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Endnotes 1 - This style of archway first came from India with the movement of Buddhism. (Morris 37) 2 - The colors red and gold represent festivity in China. (Lee) 3 - Chinese dragons are significantly different Western dragons, in appearance as well as symbolic meaning. While the Western dragon is the mythical fire-breathing enemy of the chivalrous knight, the Chinese dragon is a complex and multi-layered symbol that, among other things, stands for natural male vigor and fertility (i.e. yang). (Eberhard 83) 4 - This number was reached by a hand count I did of the first floor commercial buildings in Chinatown. A “Chinese” building in which a business or group that associates itself with Chinese culture, either through the use of Chinese characters, or in the sale or distribution of products or services that self identify as “Chinese.” Most buildings in the area are between 3-5 stories tall and consist of a first level commercial building with residencies of various types above. 5 - Through the years, it has also been known as Couch’s Addition, the “North End”, Japantown and Burnside. Presently, it is also referred to as Oldtown/Chinatown. 6 - I am unsure why the acronym does not accurately reflect the name of the organization. 7 - Though I attended the introduction and video portion, I did not stay for the entire presentation because I was required to give contact information to stay for the meditation instruction. I was hesitant to give my contact information and became uncomfortable, so I left. Hence, I do not include that part of the presentation in this paper. 8 - I use this term in the way Max Weber uses it in his book The Sociology of Religion. In it, he says that a prophet is, “a purely individual bearer of charisma, who by virtue of his (sic) mission proclaims a religious doctrine or divine commandment.” (Weber 46) Ching Hai also fits Weber’s other prophet characteristics, such as not being a member of the priestly class (though she did live, “the quiet, unassuming life of a Buddhist nun” after her enlightenment and before she was brought out “through the insistent requests and efforts of her earlier disciples.” (Ching Hai 9) 9 - "A religion is: (1) a system of symbols which acts to (2) establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by (3) formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and (4) clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the (5) moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic." (Geertz 90) For a more detailed and in-depth discussion of his definition, I would refer to the entire article "Religion as a Cultural System.” 10 - All pronouns referring to Ching Hai in the Quan Yin method literature are capitalized. 11 - There are two types of Buddha statues found at the Monkey and the Rat, Tai and Chinese-styled. Buddha statues of the Tai style have pointed crowns on their head, while Chinese-styled Buddha’s wear no crown and their hair is kept in a bun on top of their head. 12 - The Sister City International is a non-profit organization that aims at promoting peace through, “mutual respect, understanding & cooperation.” It assigns various international cities to become “sister cities” with cities in the United States. (http://www.sister-cities.org/) 13 - Quan Yin, also known as Avalokiteshvara, is portrayed as both male and female, depending on which tradition is worshiping the bodhisattva. (McArthur 43) 14 - Exceptions to this might include the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Society or the World Bookstore, which sells books and magazines written almost exclusively in Chinese. But there are exceptions to everything in an analysis of this sort, and if we were to always account for everything, conclusions would be far to general to be of any use. |