"No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path. " -The Buddha
Fast Facts About Buddhism
Name Means
Teachings of the Buddha (Buddha means the "Enlightened One")
Adherents
500 million
Beliefs
Varies: Theravada atheistic; Mahayana more polytheistic. Buddha taught nothing is permanent.
Practices
Meditation, mantras, devotion to deities (in some sects), mandalas (Tibetan)
Main Holidays
Vary by region, but often include Buddha's birthday, Buddha's enlightenment, lunar quarters
Texts
Tripitaka (Pali Canon); Mahayana sutras like the Lotus Sutra; others.
Name Means
Teachings of the Buddha (Buddha means the "Enlightened One")
Adherents
500 million
Beliefs
Varies: Theravada atheistic; Mahayana more polytheistic. Buddha taught nothing is permanent.
Practices
Meditation, mantras, devotion to deities (in some sects), mandalas (Tibetan)
Main Holidays
Vary by region, but often include Buddha's birthday, Buddha's enlightenment, lunar quarters
Texts
Tripitaka (Pali Canon); Mahayana sutras like the Lotus Sutra; others.
Basics About Buddhism
A religion and philosophy that developed from the teachings of the Buddha (Sanskrit: “Awakened One”), a teacher who lived in northern India between the mid-6th and mid-4th centuries B.C.E (Before the Common Era). Spreading from India to Central and Southeast Asia, China, Korea, and Japan, Buddhism has played a central role in the spiritual, cultural, and social life of Asia, and during the 20th century it spread to the West.
Ancient Buddhist scripture and doctrine developed in several closely related literary languages of ancient India, especially in Pali and Sanskrit. In this article Pali and Sanskrit words that have gained currency in English are treated as English words and are rendered in the form in which they appear in English-language dictionaries. Exceptions occur in special circumstances—as, for example, in the case of the Sanskrit term dharma (Pali: dhamma), which has meanings that are not usually associated with the term dharma as it is often used in English. Pali forms are given in the sections on the core teachings of early Buddhism that are reconstructed primarily from Pali texts and in sections that deal with Buddhist traditions in which the primary sacred language is Pali. Sanskrit forms are given in the sections that deal with Buddhist traditions whose primary sacred language is Sanskrit and in other sections that deal with traditions whose primary sacred texts were translated from Sanskrit into a Central or East Asian language such as Tibetan or Chinese.
During the long course of Buddhist history, Buddhist influences have from time to time reached the Western world. Although the evidence is weak, some scholars have suggested that Buddhist monks and teachings had reached as far as Egypt by about the beginning of the Common Era. There are occasional references to what seem to be Buddhist traditions in the writing of the Christian Church Fathers. In addition, a version of the biography of the Buddha known as the story of Barlaam and Josephat was disseminated widely in medieval Europe. In fact, the Buddha figure in the story came to be recognized as a Christian saint.
Not until the modern period, however, is there evidence of a serious Buddhist presence in the Western world. Beginning in the mid-19th century, Buddhism was introduced into the United States and other Western countries by large numbers of immigrants, first from China and Japan and later from other countries, especially those of Southeast Asia. In addition, Buddhism gained a foothold among a significant number of Western intellectuals and—particularly during the 1960s and early ’70s—among young people seeking new forms of religious experience and expression. The interest of Westerners in Buddhism was greatly fostered by the work of Buddhist missionaries such as the Japanese scholar D.T. Suzuki (1870–1966) and a number of Tibetan Buddhist teachers who moved to the West following the Chinese conquest of their homeland in 1959.
Ancient Buddhist scripture and doctrine developed in several closely related literary languages of ancient India, especially in Pali and Sanskrit. In this article Pali and Sanskrit words that have gained currency in English are treated as English words and are rendered in the form in which they appear in English-language dictionaries. Exceptions occur in special circumstances—as, for example, in the case of the Sanskrit term dharma (Pali: dhamma), which has meanings that are not usually associated with the term dharma as it is often used in English. Pali forms are given in the sections on the core teachings of early Buddhism that are reconstructed primarily from Pali texts and in sections that deal with Buddhist traditions in which the primary sacred language is Pali. Sanskrit forms are given in the sections that deal with Buddhist traditions whose primary sacred language is Sanskrit and in other sections that deal with traditions whose primary sacred texts were translated from Sanskrit into a Central or East Asian language such as Tibetan or Chinese.
During the long course of Buddhist history, Buddhist influences have from time to time reached the Western world. Although the evidence is weak, some scholars have suggested that Buddhist monks and teachings had reached as far as Egypt by about the beginning of the Common Era. There are occasional references to what seem to be Buddhist traditions in the writing of the Christian Church Fathers. In addition, a version of the biography of the Buddha known as the story of Barlaam and Josephat was disseminated widely in medieval Europe. In fact, the Buddha figure in the story came to be recognized as a Christian saint.
Not until the modern period, however, is there evidence of a serious Buddhist presence in the Western world. Beginning in the mid-19th century, Buddhism was introduced into the United States and other Western countries by large numbers of immigrants, first from China and Japan and later from other countries, especially those of Southeast Asia. In addition, Buddhism gained a foothold among a significant number of Western intellectuals and—particularly during the 1960s and early ’70s—among young people seeking new forms of religious experience and expression. The interest of Westerners in Buddhism was greatly fostered by the work of Buddhist missionaries such as the Japanese scholar D.T. Suzuki (1870–1966) and a number of Tibetan Buddhist teachers who moved to the West following the Chinese conquest of their homeland in 1959.
Popular Buddhist Practices & Rites
Like other great religions, Buddhism has generated a wide range of popular practices. Among these, two simple practices are deeply rooted in the experience of the earliest Buddhist community and have remained basic to all Buddhist traditions.
The first is the veneration of the Buddha or other buddhas, bodhisattvas, or saints, which involves showing respect, meditating on the qualities of the Buddha, or giving gifts. Such gifts are often given to the relics of the Buddha, to images made to represent him, and to other traces of his presence, such as places where his footprint can supposedly be seen. After the Buddha’s death the first foci for this sort of veneration seem to have been his relics and the stupas that held them. By the beginning of the Common Era, anthropomorphic images of the Buddha were being produced, and they took their place alongside relics and stupas as focal points for venerating him. Still later, in the context of the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, the veneration of other buddhas and bodhisattvas came to supplement or replace the veneration of the Buddha Gautama. In the course of Buddhist history, the forms have become diverse, but the practice of honouring and even worshiping the Buddha or Buddha figure has remained a central component in all Buddhist traditions.
The second basic practice is the exchange that takes place between monks and laypersons. Like the Buddha himself, the monks embody or represent the higher levels of spiritual achievement, which they make available in various ways to the laity. The laity improve their soteriological condition by giving the monks material gifts that function as sacrificial offerings. Although the exchange is structured differently in each Buddhist tradition, it has remained until recently a component in virtually all forms of Buddhist community life.
Both of these practices appear independently within the tradition. The veneration of the Buddha or Buddha figure is a common ritual often practiced independently of other rituals. Moreover, the dana (Pali: “gift-giving”) ritual of the Theravada tradition and similar exchanges between monks and laypersons are performed independently of other rituals. Both of these practices, however, are embedded in one way or another in virtually all other Buddhist rituals, including calendric rituals, pilgrimage rituals, rites of passage, and protective rites.
Uposatha
The four monthly holy days of ancient Buddhism, called uposatha, continue to be observed in the Theravada countries of Southeast Asia. The days—the new moon and full moon days of each lunar month and the eighth day following the new and full moons—originated, according to some scholars, in the fast days that preceded the Vedic soma sacrifices. Buddhist laypersons and monks are expected to perform religious duties during the uposatha days.
The uposatha service typically includes the repetition of the precepts, the offering of flowers to the Buddha image, the recitation of Pali suttas, meditation practices, and a sermon by one of the monks for the benefit of those in attendance. The more pious laymen may vow to observe the eight precepts for the duration of the uposatha. These include the five precepts normally observed by all Buddhists—not to kill, steal, lie, take intoxicants, or commit sexual offenses, which came to entail complete sexual continence—as well as injunctions against eating food after noon, attending entertainments or wearing bodily adornments, and sleeping on a luxurious bed. The monks observe the uposatha days by listening to the recitation by one of their members of the patimokkha, or rules of conduct, contained in the Vinaya Pitaka and by confessing any infractions of the rules they have committed.
Anniversaries
The three major events of the Buddha’s life—his birth, enlightenment, and entrance into final nirvana (parinibbana)—are commemorated in all Buddhist countries but not everywhere on the same day. In Theravada countries the three events are all observed together on Vesak, the full moon day of the sixth lunar month (Vesakha), which usually occurs in May. In Japan and other Mahayana countries, however, the three anniversaries of the Buddha are observed on separate days (in some countries the birth date is April 8, the enlightenment date is December 8, and the death date is February 15). Festival days honouring other buddhas and bodhisattvas of the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions are also observed, and considerable emphasis is placed on anniversaries connected with the patriarchs of certain schools. Padmasambhava’s anniversary, for example, is especially observed by the Rnying-ma-pa sect in Tibet, and the birthday of Nichiren is celebrated by his followers in Japan.
Vassa
The beginning and end of vassa, the three-month rainy-season retreat from July to October, are two of the major festivals of the year among Theravada Buddhists, particularly in Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos. The retreat has largely been given up by Mahayana Buddhists. It is an accepted practice in countries such as Thailand for a layman to take monastic vows for the vassa period and then to return to lay life. Commonly, the number of years a monk has spent in monastic life is expressed by counting up the number of vassas he has observed.
The end of vassa is marked by joyous celebration, and the following month is a major occasion for presenting gifts to monks and acquiring the consequent merit. The kathina, or robe-offering ceremony, is a public event during this period and usually involves a collective effort by a village, a group of villages, or a company to bestow gifts on an entire monastery. A public feast and display of the robes and other presents on a “wishing tree” are the usual components of the ceremony. The kathina celebration culminates in the making and presentation of the mahakathina (“great robe”), a particularly meritorious gift that requires the cooperation of a number of people who, theoretically at least, must produce it—from spinning the thread to stitching the cloth—in a single day and night. The robe commemorates the act of the Buddha’s mother, who, on hearing that he was about to renounce worldly life, wove his first mendicant robes in one night.
All Souls festival
The importance of the virtues of filial piety and the reverence of ancestors in China and Japan have established Ullambana, or All Souls Day, as one of the major Buddhist festivals in those countries. In China worshipers in Buddhist temples make fachuan (“boats of the law”) out of paper, some very large, which are then burned in the evening. The purpose of the celebration is twofold: to remember the dead and to free those who are suffering as pretas, or hell beings, so that they may ascend to heaven. Under the guidance of Buddhist temples, societies (hui, Youlanhui) are formed to carry out the necessary ceremonies—lanterns are lit, monks are invited to recite sacred verses, and offerings of fruit are made. An 8th-century Indian monk, Amoghavajra, is said to have introduced the ceremony into China, from where it was transmitted to Japan. During the Japanese festival of Bon (Obon), two altars are constructed, one to make offerings to the spirits of dead ancestors and the other to make offerings to the souls of those dead who have no peace. Odorinembutsu (the chanting of invocations accompanied by dancing and singing) and invocations to Amida are features of the Bon celebrations.
New Year’s and harvest festivals
New Year’s festivals demonstrate Buddhism’s ability to co-opt preexisting local traditions. On the occasion of the New Year, images of the Buddha in some countries are taken in procession through the streets. Worshipers visit Buddhist sanctuaries and circumambulate a stupa or a sacred image, and monks are given food and other gifts. One of the most remarkable examples of the absorption of a local New Year’s celebration in Buddhist practice was the Smonlam festival in Tibet, celebrated on a large scale in Lhasa until the beginning of Chinese communist rule in 1959. The festival was instituted in 1408 by Tsong-kha-pa, the founder of the Dge-lugs-pa sect, who transformed an old custom into a Buddhist festivity. Smonlam took place at the beginning of the winter thaw, when caravans began to set out once again and the hunting season was resumed. The observances included exorcistic ceremonies performed privately within each family to remove evil forces lying in wait for individuals as well as for the community as a whole. They also included propitiatory rites performed to ward off evil such as droughts, epidemics, or hail during the coming year. During the more public propitiatory rites, the sangha cooperated with the laity by invoking the merciful forces that watch over good order, and processions, fireworks, and various amusements created an atmosphere of hopefulness. Through the collaboration of the monastic community and the laity, a general reserve of good karma was accumulated to see everyone through the dangerous moment of passage from the old year to the new.
Harvest festivals also provide Buddhism an opportunity to adopt local customs and adapt them to the Buddhist calendar. The harvest festival celebrated in the Tibetan villages during the eighth lunar month was quite different from the New Year ceremonies. Most commonly, offerings of thanks were made to local deities in rites that were only externally Buddhist. The same interplay between Buddhism and folk tradition is observable elsewhere. At harvest time in Sri Lanka, for example, there is a “first fruits” ceremony that entails offering the Buddha a large bowl of milk and rice. Moreover, an integral part of the harvest celebrations in many Buddhist countries is the sacred performance of an episode in the life of a buddha or a bodhisattva. In Tibet troupes of actors specialize in performances of Buddhist legends. In Thailand the recitation of the story of Phra Wes (Pali: Vessantara) constitutes one of the most important festival events of the agricultural calendar.
Buddhist pilgrimage
Within the first two centuries of the Buddha’s death, pilgrimage had already become an important component in the life of the Buddhist community. Throughout early Buddhist history there were at least four major pilgrimage centres—the place of the Buddha’s birth at Lumbini, the place of his enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, the Deer Park in Varanasi (Benares), where he supposedly preached his first sermon, and the village of Kushinara, which was recognized as the place of his parinibbana (final nirvana or final death).
During this period the place of the Buddha’s enlightenment at Bodh Gaya was the most important pilgrimage centre, and it remained so throughout much of Buddhist history. After the collapse of Buddhism in India, however, Bodh Gaya was taken over by Hindu groups and served as a Hindu shrine. In the late 20th century, Buddhist control was partially restored, and Bodh Gaya once again became the major Buddhist pilgrimage site.
During the post-Ashokan period, four other sites in northeastern India became preeminent pilgrimage sites. In addition to these eight primary sites in the Buddhist “homeland,” major pilgrimage centres have emerged in every region or country where Buddhism has been established. Many local temples have their own festivals associated with a relic enshrined there or an event in the life of a sacred figure. Some of these, such as the display of the tooth relic at Kandy, Sri Lanka, are occasions for great celebrations attracting many pilgrims. In many Buddhist countries famous mountains have become sacred sites that draw pilgrims from both near and far. In China, for example, four such mountain sites are especially important: Emei, Wutai, Putuo, and Jiuhua. Each is devoted to a different bodhisattva whose temples and monasteries are located on the mountainside. In many Buddhist regions there are pilgrimages that include stops at a whole series of sacred places. One of the most interesting of these is the Shikoku pilgrimage in Japan, which involves visits to 88 temples located along a route that extends for more than 700 miles (1,130 km).
Buddhist pilgrimages, like those in other religions, are undertaken for a wide range of reasons. For some Buddhists pilgrimage is a discipline that fosters spiritual development; for others it is the fulfillment of a vow made, for example, to facilitate recovery from an illness; and for others it is simply an occasion for travel and enjoyment. Whatever its motivations, pilgrimage remains one of the most important Buddhist practices.
Rites of passage and protective rites
-Initiation / Ordination
Admission to the sangha involves two distinct acts: pabbajja (lower ordination), which consists of renunciation of secular life and acceptance of monastic life as a novice, and upasampada (higher ordination), official consecration as a monk. The evolution of the procedure is not entirely clear; in early times the two acts probably occurred at the same time. Subsequently, the Vinaya established that upasampada, or full acceptance into the monastic community, should not occur before the age of 20, which, if the pabbajja ceremony took place as early as age 8, would mean after 12 years of training. Ordination could not occur without the permission of the aspirant’s parents. The initial Pali formula was “Ehi bhikkhu,” “Come, O monk!”
The rite established in ancient Buddhism remains essentially the same in the Theravada tradition. To be accepted the postulant shaves his hair and beard and dons the yellow robes of the monk. He bows to the abbot or senior monk, to whom he makes his petition for admittance, and then seats himself with legs crossed and hands folded, pronouncing three times the formula of the Triple Refuge—“I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the dhamma, I take refuge in the sangha.” He repeats after the officiating monk the Ten Precepts and vows to observe them. Thereafter, in the presence of at least 10 monks (fewer in some cases), the postulant is questioned in detail by the abbot—as to the name of the master under whom he studied, whether he is free of faults and defects that would prevent his admission, and whether he has committed any infamous sins, is diseased, is mutilated, or is in debt. The abbot, when satisfied, thrice proposes acceptance of the petition; the chapter’s silence signifies consent. Nuns were once ordained in basically the same way, though the ordination of a nun required the presence of monks in order to be recognized as valid.
-Bodhisattva vows
In Mahayana Buddhism new rituals were added to the ceremony of ordination prescribed by the Pali Vinaya. The declaration of the Triple Refuge is as central an assertion as ever, but special emphasis is placed on the candidate’s intention to achieve enlightenment and his undertaking of the vow to become a bodhisattva. Five monks are required for the ordination: the head monk, one who guards the ceremony, a master of secrets (the esoteric teachings, such as mantras), and two assisting officiants.
-Abhisheka
The esoteric content of Vajrayana tradition requires a more complex consecration ceremony. Along with other ordination rites, preparatory study, and training in yoga, the Tantric neophyte receives abhisheka (Sanskrit: “sprinkling” of water). This initiation takes several forms, each of which has its own corresponding vidya (Sanskrit: “wisdom”), rituals, and esoteric formulas and is associated with one of the five Celestial Buddhas or Dhyani-Buddhas. The initiate meditates on the vajra (Sanskrit: “thunderbolt”) as a symbol of Vajrasattva Buddha (the Adamantine Being), on the bell as a symbol of the void, and on the mudra (ritual gesture) as “seal.” The intent of the initiation ceremony is to produce an experience that anticipates the moment of death. The candidate emerges reborn as a new being, a state marked by his receipt of a new name.
Funeral rites
The origin of Buddhist funeral observances can be traced back to Indian customs. The cremation of the body of the Buddha and the subsequent distribution of his ashes are told in the Mahaparinibbana-sutta (“Sutta on the Great Final Deliverance”). Early Chinese travelers such as Faxian described cremations of venerable monks. After cremation the ashes and bones of the monk were collected and a stupa built over them. That this custom was widely observed is evident from the large number of stupas found near monasteries.
With less pomp, cremation is also used for ordinary monks and laymen, though not universally. In Sri Lanka, for example, burial is also common, and in Tibet, because of the scarcity of wood, cremation is rare. The bodies of great lamas, such as the Dalai and Panchen lamas, are placed in rich stupas in attitudes of meditation, while lay corpses are exposed in remote places to be devoured by vultures and wild animals.
Buddhists generally agree that the thoughts held by a person at the moment of death are of essential significance. For this reason sacred texts are sometimes read to the dying person to prepare the mind for the moment of death; similarly, sacred texts may be read to the newly dead, since the conscious principle is thought to remain in the body for about three days following death. In Tibetan, Mongolian, and Chinese lamaseries, a lama sometimes recites the famous Bardo Thödol (commonly referred to in English as “The Tibetan Book of the Dead”).
Protective rites
From a very early period in its development, Buddhism has included within its repertoire of religious practices specific rituals that are intended to protect against various kinds of danger and to exorcise evil influences. In the Theravada tradition, these rituals are closely associated with texts called parittas, many of which are attributed directly to the Buddha. In Sri Lanka and the Theravada countries of Southeast Asia, parittas are traditionally chanted during large public rituals designed to avert collective, public danger. They are also very widely used in private rituals intended to protect the sponsor against illness and various other misfortunes.
In the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, the role taken by protective and exorcistic rituals is even greater. For example, dharanis (short statements of doctrine that supposedly encapsulate its power) and mantras (a further reduction of the dharani, often to a single word) were widely used for this purpose. Protective and exorcistic rituals that used such dharanis and mantras were extremely important in the process through which the populations of Tibet and East Asia were converted to Buddhism. They have remained an integral part of the Buddhist traditions in these areas, reaching what was perhaps their fullest development in Tibet.
The first is the veneration of the Buddha or other buddhas, bodhisattvas, or saints, which involves showing respect, meditating on the qualities of the Buddha, or giving gifts. Such gifts are often given to the relics of the Buddha, to images made to represent him, and to other traces of his presence, such as places where his footprint can supposedly be seen. After the Buddha’s death the first foci for this sort of veneration seem to have been his relics and the stupas that held them. By the beginning of the Common Era, anthropomorphic images of the Buddha were being produced, and they took their place alongside relics and stupas as focal points for venerating him. Still later, in the context of the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, the veneration of other buddhas and bodhisattvas came to supplement or replace the veneration of the Buddha Gautama. In the course of Buddhist history, the forms have become diverse, but the practice of honouring and even worshiping the Buddha or Buddha figure has remained a central component in all Buddhist traditions.
The second basic practice is the exchange that takes place between monks and laypersons. Like the Buddha himself, the monks embody or represent the higher levels of spiritual achievement, which they make available in various ways to the laity. The laity improve their soteriological condition by giving the monks material gifts that function as sacrificial offerings. Although the exchange is structured differently in each Buddhist tradition, it has remained until recently a component in virtually all forms of Buddhist community life.
Both of these practices appear independently within the tradition. The veneration of the Buddha or Buddha figure is a common ritual often practiced independently of other rituals. Moreover, the dana (Pali: “gift-giving”) ritual of the Theravada tradition and similar exchanges between monks and laypersons are performed independently of other rituals. Both of these practices, however, are embedded in one way or another in virtually all other Buddhist rituals, including calendric rituals, pilgrimage rituals, rites of passage, and protective rites.
Uposatha
The four monthly holy days of ancient Buddhism, called uposatha, continue to be observed in the Theravada countries of Southeast Asia. The days—the new moon and full moon days of each lunar month and the eighth day following the new and full moons—originated, according to some scholars, in the fast days that preceded the Vedic soma sacrifices. Buddhist laypersons and monks are expected to perform religious duties during the uposatha days.
The uposatha service typically includes the repetition of the precepts, the offering of flowers to the Buddha image, the recitation of Pali suttas, meditation practices, and a sermon by one of the monks for the benefit of those in attendance. The more pious laymen may vow to observe the eight precepts for the duration of the uposatha. These include the five precepts normally observed by all Buddhists—not to kill, steal, lie, take intoxicants, or commit sexual offenses, which came to entail complete sexual continence—as well as injunctions against eating food after noon, attending entertainments or wearing bodily adornments, and sleeping on a luxurious bed. The monks observe the uposatha days by listening to the recitation by one of their members of the patimokkha, or rules of conduct, contained in the Vinaya Pitaka and by confessing any infractions of the rules they have committed.
Anniversaries
The three major events of the Buddha’s life—his birth, enlightenment, and entrance into final nirvana (parinibbana)—are commemorated in all Buddhist countries but not everywhere on the same day. In Theravada countries the three events are all observed together on Vesak, the full moon day of the sixth lunar month (Vesakha), which usually occurs in May. In Japan and other Mahayana countries, however, the three anniversaries of the Buddha are observed on separate days (in some countries the birth date is April 8, the enlightenment date is December 8, and the death date is February 15). Festival days honouring other buddhas and bodhisattvas of the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions are also observed, and considerable emphasis is placed on anniversaries connected with the patriarchs of certain schools. Padmasambhava’s anniversary, for example, is especially observed by the Rnying-ma-pa sect in Tibet, and the birthday of Nichiren is celebrated by his followers in Japan.
Vassa
The beginning and end of vassa, the three-month rainy-season retreat from July to October, are two of the major festivals of the year among Theravada Buddhists, particularly in Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos. The retreat has largely been given up by Mahayana Buddhists. It is an accepted practice in countries such as Thailand for a layman to take monastic vows for the vassa period and then to return to lay life. Commonly, the number of years a monk has spent in monastic life is expressed by counting up the number of vassas he has observed.
The end of vassa is marked by joyous celebration, and the following month is a major occasion for presenting gifts to monks and acquiring the consequent merit. The kathina, or robe-offering ceremony, is a public event during this period and usually involves a collective effort by a village, a group of villages, or a company to bestow gifts on an entire monastery. A public feast and display of the robes and other presents on a “wishing tree” are the usual components of the ceremony. The kathina celebration culminates in the making and presentation of the mahakathina (“great robe”), a particularly meritorious gift that requires the cooperation of a number of people who, theoretically at least, must produce it—from spinning the thread to stitching the cloth—in a single day and night. The robe commemorates the act of the Buddha’s mother, who, on hearing that he was about to renounce worldly life, wove his first mendicant robes in one night.
All Souls festival
The importance of the virtues of filial piety and the reverence of ancestors in China and Japan have established Ullambana, or All Souls Day, as one of the major Buddhist festivals in those countries. In China worshipers in Buddhist temples make fachuan (“boats of the law”) out of paper, some very large, which are then burned in the evening. The purpose of the celebration is twofold: to remember the dead and to free those who are suffering as pretas, or hell beings, so that they may ascend to heaven. Under the guidance of Buddhist temples, societies (hui, Youlanhui) are formed to carry out the necessary ceremonies—lanterns are lit, monks are invited to recite sacred verses, and offerings of fruit are made. An 8th-century Indian monk, Amoghavajra, is said to have introduced the ceremony into China, from where it was transmitted to Japan. During the Japanese festival of Bon (Obon), two altars are constructed, one to make offerings to the spirits of dead ancestors and the other to make offerings to the souls of those dead who have no peace. Odorinembutsu (the chanting of invocations accompanied by dancing and singing) and invocations to Amida are features of the Bon celebrations.
New Year’s and harvest festivals
New Year’s festivals demonstrate Buddhism’s ability to co-opt preexisting local traditions. On the occasion of the New Year, images of the Buddha in some countries are taken in procession through the streets. Worshipers visit Buddhist sanctuaries and circumambulate a stupa or a sacred image, and monks are given food and other gifts. One of the most remarkable examples of the absorption of a local New Year’s celebration in Buddhist practice was the Smonlam festival in Tibet, celebrated on a large scale in Lhasa until the beginning of Chinese communist rule in 1959. The festival was instituted in 1408 by Tsong-kha-pa, the founder of the Dge-lugs-pa sect, who transformed an old custom into a Buddhist festivity. Smonlam took place at the beginning of the winter thaw, when caravans began to set out once again and the hunting season was resumed. The observances included exorcistic ceremonies performed privately within each family to remove evil forces lying in wait for individuals as well as for the community as a whole. They also included propitiatory rites performed to ward off evil such as droughts, epidemics, or hail during the coming year. During the more public propitiatory rites, the sangha cooperated with the laity by invoking the merciful forces that watch over good order, and processions, fireworks, and various amusements created an atmosphere of hopefulness. Through the collaboration of the monastic community and the laity, a general reserve of good karma was accumulated to see everyone through the dangerous moment of passage from the old year to the new.
Harvest festivals also provide Buddhism an opportunity to adopt local customs and adapt them to the Buddhist calendar. The harvest festival celebrated in the Tibetan villages during the eighth lunar month was quite different from the New Year ceremonies. Most commonly, offerings of thanks were made to local deities in rites that were only externally Buddhist. The same interplay between Buddhism and folk tradition is observable elsewhere. At harvest time in Sri Lanka, for example, there is a “first fruits” ceremony that entails offering the Buddha a large bowl of milk and rice. Moreover, an integral part of the harvest celebrations in many Buddhist countries is the sacred performance of an episode in the life of a buddha or a bodhisattva. In Tibet troupes of actors specialize in performances of Buddhist legends. In Thailand the recitation of the story of Phra Wes (Pali: Vessantara) constitutes one of the most important festival events of the agricultural calendar.
Buddhist pilgrimage
Within the first two centuries of the Buddha’s death, pilgrimage had already become an important component in the life of the Buddhist community. Throughout early Buddhist history there were at least four major pilgrimage centres—the place of the Buddha’s birth at Lumbini, the place of his enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, the Deer Park in Varanasi (Benares), where he supposedly preached his first sermon, and the village of Kushinara, which was recognized as the place of his parinibbana (final nirvana or final death).
During this period the place of the Buddha’s enlightenment at Bodh Gaya was the most important pilgrimage centre, and it remained so throughout much of Buddhist history. After the collapse of Buddhism in India, however, Bodh Gaya was taken over by Hindu groups and served as a Hindu shrine. In the late 20th century, Buddhist control was partially restored, and Bodh Gaya once again became the major Buddhist pilgrimage site.
During the post-Ashokan period, four other sites in northeastern India became preeminent pilgrimage sites. In addition to these eight primary sites in the Buddhist “homeland,” major pilgrimage centres have emerged in every region or country where Buddhism has been established. Many local temples have their own festivals associated with a relic enshrined there or an event in the life of a sacred figure. Some of these, such as the display of the tooth relic at Kandy, Sri Lanka, are occasions for great celebrations attracting many pilgrims. In many Buddhist countries famous mountains have become sacred sites that draw pilgrims from both near and far. In China, for example, four such mountain sites are especially important: Emei, Wutai, Putuo, and Jiuhua. Each is devoted to a different bodhisattva whose temples and monasteries are located on the mountainside. In many Buddhist regions there are pilgrimages that include stops at a whole series of sacred places. One of the most interesting of these is the Shikoku pilgrimage in Japan, which involves visits to 88 temples located along a route that extends for more than 700 miles (1,130 km).
Buddhist pilgrimages, like those in other religions, are undertaken for a wide range of reasons. For some Buddhists pilgrimage is a discipline that fosters spiritual development; for others it is the fulfillment of a vow made, for example, to facilitate recovery from an illness; and for others it is simply an occasion for travel and enjoyment. Whatever its motivations, pilgrimage remains one of the most important Buddhist practices.
Rites of passage and protective rites
-Initiation / Ordination
Admission to the sangha involves two distinct acts: pabbajja (lower ordination), which consists of renunciation of secular life and acceptance of monastic life as a novice, and upasampada (higher ordination), official consecration as a monk. The evolution of the procedure is not entirely clear; in early times the two acts probably occurred at the same time. Subsequently, the Vinaya established that upasampada, or full acceptance into the monastic community, should not occur before the age of 20, which, if the pabbajja ceremony took place as early as age 8, would mean after 12 years of training. Ordination could not occur without the permission of the aspirant’s parents. The initial Pali formula was “Ehi bhikkhu,” “Come, O monk!”
The rite established in ancient Buddhism remains essentially the same in the Theravada tradition. To be accepted the postulant shaves his hair and beard and dons the yellow robes of the monk. He bows to the abbot or senior monk, to whom he makes his petition for admittance, and then seats himself with legs crossed and hands folded, pronouncing three times the formula of the Triple Refuge—“I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the dhamma, I take refuge in the sangha.” He repeats after the officiating monk the Ten Precepts and vows to observe them. Thereafter, in the presence of at least 10 monks (fewer in some cases), the postulant is questioned in detail by the abbot—as to the name of the master under whom he studied, whether he is free of faults and defects that would prevent his admission, and whether he has committed any infamous sins, is diseased, is mutilated, or is in debt. The abbot, when satisfied, thrice proposes acceptance of the petition; the chapter’s silence signifies consent. Nuns were once ordained in basically the same way, though the ordination of a nun required the presence of monks in order to be recognized as valid.
-Bodhisattva vows
In Mahayana Buddhism new rituals were added to the ceremony of ordination prescribed by the Pali Vinaya. The declaration of the Triple Refuge is as central an assertion as ever, but special emphasis is placed on the candidate’s intention to achieve enlightenment and his undertaking of the vow to become a bodhisattva. Five monks are required for the ordination: the head monk, one who guards the ceremony, a master of secrets (the esoteric teachings, such as mantras), and two assisting officiants.
-Abhisheka
The esoteric content of Vajrayana tradition requires a more complex consecration ceremony. Along with other ordination rites, preparatory study, and training in yoga, the Tantric neophyte receives abhisheka (Sanskrit: “sprinkling” of water). This initiation takes several forms, each of which has its own corresponding vidya (Sanskrit: “wisdom”), rituals, and esoteric formulas and is associated with one of the five Celestial Buddhas or Dhyani-Buddhas. The initiate meditates on the vajra (Sanskrit: “thunderbolt”) as a symbol of Vajrasattva Buddha (the Adamantine Being), on the bell as a symbol of the void, and on the mudra (ritual gesture) as “seal.” The intent of the initiation ceremony is to produce an experience that anticipates the moment of death. The candidate emerges reborn as a new being, a state marked by his receipt of a new name.
Funeral rites
The origin of Buddhist funeral observances can be traced back to Indian customs. The cremation of the body of the Buddha and the subsequent distribution of his ashes are told in the Mahaparinibbana-sutta (“Sutta on the Great Final Deliverance”). Early Chinese travelers such as Faxian described cremations of venerable monks. After cremation the ashes and bones of the monk were collected and a stupa built over them. That this custom was widely observed is evident from the large number of stupas found near monasteries.
With less pomp, cremation is also used for ordinary monks and laymen, though not universally. In Sri Lanka, for example, burial is also common, and in Tibet, because of the scarcity of wood, cremation is rare. The bodies of great lamas, such as the Dalai and Panchen lamas, are placed in rich stupas in attitudes of meditation, while lay corpses are exposed in remote places to be devoured by vultures and wild animals.
Buddhists generally agree that the thoughts held by a person at the moment of death are of essential significance. For this reason sacred texts are sometimes read to the dying person to prepare the mind for the moment of death; similarly, sacred texts may be read to the newly dead, since the conscious principle is thought to remain in the body for about three days following death. In Tibetan, Mongolian, and Chinese lamaseries, a lama sometimes recites the famous Bardo Thödol (commonly referred to in English as “The Tibetan Book of the Dead”).
Protective rites
From a very early period in its development, Buddhism has included within its repertoire of religious practices specific rituals that are intended to protect against various kinds of danger and to exorcise evil influences. In the Theravada tradition, these rituals are closely associated with texts called parittas, many of which are attributed directly to the Buddha. In Sri Lanka and the Theravada countries of Southeast Asia, parittas are traditionally chanted during large public rituals designed to avert collective, public danger. They are also very widely used in private rituals intended to protect the sponsor against illness and various other misfortunes.
In the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, the role taken by protective and exorcistic rituals is even greater. For example, dharanis (short statements of doctrine that supposedly encapsulate its power) and mantras (a further reduction of the dharani, often to a single word) were widely used for this purpose. Protective and exorcistic rituals that used such dharanis and mantras were extremely important in the process through which the populations of Tibet and East Asia were converted to Buddhism. They have remained an integral part of the Buddhist traditions in these areas, reaching what was perhaps their fullest development in Tibet.
Buddhist Reads Recommended by Mysteria
'Tell Me Something About Buddhism
Questions & Answers for the Curious Beginner'
By Zenju Earthlyn Manuel
Forward by Thich Nhat Hanh
This book is FULL of popular questions and helpful answers about the path of Buddhism. I checked it out at my local library and I strongly recommend it if you're at all curious about other paths.
Below are a few excerpts from the book itself that stood out the most to me...
Enjoy!
(Below the passage will be a link to purchase the book through Amazon)
Below are a few excerpts from the book itself that stood out the most to me...
Enjoy!
(Below the passage will be a link to purchase the book through Amazon)
"...I did not choose Buddha's path as much as I had been chosen by it. At first, I didn't see myself as practicing Buddhism or anything else from India, China, or Japan. To say out loud that I was practicing Buddhism felt like separating myself from my Christian upbringing and from other black people. In the beginning, i just had this secret: I was doing something different.
I didn't go out of the way to find Buddha's path. His teachings met me at the door of my own suffering. And when they came knocking over twenty years ago, I actually ran the other way. I was afraid of something so new and different from the black church I was raised in or the Yoruba African religion that I had been called to in my younger days. I told the Buddhist teachers that I did not have any room in my life for chanting, sitting down after work, or alters that were Japanese.
Still, the teachers didn't go away, bringing me candles, special Japanese incense that I had never seen before, and books to read. I had met my match. The were more stubborn than I could ever imagine. But it wasn't their persistence that kept me still long enough to invite the teachings in. I never sent the teachers away because I recognized the innate kindness and compassion in the words of Buddha that they shared. I recognized the teachings about compassion and wisdom as something i had been yearning to hear. I was dying inside, so to speak, and found vitality in chanting and meditation. Then I heard the voice of god, the love that God represents, in the teachings of Buddha. I was hooked.
Once, my youngest sister asked, "what does Buddhism have to do with black people?"
Although Shakyamuni Buddha's teachings came from the earth of ancient India, I knew, in the moment my sister asked the question, that the teachings had everything to do with me and with every other suffering living being. Of course, she wanted to know how did I come to such a strange journey, when she knew me as a devout Christian, a courageous warrior or black civil rights movement, and a dedicated Pan-Africanist. She knew me with my Afro hairdo, African head wraps, and African jewelry. She knew the sister who read aloud poetry by black poets such as Langston Hughes, Nikki Giovanni, the Last Poets, Margaret Walker, and Gwendolyn Brooks...
...Later, after living with her question a bit longer, I began to see that the answer was as large as an elephant and that I had touched only its tail when i attempted to answer my sister's profound question with, "Because it works.""
"The initiation into enlightenment begins with our own willingness to not only speak of our suffering, but also to understand it as a condition we share as living beings. In my practice, I learned how suffering emerged when i clung to suffering as my personal story when others are involved in the same painful circumstances. I began to ask questions, as Buddha did on his quest. Then I left my palace of the comfort zone, the familiar, and dared myself to go into unknown territory. I wrote:
She walks through the gate,
Heavy footed,
Gazing out from the darkness of skin,
Seeing no church pews,
She sits chanting,
Why have I come without knowing whose house I have entered?
Once I found my place in the world of chanting and sitting meditation, I allowed my body to settle on suffering of any kind -- not re-energizing the suffering, but settling on it long enough to turn the stone into soft earth. After some time, I began to feel myself as expansive as the earth, and i acknowledged suffering as part of my life, no longer recoiling from it. In this acknowledgement, I was not on a quest to gain a vision, but on a quest in which a vision of my life might arise on its own. With the acknowledgement of suffering and the practice of complete connection of all things comes enlightenment.
A mental or theoretical investigation of enlightenment will lead directly to confusion. Enlightenment arises without you knowing. You ask, "How will I know?" That is the mystery of this practice. There are no exact formulas that lead to results.
What I will say again is that when Buddha became enlightened, we all became awakened to the truth of suffering. However, our fears and desires hinder us from experiencing such awakening. The practice of chanting and meditation arouses this hidden enlightenment, reminding us of our original nature, which is untouched by suffering. We can chant and meditate through many indigenous traditions, including a myriad of Eastern traditions: Tibetan Buddhism, Shambhala, Zen, Shingon, Jodo Shin, Nichiren, Chinese Ch'an, Theravada, Insight Meditation, T'ai chi, Chi kung (Qigong), vedantic and yogic practices, and so forth. As we journey into these traditions we can be buddha -- that is, we can be awakened. (In our tradition, we use buddha -- lowercase -- to refer to ourselves.)"
I didn't go out of the way to find Buddha's path. His teachings met me at the door of my own suffering. And when they came knocking over twenty years ago, I actually ran the other way. I was afraid of something so new and different from the black church I was raised in or the Yoruba African religion that I had been called to in my younger days. I told the Buddhist teachers that I did not have any room in my life for chanting, sitting down after work, or alters that were Japanese.
Still, the teachers didn't go away, bringing me candles, special Japanese incense that I had never seen before, and books to read. I had met my match. The were more stubborn than I could ever imagine. But it wasn't their persistence that kept me still long enough to invite the teachings in. I never sent the teachers away because I recognized the innate kindness and compassion in the words of Buddha that they shared. I recognized the teachings about compassion and wisdom as something i had been yearning to hear. I was dying inside, so to speak, and found vitality in chanting and meditation. Then I heard the voice of god, the love that God represents, in the teachings of Buddha. I was hooked.
Once, my youngest sister asked, "what does Buddhism have to do with black people?"
Although Shakyamuni Buddha's teachings came from the earth of ancient India, I knew, in the moment my sister asked the question, that the teachings had everything to do with me and with every other suffering living being. Of course, she wanted to know how did I come to such a strange journey, when she knew me as a devout Christian, a courageous warrior or black civil rights movement, and a dedicated Pan-Africanist. She knew me with my Afro hairdo, African head wraps, and African jewelry. She knew the sister who read aloud poetry by black poets such as Langston Hughes, Nikki Giovanni, the Last Poets, Margaret Walker, and Gwendolyn Brooks...
...Later, after living with her question a bit longer, I began to see that the answer was as large as an elephant and that I had touched only its tail when i attempted to answer my sister's profound question with, "Because it works.""
"The initiation into enlightenment begins with our own willingness to not only speak of our suffering, but also to understand it as a condition we share as living beings. In my practice, I learned how suffering emerged when i clung to suffering as my personal story when others are involved in the same painful circumstances. I began to ask questions, as Buddha did on his quest. Then I left my palace of the comfort zone, the familiar, and dared myself to go into unknown territory. I wrote:
She walks through the gate,
Heavy footed,
Gazing out from the darkness of skin,
Seeing no church pews,
She sits chanting,
Why have I come without knowing whose house I have entered?
Once I found my place in the world of chanting and sitting meditation, I allowed my body to settle on suffering of any kind -- not re-energizing the suffering, but settling on it long enough to turn the stone into soft earth. After some time, I began to feel myself as expansive as the earth, and i acknowledged suffering as part of my life, no longer recoiling from it. In this acknowledgement, I was not on a quest to gain a vision, but on a quest in which a vision of my life might arise on its own. With the acknowledgement of suffering and the practice of complete connection of all things comes enlightenment.
A mental or theoretical investigation of enlightenment will lead directly to confusion. Enlightenment arises without you knowing. You ask, "How will I know?" That is the mystery of this practice. There are no exact formulas that lead to results.
What I will say again is that when Buddha became enlightened, we all became awakened to the truth of suffering. However, our fears and desires hinder us from experiencing such awakening. The practice of chanting and meditation arouses this hidden enlightenment, reminding us of our original nature, which is untouched by suffering. We can chant and meditate through many indigenous traditions, including a myriad of Eastern traditions: Tibetan Buddhism, Shambhala, Zen, Shingon, Jodo Shin, Nichiren, Chinese Ch'an, Theravada, Insight Meditation, T'ai chi, Chi kung (Qigong), vedantic and yogic practices, and so forth. As we journey into these traditions we can be buddha -- that is, we can be awakened. (In our tradition, we use buddha -- lowercase -- to refer to ourselves.)"