The small archipelagic country, The Philippines, known for its open-minded and accepting nature

can easily be seen as a melting pot for cultures all around the world. Because of the various
experiences that the country has overcome, the traditions and Cultures of many different nations
have been ingrained in its societal norms. Of course, when talking about traditions and cultures,
Religion is an aspect that many of us bring emphasis to. Many of us have a deep passion for our
own beliefs, this also comes with the passion of sharing these beliefs with others which comes part
and parcel with exchanging our cultures.

So, join us today as we try to explore an aspect of this country’s religious nature.

Our initial focus for this documentary was on the familiarity of the Filipino culture with
Confucianism. As students, we probably have already encountered Confucius at some point in our
studies, whether through his wise quotes that are still used in discussions or his famous book of
analects which encompasses the beliefs that he held in his teachings.

To give a quick breakdown of what his teachings entail, here’s a quick rundown of the Confucian
belief system.

Some of the most crucial beliefs in Confucianism include Filial Piety, which teaches us to give
proper respect and honor to our parents and elders. Another important that they held was the
Rectification of names, where one must adhere to the responsibilities that come along with the
title they received. A doctor must save lives, A ruler must rule wise, a parent must provide for their
children, etc. Third is the Virtue of Ren which if directly translated means Benevolence, this virtue
is a foundation of Confucianism where you must be conscious of your humanity and the humanity
of others therefore you can easily exercise compassion. Last is Confucius’ version of the golden rule
which states “Do not do unto others what you do not wish for yourself.”

As you can see, the beliefs in Confucianism, focus more on acting as a moral guide in one’s life
rather than being more akin to religions like Christianity or Islam. In order to gather more insights
into Confucianism, we went to the breeding ground of Chinese culture in the Philippines, Binondo.
Seeing a thriving community of Chinese culture just proves how much of a melting pot the
Philippines is, welcoming all kinds of ethnicities in the world. Of course, our priority is to discover
more about their beliefs, but we encountered a setback along the way. The problem with
Confucianism is that although its teachings are extremely well-known and talked about because it
acts more as a moral guide on general day-to-day life than a religious practice, seeing any
practitioners of its beliefs is extremely rare. We researched all the temples in the Philippines and
whether they practiced Confucianism, but nothing came up, most you can see especially in
Binondo are Buddhist and Taoist temples. To remedy our conundrum, we decided to explore the
other religious practices that are closely related to Confucianism and compare their beliefs.

The first temple that we visited was named the Kuan Kong Temple. It is a Buddhist temple that
worships a god named Kuan Kong which is the Chinese God of War. When he was only a mortal,
Kuang Kong was originally named Kuan Di and he became China’s greatest warrior and the sacred
protector of the emperors. In the end, he sacrificed his life for the kingdom, dying for a cause that
he knew was righteous, that’s why he was granted the name of Kuan Kong, or the God of War.
Being found in the middle of a business district this Temple is heavily favored by Chinese
businessmen because it is believed that Kuang Kong is the protector of the innocent, the loyal, the
compassionate, and the kind. We were supposed to interview one of the practitioners in this
temple, but we discovered yet another setback. Because most practitioners were Chinese, we
found no one who could speak English or Filipino.

So we opted to find another temple, This time our feet led us to the Manila Buddhist Temple. In
this temple, we were greeted by a Buddhist monk which gave us hope of having a reliable source
to interview but alas, we still couldn’t communicate properly because of the language barrier.

The last destination for our little excursion is the Seng Guan Buddhist Temple located in Narra
Street near Divisoria. This temple was named after the Venerable Seng Guan who was a Buddhist
Monk from Fujian, China. He was one of the Buddhists who laid the foundations of several
Buddhist institutions here in Manila and Malabon. This beautiful Temple is considered to be the
first Buddhist temple here in the Philippines and it has now become a major cultural center for the
Chinese-Filipino community here in the Philippines.

In this temple, we were able to communicate with one of the Practitioners in the temple’s office.
They even gave us a book about the life of Buddha and entertained several of our questions about
their beliefs. Though we couldn’t have a proper video interview, they gave us a written
correspondence of the questions that they believed were necessary to answer to understand their
beliefs in Buddhism.

1. Who is Buddha?
- Buddha is the one who discovered the truth of the Universe, he was a prince of the
ancient kingdom of Kapilaratsu. He was the one who preached the Buddhist teaching
about life and death and promoted the principle of equanimity to all sentient beings.
2. Does Buddhism believe in the existence of a God?
- Buddhism believes in the existence of God but does not revere or worship God. God is
just a deity in heaven, and he is still subject to reincarnation and does not yet have the
wisdom and ability to reach enlightenment.
3. In general, what do you want others to know about your religion?
- Most Buddhists use rituals in pursuit of their spiritual aspirations. Common devotional
practices are receiving a blessing, making merit, making a resolution, prostrating,
making offerings, reading traditional texts, and pilgrimage.
4. What are common practices or beliefs that you have in your religion?
- Buddhist devotional practices can be performed at home or in temples, in which
images of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and enlightened disciples are located.

After having our questions answered, we were right on time for the monks to have their prayer.
Here we were allowed to view the prayer from outside of the ritual place.
From what we have gathered in our excursion, we can easily compare the beliefs of Confucianism
and Buddhism. They share many similarities in their beliefs, like how they both act as a way of life
rather than a religion that has a god as a symbol to worship. They also both emphasize the
importance of doing rituals and rites as a method of gaining control over one’s self-indulgence.
However, there are also some parts where they differ, like how Confucianism also puts focus on the
importance of family and responsibilities while in Buddhism, the ultimate goal is to reach nirvana.

In conclusion, even though our country has undergone many tragedies and wars, we can only look
at the result which is a society that is filled to the brim with different cultures that only serve to
expand our horizons. It’s truly a magnificent sight to see many religious practices being followed in
a small country such as ours. If there’s one thing to take away from this experience is to allow your
horizons to be broadened, each belief system may differ in its core values but each one of them
also has its lesson that one can gain wisdom from