Paige Reimann

Mrs. Boone
Life History Report
March 8, 2015

For my life history interview paper I chose my brother-in-law Danny. I speak with
Danny a lot since he is my brother-in-law, I see him at least twice a week and we have
been talking about his religion lately. My brother-in-law is Vietnamese and is from
Vietnam. He moved from Vietnam to the United States with his Mom and Dad and
brother and sister when he was 16 years old. He grew up with different cultural
customs. He grew up in a family that practiced buddhism. Where I am really religious in
the LDS religion I decided to interview him because I love learning about different
religions and wanted to know more about his. I also wanted to get to know a little more
about his culture/religion that he believed in when he lived in a different country and
what he learned from Buddhism and the aspects of buddhism since I do not know that
much about this religion.
The very first question that I had asked Danny was just a basic question on what
is Buddhism? I wanted to know the basics of his religion before I asked any further
questions. In his own words this is when he told me, Buddhism is a way of thinking
about life. He told me that its kind of comparable to philosophy. He told me that the

basics of Buddhism is that it is about the journey of life trying to find enlightenment
wherever the purpose of your life is. Danny did tell me that he does not think that
Buddhism is a religion. He thinks the practice of buddhism is more of a way of thinking
and less of a spiritual religion. My thoughts and feelings from this and from the
information on what Danny gave me was that he considered Buddhism is more of a way
of thinking than of a way of religion. Its a way of trying to find yourself and what the
purpose of your life is and what it should be. The biggest goal I would have to say in
Buddhism is trying to reach enlightenment. By reaching enlightenment is the end goal
of what you want in your life if you are Buddhist. Buddhism has no God in their religion.
They do have Buddha, who is someone that did go through life and he did reach
enlightenment so Buddha is the figure that they worship because they want to follow in
his footsteps and reach enlightenment like he did. Since Buddha did reach
enlightenment he is here to teach it to his followers. I feel that it is kind of cool that this
religion is a way of trying to find yourself. You go on with life and you are trying to reach
your full potential which is enlightenment. Once you get there you will then know about
who you truly are and what you are truly supposed to be and where you are supposed
to be in this life.
Danny did express to me that the definition of Buddhism to him has changed a
lot. Danny now practices the LDS religion. From going from Buddhism to becoming a

member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints he said that the definition of
Buddhism changed to him because he looked at other religions and mostly all have a
God. Where Buddhism does not have a God. The only religious roles in the Buddhism
practices are Monks. Monks are the only authority figures in the Buddhism religion.
Monks are typically do not speak that much and they spend their whole life meditating
just like Buddha did. This is their lifes goal and they do pray daily. Danny said in
Vietnam there are some Asian communities where you will see a monk dressed in
orange robes and he will stand there with his head down and will not speak. He will
hold a jar or something small to hold money and you can donate if you do wish. So
there are only some authority figures in the Buddhist religion. But most people do
practice on their own. This religion is more personal and more on the quiet side. You
definitely keep to your self rather than express your feelings. As we were talking about
the different roles in the Buddhist religion we did start to talk about children, if children
were involved at all in this practice. He said that the children didn't really play a part in
the buddhist religion a lot. He said that everyone mostly keeps to themselves in
studying this religion and no one practices anything. Danny said that the journey to
Enlightenment is mostly on your own. Danny said growing up he didn't really learn
anything about the religion but he did just accept it for what it was and what his Mother
and Father would tell him to do. No questions asked.

From what I have taken so far with the interview and the questions that I have
asked Danny and from the answers I have gotten, I suppose that the Buddhist religion is
more of a practice and a way of a journey to get to know yourself and to get where you
need to be, according to Buddha. They have no God, they only have one authority
figure which are the Monks. This religion is mostly to do on your own. Its your own
journey, its your way of getting where you need to be, and you decide how you want to
get there. You do this practice on your own, on our own time, its definitely not a practice
to be shared or thoughts or feelings with one another.
There are robes and costumes that people wear during special celebrations like
the Chinese New Year. There are also costumes won during these celebrations like
dragon suits that mean good luck, and also some people dress as the Buddha for good
luck as well. There is not much dance in this religion, but during Chinese New Year,
people that dress up in dragon suits or the Buddha tend to put on a dance show for
others that gather around to witness it. Typically it would depict the Buddha trying to
tame the dragon. The movement of the dragon and Buddha would almost mimic like a
dance because of the fluidity of how they move about each other doing each others
moves.
This religion firmly believes in karma and if you were to get very sick of have an
untimely death, then the sole cause of this was because your previous life you did

something bad and now you are getting what is coming for you. If you suffered in your
past life butter a good person, then you will have a good life when you are reincarnated.
So be good to people and to others around you if you want to have good things happen
to you as well, in this life or in the next, and so on and so forth. Buddhism to me means
that they do practice being a good person and also to be good to others, because they
do believe in being a good person so that they are treated well in this life and the next
because they have good karma. Since they do believe so strongly in karma.
Dannys experiences have really opened his eyes when he got to the United
States about other religions. Here in America is where the definition of Buddhist really
had changed. He then decided that it is not really a religion but more of a way of
thinking. His experiences in Utah have been really good despite being the minority in
terms of religion. They have Asian markets here in Utah and every year they have
festivities for the Chinese New Year so we are not missing out on important things to
him.
I learned a lot about this community, culture and religion. I loved interviewing
Danny to learn about what he used to believe in and its still a part of him today. It was
very interesting to see how he felt about it and the way his thinking of the Buddhist
religion is, and how his definition has changed. Buddhism is what has shaped him into
the man he is today. Even though Danny does not practice Buddhism anymore it still

has taught him great morales and to be good to others, and to be a good person. It was
cool to learn a little about the Vietnamese culture and what most of them practice based
on religion. It surprised me to know that this religion is more practiced on your own, you
do a lot of things on your own time and also by yourself just because it is your own
journey and you are the one who is in control of it. Which I thought was very cool
because most religions you practice with others and meet in large meeting houses to
discuss your experiences about your personal experiences you have had in your
spiritual experiences. Interviewing Danny and learning about Buddhism is something
that I have never experienced before and I loved getting to know that part about him and
about the Buddhist community. I loved it and also enjoyed that I feel like I am more
educated in the Buddhist religion and that there is so much more to learn from others
and what they believe in, whether it be cultural customs or religion.