On Monday 6 August, some of the College’s Year 11 VCAL students had a day to explore the two religions of Hinduism and Buddhism.
Here is a student reflection about the day:
We first visited the Sri Vinayagar Hindu Temple in The Basin where we were kindly greeted by the Temple’s Cultural director Dr K Sundaralingam (“Sundar”). He welcomed us into the temple then introduced us to his wife, who took us on a tour. She pointed out the various Gods (they have three million) and how they can be seen in various ways, such as a snake or a monkey. After our tour we were asked to stand in a line so the priest could bless us before we left. This blessing consisted of him reciting a mantra to the God in the temple, then individually blessing us with white ash on our forehead, then offering us a piece of fruit as we left.
Our next stop was Mahamevnawa Buddhist Meditation Centre in Mount Evelyn. During our time there we met two monks who gave us a brief introduction into their lives and how they became who they are today. We asked many questions about their roles and beliefs; we found out that they have 227 rules to follow daily. We then had 20 minutes to meditate. During the meditation the monks were praying in a song-like way to protect us and wish us the best in life and that we had no suffering. Overall our experience of that day was only positive and allowed us to experience other religions for ourselves and not just off Google. It was truly an eye-opening day. — Erin Muscat (Year 11 Purple) and Mikayla Mortimer (Year 11 White)
