A Ticket to Asia

          No, it was joke. Not Asia, but Asian Temples in Cebu. The trip happened last Sunday, September 22. It was a field trip for our History 2 and attendance was a must. So like what the teacher instructed, most of us came to AS lobby with loose shirts and jogging pants on. But just as we were about to leave, the teacher announced that the yoga session, which was the reason for our loose-shirt-and-jogging-pants attire, will no longer happen because the instructor was having a flu. And so we had to visit temples with our rugged look; but it was comfortable anyway.

          We first headed to Heavenly Temple. You can hear the sound of the wind and the sound of the leaves dancing in the air due to the silence of the place. Sir Espiritu served as our tour guide. He was very fluent in explaining every corner and every hidden meaning in the temple. He talked like he was a Taoist. He introduced us to the oracles in the temple – kidney stones and wooden sticks. He even tried it himself but he got a very unfavourable revelation which is hopelessness. When we were given the chance to try, most of the students got bad results like a bad future. It was very funny because everyone was so excited to try, yet their moods changed when they got the super blunt revelations.

Niño, Joyce, Claire, Gilamie, Jenissa and Alexis having a pose at the overlooking part of the temple.

          On the way to our next destination, we were told to tie a hanky on our heads. In order to get inside the Cebu-Hindu temple, we must have a covering on the head to pay respect to their religion. The place is as quiet as the first temple. We entered in their place of worship and awed on the beauty of the fabrics they used in the room. Their holy book was covered with layers and layers of beautiful fabrics with patterns of glittery laces. The priest sang and read the holy book for us. Parshad, their holy food, was also offered to all of us. And aside from their holy food, when we were about to leave, they gave us juice and biscuits. I don’t know why they are so generous. If Roman Catholic would be this good, I would go to our chapel every Sunday (hahahahah).

BA Psychology students together with the priest( center) , Miss Jabines ( beside the priest) and Sir Espiritu (far left).

          Not so far from the second temple was the Tibetan Temple. It was a castle-like in structure and had Chinese-style paintings. Saying that the statues inside are huge will be an understatement. It was more than huge and big. The statues were gigantic – reaching to more than three meters in length. The monk who welcomed us was very accommodating and hospitable. Despite of our noisiness brought about by our huge population, he opened the doors to every room of the temple. They even prepared food for us before we left the place. The food was like struck by the lightning – in just seconds they were gone. While in the bus for the last temple, I kept thinking if they feel annoyed or happy in giving us snacks ( coz it was magical for us).

Psychology students, Miss Jabines and Sir Espiritu having a picture with the Tibetan  monks.

          The last, but definitely not the least temple, was the Chu Un Temple. The colour of the sky turned from orange-y to dark blue when we got there. Sir Henry was no longer our speaker because the temple had its own tour guide. The guide became anxious of how quiet we were while he was discussing things about Buddhism. The reason behind our silence is maybe because of exhaustion, or bus lag (not jet-lag haha). But nevertheless, we still enjoyed the place. The grass there was no ordinary. When we stepped on it, we felt like we were floating.  And the most eye-candy spot in the temple was their catwalk. It had colourful round lanterns with drawings of Buddhist monks on it. The ambiance is very heart-warming and relaxing. It made us think of the new things we learned from the different temples we visited.

A karate lesson with the bald babies.

          For me, that day was very fruitful. I was able to observe the different practices of different religions because of different culture. Some religions are very strict and organized by rules. And some just want unity among everyone, disregarding the socio-economic status.  But the latter are quite judged by those religions in the former. They don’t have the same practices and principles. I don’t get it why they bash those in Sikhism, Buddhism, and Taoism when the only thing that is of great importance for them is unity.