Makeup Assignment #1:Center for the Preservation of Democracy

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

On March 5th, I was asked to help chaperone a field trip to Little Tokyo to what I thought was the Japanese Heritage Museum. It turns out that right across the plaza from the Japanese Heritage Museum is a separate institution called the Center for the Preservation of Democracy. This institute is housed in what was Los Angeles’ oldest Buddist temple, built in 1925. The temple was used as a storage wherehouse during WWII and was used to house refugees after the war.

The sanctuary of the main building remains untouched, but the back of the building has been extended in a very modern, angular, glass and steel architectural style, forming an interesting juxtaposition of old and new. Inside the modern half of the building is a workroom where students (in a docent-led discussion) brainstorm about the meaning and importance of “democracy.” Students are then given a card with the name of one of seven people and led into the sanctuary of the main building. The sanctuary is filled with a hands-on display about the lives of these seven people, before, during and after WWII. The students are asked to follow their assigned person through the exhibit finding out all they can about him or her; specifically about how this person faced inequality, what he or she did in response, and what his or her contribution to society was.

At first glance, democracy and Buddhism may seem like odd bedfellows, but really, what the Center stresses to students is justice and right behavior. Considering that some of the tenets of Buddhism are right behavior and the releasing of desire (which leads to greed and hatred), justice isn’t too far off. Besides which, the Center provides students with time for inquiry and reflection as a means to gain wisdom and understanding—something else which Buddhists espouse. I think that these things, as well as simply the gravity of the physical surroundings and the proximity of its geographical surroundings, link the Center for the Preservation of Democracy with its Asian roots, and extend out into the community in a poignant manner. It is still a place of prayer and of refuge, of reflection, discussion and education about greater truths, but now it serves a different demographic.

If anyone is interested in contacting them, the website is as follows:
http://www.nc.democracy.org
[Edit by="llowe on Apr 7, 3:44:21 PM"][/Edit]

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