Humanities Homework

1

Carson Thummel

Wendell Smith

HUM100

29 May 2022

Humanities Project: Module 4-2 Draft

With the work that I have selected (Buddha statue in Wat Traimit Temple), there are many different acts of expression that are influenced or impacted by others around. Although no one really knows the true creator of this piece, I believe they created it as an expression of art. This piece has impacted millions of people around the world and continues to do so. With it symbolizing Buddha and the Thai Buddhism religion, it is still a shrine that monks use to practice Buddhism.

Does this statue have the same meaning to other cultures? And does this statue have a negative or positive affect with different cultures? I have come across these two questions and different ways of answering them. They are the relationship between culture and expression. The statue does not mean the same thing to other cultures. For example, Christians do not see this statue as who they worship, but they do have Jesus and God which in turn doesn’t have the same meaning to Buddhists as well. I cannot say whether the statue has a negative or positive affect on different cultures because you just don’t know. Many people in other different cultures could hate Buddha and some could love Buddha.

Do I value Buddhism and its practices? I never got into Buddhism and its practices growing up through high school. But living with my mother who was going through rough times seemed to find peace and clarity through meditation and Buddhism practices. Her expressing all these different ideas made me want to try it out and investigate or research it more. If it weren’t for the people around me, especially my mother, I do not think I would value Buddhism and its practices. If you have the same questions about what you value and how those values are shaped by other people’s expressions, really did deep and find what you value most in life and think about why you value that and how you started valuing it.

Works Cited

Cavanagh, R. (2019, July 2). Temple of the Golden Buddha: Wat Traimit, Bangkok. Thaizer. Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://www.thaizer.com/temple-of-the-golden-buddha-wat-traimit-bangkok/ 

Poetry, performance, and disability culture: An interview with Petra Kuppers. SoundCloud. (2017). Retrieved May 29, 2022, from https://soundcloud.com/being-human-pgh/petra-kuppers-interview