauty of...the
beauty of the world and creation. And so we play a lot of sport, we go for
walks, we just enjoy each other’s company outdoors.”
SHIRLEY
GRIFFITH: Yet the women do spend a lot of time at religious services, in the
classroom and doing work. Sister Victoria admits it can be very
busy.
SISTER VICTORIA MARIE: “For a couple weeks after I entered I
thought, I just want to lay on the couch for the day, and I don’t think they do
that here, you know?”
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Sister Kelly does not
believe her spirituality is something unusual. She believes the Catholic Church
is in a period of renewal.
SISTER KELLY EDMUNDS: “It’s a really
great…a springtime for the Church, I suppose. And there’s a lot of hope and a
lot of life.”
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia are
active in Australia and across the United States. They teach more than thirteen
thousand students at more than thirty schools. I’m Shirley Griffith.
MARIO RITTER: And that’s EXPLORATIONS, a VOA program in Special English. It was
written by George Grow and Christopher Cruise, who was also one of our
announcers along with Shirley Griffith. I’m Mario Ritter. You can watch video
versions of each part of this program on our website, voaspecialenglish.com.
For English learning activities and interactive features, click on The
Classroom at VOA Learning English. And follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
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