Sacred Connections Creates Opportunities to Build Community Across Faiths
By Katie Sellers
On May 24th the Vietnamese Buddhist Temple, Chùa Bảo Lâm – Jeweled Forest Monastery, hosted guests from faith communities around Cincinnati. Fifteen guests attended the event, which included a presentation on Buddhist teachings, communal prayer led by a Buddhist monk, a tour of the Chùa Bảo Lâm gardens and temple, refreshments, and Q&A with Aruni Marapane, a Buddhist chaplain. This was the third of four such programs planned so far in 2023 through Sacred Connections, a program under the Festival of Faiths that organizes diverse religious groups to host an in-person event at their place of worship. The Sacred Connections program began in 2019 and has been hosted by dozens of faith communities around the Great Cincinnati region. Previous events this year have been hosted by the Cincinnati Friends Meeting and Congregation Beth Adam. Each one of these events incorporates opportunity to learn, pray, converse, and break bread together.
As a first-time participant in the Sacred Connections program, I was struck by the ecology of Chùa Bảo Lâm and the hospitality of its members. I’m a member of a Roman Catholic parish and am accustomed to spiritual spaces that are often constructed indoors. The Buddhist Monastery grounds, however, included both an indoor temple—with space for meditation, communal meals, and a monastic residence—as well as an outdoor garden—with blooming flowers, flowing water, sculptures of sacred figures, and places to sit and gather. Not only were we welcomed into these beautiful spaces, but our questions were welcomed, as we learned about the symbols, rituals, beliefs, and communal practices typical of this faith community. After a short presentation and prayer service inside the temple, accompanied by several members of the community, we were taken on a tour of the grounds, where we saw numerous of Vietnamese sculptures, and learned about their symbolic meaning within the faith tradition.
We also learned about the wider Buddhist community of Cincinnati, which includes more than a dozen places of worship, many created and sustained by Cincinnati’s Asian diaspora. We ended our evening sharing conversation as we enjoyed vegetarian refreshments, a practice that made me, a longtime vegetarian, feel especially at home. This practice, we learned, is typical of Chùa Bảo Lâm, which, following weekly prayer services, regularly shares a vegetarian meal together, often using produce grown on the grounds of the Monastery.
If you would like to learn more about the diverse tapestry of Cincinnati’s faith communities, I would strongly encourage you to participate in a Sacred Connections program. All are welcome, and attendance is free. Simply register in advance. The next event is being hosted on June 11th by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. More information can be found on the Equasion website.