Download File - World Religions

Ritual and Worship Puja:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Meditation is about the mind and its purification.
It is a technique for developing the right concentration which
can only be acquired through direct experience, and not from
reading alone.
The purpose of meditation is to calm the wandering of our
minds.
The Buddha himself demonstrated the importance of
meditation since he presented a clear outline of meditation in
the last three stages of the Eightfold Path i.e. right effort, right
mindfulness and right concentration.
Buddha taught that the purpose of meditation is to help
achieve enlightenment and eventually nirvana.
A key sacred formula called the Three Refuges is often
spoken, or may be chanted regularly during meditation.
These are:
• 'I go to the Buddha for refuge.'
• 'I go to the Dharma for refuge.'
• 'I go to the Sangha for refuge.'
The three Refuges are also the initial initiation into
Buddhism along with the 5 precepts.
Meditation is coming to an understanding of what life
means.
An insight into reality and truth.
Ritual and Worship:
• Domestic Worship
• Buddhists can worship
both at home or at a
temple. It is not
considered essential to go
to a temple to worship
with others.
• Buddhists will often set
aside a room or a part of
a room as a shrine. There
will be a statue of
Buddha, candles, and an
incense burner.
Ritual Bodhisattva
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
In Mahayana Buddhism, bodhisattva is the Sanskrit
term for anyone who, motivated by great
compassion, has generated bodhicitta, which is a
spontaneous wish to attain buddhahood for the
benefit of all sentient beings.
A bodhisattva is one of the four sublime states a
human can achieve in life (the others being an
arhat, buddha or pratyekabuddha).
In early Indian Buddhism, the term was used to
refer specifically to Buddha in his former lives.
These stories are told in the Jataka tales and depict
the various attempts of the bodhisattva to embrace
qualities like self-sacrifice and morality.
The bodhisattva ideal has traditionally been held to
be higher than the state of a disciple of Buddha not
only in Mahayana but also in Theravada Buddhism.
Mahāyāna Buddhism is based principally upon the path of a bodhisattva. Mahāyāna Buddhism encourages
everyone to become bodhisattvas and to take the bodhisattva vows.
With these vows, one makes the promise to work for the complete enlightenment of all sentient beings by
practicing the six perfections.
Indelibly entwined with the bodhisattva vow is merit transference (where the practitioner's accumulation of merit
(Sanskrit puṇya) is transferred to all sentient beings)
Ritual Bodhisattva
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
A bodhisattva can choose any of three paths to help
sentient beings in the process of achieving buddhahood.
They are:
1. king-like bodhisattva - one who aspires to become
buddha as soon as possible and then help sentient
beings in full fledge;
2. boatman-like bodhisattva - one who aspires to
achieve buddhahood along with other sentient
beings;
3. shepherd-like bodhisattva - one who aspires to
delay buddhahood until all other sentient beings
achieve buddhahood.
• Bodhisattvas like Avalokiteśvara and
Śāntideva are believed to fall in this
category.
According to the doctrine of some Tibetan schools (like
Theravāda but for different reasons), only the first of these
is recognized.
It is held that Buddhas remain in the world, able to help
others, so there is no point in delay.
According to many traditions within Mahāyāna Buddhism,
on the way to becoming a Buddha, a bodhisattva proceeds
through ten, or sometimes fourteen, grounds or bhūmis
Before a bodhisattva arrives at the first ground, he or she
first must travel the first two of the five paths:
1.
the path of accumulation
2.
the path of preparation
Avalokiteshvara Statue,
Buddhism Tibetan
Buddhist bodhisattva of compassion Nyoirin Kannon, Japan,
Ritual Bodhisattva
The chapter of ten grounds in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra refers to 52 stages. The 10 grounds are
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
•
Great Joy: It is said that being close to
enlightenment and seeing the benefit for all
sentient beings, one achieves great joy, hence the
name. In this bhūmi the bodhisattvas practice all
perfections (pāramitās), but especially
emphasizing generosity (dāna).
Stainless: In accomplishing the second bhūmi, the
bodhisattva is free from the stains of immorality,
therefore, this bhūmi is named "stainless". The
emphasized perfection is moral discipline (śīla).
Luminous: The third bhūmi is named "luminous",
because, for a bodhisattva who accomplishes this
bhūmi, the light of Dharma is said to radiate for
others from the bodhisattva. The emphasized
perfection is patience (kṣānti).
Radiant: This bhūmi is called "radiant", because it
is said to be like a radiating light that fully burns
that which opposes enlightenment. The
emphasized perfection is vigor (vīrya).
Very difficult to train: Bodhisattvas who attain this
bhūmi strive to help sentient beings attain
maturity, and do not become emotionally involved
when such beings respond negatively, both of
which are difficult to do. The emphasized
perfection is meditative concentration (dhyāna).
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Obviously Transcendent: By depending on the
perfection of wisdom, [the bodhisattva] does not
abide in either saṃsāra or nirvāṇa, so this state
is "obviously transcendent". The emphasized
perfection is wisdom (prajñā).
Gone afar: Particular emphasis is on the
perfection of skillful means (upāya), to help
others.
Immovable: The emphasized virtue is aspiration.
This, the "immovable" bhūmi, is the bhūmi at
which one becomes able to choose his place of
rebirth.
Good Discriminating Wisdom: The emphasized
virtue is power.
Cloud of Dharma: The emphasized virtue is the
practice of primordial wisdom.
The Buddha is presented in the Lotus
Sutra as dharmakaya -- the unity of all
things and beings, unmanifested, beyond
existence or nonexistence, unbound by
time and space.
After the ten bhūmis, according to Mahāyāna Buddhism, one attains complete enlightenment and becomes a Buddha.
Ritual Bodhisattva
•
•
•
•
•
Various traditions within Buddhism believe in specific bodhisattvas.
Some bodhisattvas appear across traditions, but due to language
barriers may be seen as separate entities.
For example, Tibetan Buddhists believe in various forms of
Chenrezig, who is Avalokiteśvara in Sanskrit, Guanyin in China,
Gwan-eum in Korea, Quan Am in Vietnam, and Kannon in Japan.
• Avalokiteśvara is the bodhisattva who has made a great vow
to assist sentient beings in times of difficulty and to postpone
his own buddhahood until he has assisted every sentient
being in achieving nirvana.
Avalokiteśvara is associated with Mahayana sutras (texts recording
teachings of Buddha) which include the following:
•
Lotus Sutra
•
Kāraṇḍavyūhasūtra
•
Heart Sutra (Heart Sūtra)
•
Nīlakaṇṭha Dhāraṇī Sutra
•
Eleven-Faced Avalokitesvara Heart Dharani Sutra
•
Cundī Dhāraṇī Sūtra
A total of 33 different manifestations of Avalokiteśvara are
described, including female manifestations, all to suit the minds of
various beings.
Avalokiteśvara