Beyond What I Believed.

               Religion is defined as an organized collection of beliefs, cultural systems, and world views that relate humanity to the supernatural, and to spirituality. One has its own different religions. Some believe in Allah, some believe in Jesus Christ and some believe in prophets. One’s religion depends on the culture and the group he belonged.

                September 22, 2013, I tend to travel almost the whole Asia for just 6 hours. I couldn’t believe I went to China, India, Tibet and Taiwan for just Php 160 as fare. Experiencing the religion practices in the said places was beyond my imagination. Who would have thought I will be able to experience being a Taoist, Buddhist and Sikh for just half of the day. It was indeed a super experience and a dream come true.

 Our class on History 2 decided to have temple hopping in some of the temples in Cebu. I didn’t actually go to China, India, Tibet and Taiwan. I just stepped on some the places in Cebu that shows some of their religion practices.

The airplane, I mean the bus first stopped at Taoist temple near Lahug, Cebu City. Upon seeing the gate of the temple with colorful sculpture, I felt like I was going to China. As we enter the temple, I was amazed by the different images in front of us. There was Shih Huang Ti’s image. He was considered the first emperor of China and now became a God. Prof. Esperito explained the history of Taoist. I experienced praying to their God. I even tried my luck to the oracle bones and the so called kidney stones. Being a Taoist for a short while was really memorable.

Our next stop was the Sikhism temple. It was manage by some Indians in Cebu. I entered their temple with my head covered to respect their Gods. I saw images of Guru Nanak and Lord Shiva and his wife. But what amazed me most is their holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib. They worship this book and they consider it holy. Baba Gi, a priest in their religion, filled our ears with its worship songs. He also read us some of the readings in Guru Granth Sahib which really inspired me. They let us taste their holy corsage.  They believe that there is only one God. They will accept you in their temple whatever your religion is.

Second to the last stop was a Tibetan temple. It was actually big compared to the two temples we’ve been to. The images of Buddha were indeed big. There were different crafts in different rooms that are use for worshiping their Gods. There was this room intended for the remains of some Buddhist. We met two monks who welcomed us in their temple

Our last stop but definitely not the least was also a Buddhist temple. It was also big and you could actually have a glance of Cebu City up there. The caretaker of the temple gave us some history of their religion. He said to be good person; you must do the three important things: Do good, speak good and think good. He led us to inside their temple. I saw different images of Buddha. I already saw some of them in the Tibetan temple. We bid goodbye to place after.

Being a roman catholic, I never thought of experiencing the religion of others. I never thought of worshiping the Gods of others for I believe I have my own God. But when I experienced those things in just half of the day, I realized that it is not bad to try being something you’re not used to be. The trip gave me a positive outlook to the religions in Asia or even in the world. Though it was just a short time, it left a memory in my heart. A memory that I will cherish forever. So, the next time I encounter Taoist, Buddhist, Sikh or any religion different from mine, I will surely give them the biggest respect.

I quoted what Baba Gi said, “No matter what our religion is, we believe in the same God.”