I must say the world religions exhibition was well made and compact, even though it was fairly small. One could easily how much all religions were connected, e.g. there were many altars and clothing items which served the same purpose, even though they were from different religions. My favourite section was the altar one. There was a red Chinese altar with fake money, a Buddhist low-set one with flowers and metal ornaments, and a plain, carved, Christian one. What stroke me the most was that the altars served the same purpose--the worship of something greater.
The exhibition was fascinating, but I agree with Ruth that it was small. I would have liked to learn and see more about the religions presented there. My favorite parts in the exhibition were the statues from various religions. It was interesting to compare these statues and realize how many religions have more in common than I thought! The prayer tree was really nice, too, it made the exhibition more interactive.
I liked the exhibition a lot also, it was really small as you guys said and didn't get that deep into the religions. The things that were presented there were interesting, my favourite section probably was the prayer section; the different prayer beads (the ones made from human skull were totally my favourites) were interesting and the set up was cool. The prayer flags, the tree and the sounds of praying... it was nice. This was the second time I got through that exhibition and this time I got more out of it. The walking around and talking was useful and fun (and it really didn't matter that we didn't have a guide from the museum, the one we had the last time I was there wasn't that good at all).
The visit to the synagogue was my favourite (this far, there is still the mosque left). The building and the athmosphere there was fascinating, the contrast between the schoolness (that's not a word) and the holiness of the place was interesting. Walking through a school corridor filled with screaming kids and suddenly you're in a church... so cool. Our guide was really good and nice, she took everything really well and seemed to truly know what she was talking about. I could have spent a lot more time in there, just listening to her and asking questions... she had so much to give. The situation with anti-semitism around the world is sad, and judaism is really interesting, I really would like to know even more about how it's like being a jew in Finland. (Just a heads-up: if you don't want to feel angry and dissappointed with the world, don't read the letters to the editor in Kirkko ja kaupunki, I've read really stupid things about jews and muslims of Finland in there)
I guess we're supposed to comment on all of the visits here? So, here we go: the Zen Center. The visit was at a really bad time for me, I hadn't slept well and therefore I was really tired and ached all over even before we got there. The guide was pretty interesting, I liked hearing about her personal 'journey' to where she was now, but I was this close to falling asleep a couple of times. Her voice really lulled me to sleepiness. It was difficult. To be fair, I don't remember a lot of the visit, probably because of my tiredness. I do remember baing really confused about our guide, I'm sure I've seen her somewhere before, and about the entry; it looked like a dressing room of a sauna. Meditation was nice, though. Almost fell asleep during it, again.
The Zen center was an interesting place, as I had never ever met anyone Finnish who is a Buddhist. I like how we got to try meditation, however it is a strong feature in Buddhism, like praying towards the Mekka in Islam, and if you think about it, wouldn't it be odd to pray to Allah towards the Mekka? Why did it feel much more ok to meditate, I don't know. Our guide was interesting and it was nice hearing someone's own journey somewhere. She did strike me very aggressive at times however ("If you f*ck up for yourself, you f*ck up for everyone"). In general I enjoyed the visit, but it reminded me more of a "tutustumis käynti" to some yoga place rather than a deep philosophical discussion about Buddhism.
By far the visit to the synagogue was the most interesting. As a place the synagogue was really beautiful with stars and all. Like Kaisa said it was interesting as it first felt like you were walking in a school and BOOM then you're in a holy place. I must say the guide was extremely good. She didn't make a big deal of stuff that she didn't necessarily know the answer to at first, but didn't avoid our questions and answered as well as as she could. The fact that the torah was written on animal skin was a little odd and disgusting to me. Why couldn't paper be used? Overall the experience was great and I could have stayed there for hours (why not have a separate course on Judaism)
The World Religions exhibition at the National Museum as said before, was really small and simple, but I still enjoyed the time we spent there. I really liked how different items from different religions where put besides each other, it was very interesting to see that even though the religions seem to differ from each other a lot, they still have a lot in common. Just like the statues we compared in the beginning, I had never seen such resemblance between them. Our visit to the Zen Center was quite interesting. Since I have never really had any experience with Buddhism, the place leaved quite a strong impression on me. Overall I must say that Buddhism is definitely not for me. The guide's personal story was nice and interesting, but for some reason I felt that she wasn't very open minded about things that we asked her about. The idea of finding inner peace, was something which I liked a lot, but it seemed as if that was the only thing, which Buddhism dwells around, making it seem a bit incomplete. I find Buddhism the most confusing out of all the religions, we've discussed, for me it doesn't really have a purpose. I definitely enjoyed our visit to the synagogue the most. Our guide was just fantastic and I too would've loved to stay there longer. She was so positive and it really felt like she knew exactly what she was talking about. I really liked her views on things and her answers to our questions. One thing, which I cherish most from that visit, was when we were walking down the stairs and the children from the school passed us. I can still recall their bright happy faces, how their eyes were sparkling and how they were filled with utter joy, this itself shows how great of an effect Judaism has on people and their lives.
The visit to the mosque was... interesting. The guide seemed sweet, but everything was so strange and old-fashioned. From having to go through different doors to everything he told us, the visit felt srange and kind of unreal. We did get some interesting books, I already started reading the "women in islam" one, and we got to see the praying, which was nice. The school class that was there was a little disturbing, they didn't stay silent which felt disrespectful (and one of their teachers looked like putin and the other one had his mouth in a duck face all the time). It was funny how we had to wear those clothes. It sure was an experience.
I have to agree the visit to the mosque was one like I'd never experienced before. On the bright side they had cleaned the area compared to the last time I was there, and also I did not burst out laughing (what a relief). Seeing the prayer was nice, as I had never seen this before, but then again the thing that "men sit at front, women sit at the back" seemed a little odd to me. Why not separate them from the middle vertically, not horizontally. The pamphlet "The Quran and Science" is actually quite well made and even states that the Quran is a scientifically advanced book. On the other hand if something is published by a religious publisher one has to be critical about the context. Unfortunately I found that our guide was trying to convert us rather talk to us about his religion. I was quite annoyed when he said that the Tatars believe wrongly in Islam -coming from a Somali guide. His presentation was also fairly confusing; all I remember was that he talked about Allah driving some bus and then suddenly we were in a supermarket. Maybe for the next courses it would be nice if the students would visit a Tatar mosque.
Kirjoittaja on poistanut tämän kommentin.
VastaaPoistaI must say the world religions exhibition was well made and compact, even though it was fairly small. One could easily how much all religions were connected, e.g. there were many altars and clothing items which served the same purpose, even though they were from different religions. My favourite section was the altar one. There was a red Chinese altar with fake money, a Buddhist low-set one with flowers and metal ornaments, and a plain, carved, Christian one. What stroke me the most was that the altars served the same purpose--the worship of something greater.
VastaaPoistaThe exhibition was fascinating, but I agree with Ruth that it was small. I would have liked to learn and see more about the religions presented there. My favorite parts in the exhibition were the statues from various religions. It was interesting to compare these statues and realize how many religions have more in common than I thought! The prayer tree was really nice, too, it made the exhibition more interactive.
VastaaPoista- Anna El-khoury
I liked the exhibition a lot also, it was really small as you guys said and didn't get that deep into the religions. The things that were presented there were interesting, my favourite section probably was the prayer section; the different prayer beads (the ones made from human skull were totally my favourites) were interesting and the set up was cool. The prayer flags, the tree and the sounds of praying... it was nice. This was the second time I got through that exhibition and this time I got more out of it. The walking around and talking was useful and fun (and it really didn't matter that we didn't have a guide from the museum, the one we had the last time I was there wasn't that good at all).
VastaaPoistaThe visit to the synagogue was my favourite (this far, there is still the mosque left). The building and the athmosphere there was fascinating, the contrast between the schoolness (that's not a word) and the holiness of the place was interesting. Walking through a school corridor filled with screaming kids and suddenly you're in a church... so cool. Our guide was really good and nice, she took everything really well and seemed to truly know what she was talking about. I could have spent a lot more time in there, just listening to her and asking questions... she had so much to give. The situation with anti-semitism around the world is sad, and judaism is really interesting, I really would like to know even more about how it's like being a jew in Finland. (Just a heads-up: if you don't want to feel angry and dissappointed with the world, don't read the letters to the editor in Kirkko ja kaupunki, I've read really stupid things about jews and muslims of Finland in there)
VastaaPoistaI guess we're supposed to comment on all of the visits here? So, here we go: the Zen Center. The visit was at a really bad time for me, I hadn't slept well and therefore I was really tired and ached all over even before we got there. The guide was pretty interesting, I liked hearing about her personal 'journey' to where she was now, but I was this close to falling asleep a couple of times. Her voice really lulled me to sleepiness. It was difficult.
VastaaPoistaTo be fair, I don't remember a lot of the visit, probably because of my tiredness. I do remember baing really confused about our guide, I'm sure I've seen her somewhere before, and about the entry; it looked like a dressing room of a sauna. Meditation was nice, though. Almost fell asleep during it, again.
The Zen center was an interesting place, as I had never ever met anyone Finnish who is a Buddhist. I like how we got to try meditation, however it is a strong feature in Buddhism, like praying towards the Mekka in Islam, and if you think about it, wouldn't it be odd to pray to Allah towards the Mekka? Why did it feel much more ok to meditate, I don't know.
VastaaPoistaOur guide was interesting and it was nice hearing someone's own journey somewhere. She did strike me very aggressive at times however ("If you f*ck up for yourself, you f*ck up for everyone"). In general I enjoyed the visit, but it reminded me more of a "tutustumis käynti" to some yoga place rather than a deep philosophical discussion about Buddhism.
By far the visit to the synagogue was the most interesting. As a place the synagogue was really beautiful with stars and all. Like Kaisa said it was interesting as it first felt like you were walking in a school and BOOM then you're in a holy place.
VastaaPoistaI must say the guide was extremely good. She didn't make a big deal of stuff that she didn't necessarily know the answer to at first, but didn't avoid our questions and answered as well as as she could. The fact that the torah was written on animal skin was a little odd and disgusting to me. Why couldn't paper be used? Overall the experience was great and I could have stayed there for hours (why not have a separate course on Judaism)
The World Religions exhibition at the National Museum as said before, was really small and simple, but I still enjoyed the time we spent there. I really liked how different items from different religions where put besides each other, it was very interesting to see that even though the religions seem to differ from each other a lot, they still have a lot in common. Just like the statues we compared in the beginning, I had never seen such resemblance between them.
VastaaPoistaOur visit to the Zen Center was quite interesting. Since I have never really had any experience with Buddhism, the place leaved quite a strong impression on me. Overall I must say that Buddhism is definitely not for me. The guide's personal story was nice and interesting, but for some reason I felt that she wasn't very open minded about things that we asked her about. The idea of finding inner peace, was something which I liked a lot, but it seemed as if that was the only thing, which Buddhism dwells around, making it seem a bit incomplete. I find Buddhism the most confusing out of all the religions, we've discussed, for me it doesn't really have a purpose.
I definitely enjoyed our visit to the synagogue the most. Our guide was just fantastic and I too would've loved to stay there longer. She was so positive and it really felt like she knew exactly what she was talking about. I really liked her views on things and her answers to our questions. One thing, which I cherish most from that visit, was when we were walking down the stairs and the children from the school passed us. I can still recall their bright happy faces, how their eyes were sparkling and how they were filled with utter joy, this itself shows how great of an effect Judaism has on people and their lives.
- Kreete Kulakovski
The visit to the mosque was... interesting. The guide seemed sweet, but everything was so strange and old-fashioned. From having to go through different doors to everything he told us, the visit felt srange and kind of unreal. We did get some interesting books, I already started reading the "women in islam" one, and we got to see the praying, which was nice. The school class that was there was a little disturbing, they didn't stay silent which felt disrespectful (and one of their teachers looked like putin and the other one had his mouth in a duck face all the time). It was funny how we had to wear those clothes.
VastaaPoistaIt sure was an experience.
I have to agree the visit to the mosque was one like I'd never experienced before. On the bright side they had cleaned the area compared to the last time I was there, and also I did not burst out laughing (what a relief). Seeing the prayer was nice, as I had never seen this before, but then again the thing that "men sit at front, women sit at the back" seemed a little odd to me. Why not separate them from the middle vertically, not horizontally.
VastaaPoistaThe pamphlet "The Quran and Science" is actually quite well made and even states that the Quran is a scientifically advanced book. On the other hand if something is published by a religious publisher one has to be critical about the context.
Unfortunately I found that our guide was trying to convert us rather talk to us about his religion. I was quite annoyed when he said that the Tatars believe wrongly in Islam -coming from a Somali guide. His presentation was also fairly confusing; all I remember was that he talked about Allah driving some bus and then suddenly we were in a supermarket. Maybe for the next courses it would be nice if the students would visit a Tatar mosque.