Kiss, Bow and Shake Hand - Interview

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We then started to talk about Buddhists gods and he then enlighten me about how Buddhists pray to the Buddhists statue and he was a person not a god. He told me that Buddha was a person who was born with the name of Siddartha Gautama, he didn’t tell me how he became to be the Buddha. We then talked about the Hindu gods such as Krishna, Ram, Shiva, etc. He said growing up in India he knew about the Hindu gods. He also said when he was growing up in India he went to the Hindu temples.

I then asked him about The Dharma he said he don’t know much about it but he was told growing up that it was like a religious law that most of the older Buddhists follow. He himself didn’t know much about it so he didn’t take it to heart. I asked him if he know what the Hindu religious book was and he said that it was the Vedas. I told him that the Vedas was one of the book that Hindus used to read from. But the main book is the Bhagavah Gita, because it has more text and religious ties.

He asked me which of the Hindu holidays I celebrate? I told him I celebrate Diwali, Holi and Raksha Bandhan. He said he also celebrated Diwali and Holi just because as a child in India he celebrated those religions. I told him I celebrate them because for me it was always about the colors and lights and friends. We also talked about religious leaders and he told me that the Buddhists leader is called a Monk, unless you are in Tibet then he is called the Dalai Lama. I told him that I thought that the monk was just a follower that lived in a monastery. He said that they do both but there are stages of Monks from beginner to expert. He asked me if I called the Hindu leader a Swami and I told him yes. He said had a Swami at the temple he went too as a child that was his friend and help him through tough times.