After spending weeks learning about world religions in history classrooms, freshmen saw Hinduism and Buddhism in practice Monday, Oct. 6 at the Hare Krishna and Jade Buddha temples.

After listening to a presentation at each temple, the students had the opportunity to ask an active practitioner of each faith questions. One of these practitioners was a 26-year-old monk who became interested in Hinduism when he was 16.

“He was a modern representation of a monk, and he was more liberal about what Hinduism should look like,” freshman Lexi Lozano said.

The students also had the chance to walk around the grounds of the Hare Krishna temple with a guide explaining murals on the side of the temple walls. They were offered cookies before leaving the temple.

Still munching on their cookies, the class left the Hare Krishna temple in buses and made their way to the Jade Buddha Temple.

The room where the presentation was held was filled with miniature Buddha statues. At the front of the room was a giant jade Buddha figurine for which the temple was named.  The jade Buddha was carved out of one piece of jade and coated in porcelain.

The students walked on the right side of the temple into a room filled with pews, a characteristic used more in Western churches than in Buddhist temples, and were told to fill up the right side pews.

One of the presenters spoke about Buddhism as a way of life rather than as a religion.

After the presentation, the students were told to spread out and meditate.  They were given instructions to count to ten and keep smiling.

“I liked how relaxing the meditation was,” freshman Claire Furse said.

After lunch, the freshmen headed back to SJS to reflect on their day.

“I thought it was really eye opening. It was an insightful trip,” Lozano said.