Reference no: EM133526705

Assignment:

Religion, Devotion & Transcendence

Sacred Spaces

1. What comes to mind when you think of a sacred space? What is its purpose? What do imagine doing there?

2. In his Ted Talk, Siamiak Hariri asks, "How do you design sacred space today? And how do you even define what's sacred 3. space today? How did he address these questions in his design for the Baha'i Temple for South America?

3. How do pilgrims or visitors to the sites highlighted by the "Sacred Spaces" lecture and by the "Boston's Hidden Sacred Spaces" site experience the space? In what ways are they guided in their religious practice by the architectural design?

4. How do visitors to the site experience the space? In what ways are they guided in their religious practice by the architectural design?

5. How are images or relics of gods and goddesses incorporated into each of these sacred spaces? Were the wishes of a spiritual being considered in the making of any of these artworks?

6. How is each sacred space designed to harmonize with nature? Consider any correspondences with the cardinal directions and the sites relationship to the heavens, including the sun.

7. How is symbolism used within each of these structures? Consider geometry and important objects.

Compare and contrast two or more sacred spaces that were not made for the same religion.

8. Is it possible to design an ecumenical or universal sacred space, i.e., one in which adherents of multiple belief systems can worship?

9. Do sacred objects lose some of their meaning when removed from the sacred space for which they were made.

Pilgrimmage

Choose any one of the following figures: Cheryl Strayed

10. What motivated them to undertake their journeys? What were they seeking? How did their experiences change them?

11. How is journey to Mecca, on the Camino de Santiago, or on the Shikoku pilgrimmage similar to / different than a retreat or a mission trip?

12. Can you relate to the idea of completing a spiritual pilgrimage? Have you participated in a group or individual spiritual event that lasted for several days? If so, what was it like? What do you think the benefits of a group event like this would be? What would the benefits of an individual spiritual journey like this be?

13. Can hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (or Appalachian Trail) be considered a pilgrimage, or is it just a long walk? Explain. Can you relate to the idea of completing a 1,000-mile hike in the wilderness? Have you participated in a multi-day physical event like this? If so, what was it like? What do you think the benefits of participating in such an experience would be?

14. When Cheryl Strayed discovers the guidebook to the Pacific Crest Trail, she says that the trip "was an idea, vague and outlandish, full of promise and mystery." Later, her soon-to-be ex-husband suggests she wants to do the hike "to be alone." What do you think her reasons were for committing to this journey?

15. Through Wild, Strayed talks about the blisters, the dehydration, the exhaustion, and the hunger. How-and why-did this physical suffering help her cope with her emotional pain?

16. In Into the Wild, the book further exploring Christopher McCandless' story, John Krakauer writes, "Unlike Muir and Thoreau, McCandless went into the wilderness not primarily to ponder nature of the world at large but, rather, to explore the inner country of his own soul" (183). How did McCandless' encounters with the "wild" encourage introspection and reflection? Why do you think McCandless wanted / needed "to explore the inner country of his soul"?

17. During McCandless' last week alive, he "tore the final page from Louis L'Amour's memoir, Education of a Wandering Man. On one side were some lines that L'Amour had quoted from Robinson Jeffers's poem "Wise Men in Their Bad Hours": "Death's a fierce meadowlark: but to die having made Something more equal to the centuries Than muscle and bone, is mostly to shed weakness." What did McCandless mean by these lines from Jeffers's poem?

18. McCandless last statement was: "I have had a happy life and thank the Lord. Goodbye and may God bless all!" How could he believe he had a happy life when he died so tragically? Do you think he found in his journeys into the wild what he was seeking?