The Rubin Museum: Sights and Sounds
The Rubin Museum was one of the most rewarding experiences I had during this entire semester. At first I was super exhausted, because of all of the exams during the week, and truthfully dreaded going somewhere after classes. I was truly proven wrong. This museum, even to someone of another faith-me- made me not only appreciate the art of Buddhist culture, but the religion itself. First of all, the gift shop was amazing! I wasn’t ready to leave, and I was kind of underestimating the rest of the museum at that point, but I was soon taken in a completely different direction, once i got the sight of those amazing stairs. The fact that the used the structure of the museum itself as a part of the display of sound in Buddhist culture, was absolutely ingenious. I also found, those mantras in the walls pretty cool as well.
Apart from the beautiful art and structures that really encased the peacefulness and tenets of Buddhism, my favorite part-apart from the gift shop- was the Om room. As college students, just 1/2 an hour in a lecture and bring our blood pressures up higher than it should be, especially if there are exams and quizzes to follow. However, that room, filled with the voices of not only monks, but also regular people who just wanted to participate, was so peaceful, so healing. I felt the good of humanity manifest itself from the 5 minutes in that room, and I would surely visit just to experience that again.
The museum was so much more than a museum, it was more than art or sculptures, and it was more than learning- more than adding to the known. It was an experience to feel and to become, in that moment, part of something unknown.
*[Image Credit: Google.com]
