The visit to the Rubin Museum was a good learning experience because I never looked or researched the Buddhist views or values. I learned about their artwork by seeing the sculptures. Another piece of art that left an impression on me was the painted walls. Especially amusing was the way that they perceived the growth of a fetus into an actual human being. The spiritual room was also a very interesting introduction to the Buddhist culture. I would not have thought that they have specific rooms set up for cases just like that. This visit actually made me want to visit more museums about different religions as well just to become more aware of their unique stories and roots.

I had a somewhat educational experience at the Rubin Museum. Through the tour we got a glimpse of the Buddhist religion, its cause and roots. I learned that certain paintings and relics were colored not with paint but by animal fat. Particularly amusing was the early perception of the process of giving birth. We also visited the Buddhist spiritual hall/prayer room. I personally felt a chilling, dark aura emitting from there and felt as if I didn’t belong. Overall, aside from the walk to the museum, the trip was a great experience.

My Rubin Museum trip was really interesting. I felt I learned a lot about the material there including the origins of Buddha and the type of clothes they wore. I also learned about the typical family prayer room and what they do with the rice at the end of the day. I also learned that before they had wood to paint they used solidified animal fat. The only thing I didnt like about the trip was that the way walking there took too long.

My experience in the Rubin Museum was both interesting and educational. I learned a lot of things that I never knew before. I was really interested in how different everything was compared to Chinese  Buddhism. One difference that I found was the praying room. In Chinese temples, the praying rooms were similar but it didn’t have the accessories made from butter like the praying rooms we saw in the museum. Another thing that I found interesting was the room with all the paintings. The drawings about how people imagined babies before they were born left a deep impression in me. Overall my experience in the Rubin Museum was great!

My experience at the Rubin Museum was quite fascinating. As much as I’d like to make a quip at the conch horn and say “It’s the magic conch shell”, most of what I saw was quite fascinating. I’d say the one piece that left a large impression on me was the praying room. I never imagined what a pray room for Buddhism would look like, mainly because I thought they prayed outside in groups rather than individually. The room itself was very fascinating, with multiple wooden figurines candles lining up, as well as the sacrifice that was in the center. The other memorable part was the process by which they would create their figurines, which I sadly forgot how they do it, but at the very least was unique in its own sense.

The Rubin Museum experience was quite interesting. I learned a lot about Buddhism that I didn’t know.  For example, the Buddhist prayer room showed me how Buddhist families practice their religion. It was quite interesting to know what the rice on the prayer room was used for. The spiral staircase was unique. The art work gave me in-depth knowledge about the Buddhist culture.  All the figures of god and goodness showed me that there are some major differences even though they tend to look alike. Nonetheless, our trip to the Rubin Museum was quite fun and I wish we had more time to explore it.

On Thursday, November 14th, LC20 went to visit the Rubin Museum of Arts. It was quite interesting to see that the museum had a consistent theme of Asian art pieces, I had expected a wide array of different locations. Had Shanima not told me, I would have never expected the staircase to resemble the human eye. My favorite piece was the prayer room, instead of a two dimensional depiction of a picture; the depth, the sounds and the placement of everything was extraordinary. Although I don’t like viewing art that much, it was extremely informative and fun to experience with my classmates.

I never took to the idea of Buddhism.  Not because I had anything against the belief system, but with such fun characters from Greek, Roman, or Egyptian mythology, no one really wrote books about Buddha’s story and his adventures, so I didn’t know enough about it to really have an opinion.  That is why the trip to the Rubin museum was particularly enlightening.  It gave me a chance to see into the artwork and the physical depictions of the beliefs of a lot of people, including my ancestors.  It was very interesting to see that instead of several gods and goddesses that embody humanistic traits, there are the many faces of Buddha that guides a person’s life.  I also liked the architecture of the museum itself.  Besides the intention of making it seem like one is climbing a mountain, it is very easy to navigate.

I believe that going to the Rubin Museum was a good experience because I was able to learn more about a religion that I previously knew little about. It was an enlightening experience and I was glad that I went to the museum. This will definitely be a field trip that I will remember throughout my life since it had a big impact on my understanding of world religions. I was also happy to go there because I also got to share some laughs with my friends on the way there and back. I wish that one day, some time in college, one of my professors decides to take a class field trip to a museum like this so I can expand my knowledge and have a great time there as well. Bottom line: I had a great time at the museum.

Having never gone to or heard of the Rubin Museum of Art before, I was surprised to see so many people visiting the museum on a Thursday afternoon. After seeing the spiral staircase and the eye design at the ceiling of the top floor, I was ready to be suprised. The preserved Buddhist sculptures and relics from India were a pleasant sight to see in the middle of Manhattan, but they seemed a little out of place. What really stood out to me during our visit was the mock prayer room (designed like that of an upper class Buddhist home) set up on second floor; it helped me form a mental image of how Buddhist traditions were carried out. Overall, the museum and the individual pieces were more informative than they outwardly appeared. As a non-Buddhist, I’m grateful to the fact that I had a chance to see artifacts and images of a culture I’m almost completely unfamiliar with.