Comparison of Meditations.

Visiting the Buddhist temple was a wonderful and unique experience. I originally imagined the Buddhist priest to be similar to the Iman I had met at an Islamic temple. However our speaker’s personality was very different.  Both were nice but he seemed a lot more connected to youth and people. He understood the concepts he was teaching and was able to apply it to our own everyday lives. It was interesting seeing how Buddhism can be applied in everyday life. In class we have studied the teachings and the philosophy behind them, but being able to see the teaching applied to something like changing a diaper was very interesting. The meditation was very nice and relaxing. It took me 1about 8 or 9 minutes to get into the meditation state and I was able to maintain it for  1 or 2 minutes or at least it felt like that long. It was a good idea to tell us to try to listen to the silence. I found it easier than to stop thinking. I was able to state I rarely reach. When our philosophy class attempted to meditate to a tape, with an English translator the directions were not as simple. The exercise tested my ability to focus and to maintain the positions instructed. After the first five minutes I started to lose focus. I became frustrated and stopped paying attention I then re-focused and got into the correct posture. Though, I was physically following the instructions, but my mind was wondering from the exercise.  I was thinking about the math test I had the next period then Solibo Magnificent quiz I had later that day. It was difficult to escape reality and future thoughts and concentrate on the present task. Overall the Buddhist meditation seemed simpler and the atmosphere seemed perfect for it.