Wat Buddharangsi Temple Site Visit

Wat Buddharangsi Temple of Miami I grew up in a house where both my parents practiced the teachings of Sikhism and Hinduism. My father’s job required us to move every three years to different countries, most of them of Christian majority and because of this I have been exposed to a few religions. However, ever since I first started studying religion I have always found Buddhism more relating to my beliefs more than any other religion has since it is more a philosophy against a religion. I was especially interested in the Theravada branch of Buddhism, or “The Doctrine of Elders”, which is essentially a school of Buddhism that follow the Tipitaka, a collection of religious texts. The Tipitaka is known to be one of the oldest records of Buddha’s teachings. The thing that interested me the most was the idea of no “supreme being” and the concept of after-life and reincarnation.
My keen interest I decided to visit the Wat Buddharangsi Temple of Miami which follows the ways of Theravada Buddhism. I did not expect to find it in such a remote location. The temple was completely surrounded by fields in a village like neighborhood. The location and its surroundings had the atmosphere very peaceful. A lot of trees surrounded the temple and made it feel full of life. The design of the temple was beautiful with not much color apart from the gold painted roofs and details. The building was built in a distinct “North Asian” style making it feel like you were stepping into a completely different place.
What I found very interesting was that in the corner of the property, there was majestic tree and a statue of the Buddha at its foot. On the surrounding wall there were posters with drawings and text explaining the story of the Buddha. At the entrance of the temple were two golden lions but they were just there to enhance the beauty of the temple. There was a big wooden door that led inside and the temple itself was surrounded by flowers, plants and trees. This alos gave the