Buddhists follow a number of daily practices in their various traditions, but there remains a core of shared concerns and aspirations, most notably liberation from the pain of samsara by achieving eternity in Nirvana. High on the list of trademark Buddhist rituals and disciplines are meditation and a series of colorful festivals, centered on the temple, that celebrate the wisdom of Buddha.
The most important of the shared Buddhist festivals is Wesak/Vesak/Vaisakha, marked each year in May and often referred to as Buddha’s birthday. It recalls not only his birth but also his life and his enlightenment. On that day, Buddhists go to their temples, carrying flowers. There they pray, meditate and light candles and joss sticks. Some take part in a ceremony in which a statue of a baby Buddha is washed. Those who participate are purified of their own bad karma.
Other significant dates in the Buddhist calendar are Dharma Day, when believers give thanks for the wisdom of Buddha and all the enlightened teachers, or bodhisattvas, who have followed in his wake. Theravada Buddhists place particular emphasis on the festival of Kathina, which recalls Buddha’s alms-giving. In Tibetan Buddhism, the great festival is Losar, or New Year, while in some traditions Parinirvana—also known as Nirvana Day—marks Buddha’s death and is an occasion for reflecting on the cycle of life, death and rebirth.
Nirvana—or Nibbana in the original Pali dialect version of the Buddhist scriptures—is not a concept unique to Buddhism. The Buddha described it as “the highest happiness.” It is not essentially a place but a state of being, free from craving, anger and greed and awash in peace and compassion. Those who attain Nirvana are freed from samsara, they have no new karma and they stay in this ideal state for eternity. Buddhism resists descriptions of Nirvana. Buddha said it was simply “consciousness without feature, without end, luminous all around.”
Buddhist rituals can be performed alone, at home, or in a monastery or temple. All have equal status. However, the temples have both a communal and a symbolic role in Buddhism. Their design has to incorporate five elements—fire, air, earth, water and wisdom. Earth is usually represented by a square base and wisdom by a pinnacle at the top of the building.
Traditionally worship takes place sitting barefoot on the floor, facing an image of Buddha and chanting. There may also be monks chanting from the scriptures, and occasionally music. The mantra—a word or phrase repeated over and over again—is another feature of worship. It is believed to influence the individual’s spiritual state and his capacity to focus on his inner life. Sometimes mantras are printed on flags decorating the temple. Buddhists also use prayer beads as they chant.
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts.”
Dhammapada (Buddhist scripture)
Meditation Buddhists insist that meditation be undertaken with both body and mind, so as to avoid “duality.” By meditating, they seek to turn away from the world, its activities and its concerns, and connect with an inner life of thoughts, feelings and perceptions. Meditation is regarded as the means of accessing key mental states such as calm, concentration and one-pointedness. This last state is made up of six distinct forces: hearing, pondering, mindfulness, awareness, effort and intimacy.
Posture is also important in meditating successfully in all forms of Buddhism, but in Zen it receives particular emphasis. A key Zen practice is Zazen. This involves sitting in one of several recommended positions to meditate. The classic position is the Lotus, in which the individual sits cross-legged with the left foot on top of the right thigh and the right foot on top of the left thigh.
Bhavachakra One of the most common images in Buddhism is the Bhavachakra, or wheel of life. This is a mandala, the sort of complex diagram with spiritual and ritual significance found originally in Hinduism but taken up by Buddhists, particularly in the Tibetan tradition, where it is made from colored sand to highlight the transitory nature of life.
The Bhavachakra attempts to sum up the Buddhist vision of the universe and the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. It is usually divided into five or six realms. These are: the realm of the gods (itself then often subdivided into as many as 26 levels), where the gods live long lives in pleasant surroundings but still struggle toward final enlightenment and Nirvana; the realm of humans; the realm of the hungry ghosts, occupied by those who are preoccupied with worldly goods but who are also disappointed, and sometimes symbolized by figures with huge bellies but small mouths, craving food but unable to eat enough to be full; the realm of animals—which are not capable of enlightenment, but which should be treated with kindness; and finally the realm of hell, a place of torture but a transitory state.
The ethical life Buddhists are expected to take full personal responsibility for everything they do and for the consequences that follow from their actions. In living an ethical life, they take several distinctive stances. One of these is the belief that it is wrong to hurt or kill animals, because humans and animals are seen as very closely connected, not least by samsara, in which individuals may be reborn in the realm of animals.
“All living things fear being beaten with clubs. All living things fear being put to death. Putting oneself in the place of the other, Let no one kill nor cause another to kill.”
Dhammapada (Buddhist scripture)
Buddhists also preach and practice non-violence. “Even if thieves carve you limb from limb with a double-handed saw,” warned Buddha, “if you make your mind hostile you are not following my teaching.” Many Buddhists are therefore pacificists. Monks are permitted to defend themselves, but may not kill another, even in self-defense. Buddhist monks, however, have been pioneers in the martial arts. The Shaolin order of monks, famed for its fighting prowess, is perhaps the best known.
Shaolin monks and kung fu
The Shaolin order is a Buddhist sect founded in the fifth century CE and based at the Zen temple in Dengfeng in China. It is best known in the West for its role in developing the martial art of kung fu. The temple has had a checkered past, having been attacked, destroyed and rebuilt many times. It was this history of aggression against it that prompted the monks to learn kung fu so as to defend themselves. However, Shaolin teaching forbids any monk from ever being the aggressor, and enjoins them to use the minimum force necessary for self-defense.
the condensed idea
Nirvana is a state of being
| timeline | |
|---|---|
| Early February | Nirvana Day |
| Late February | Losar |
| April | Theravada New Year |
| May | Wesak (“Buddha Day”) |
| December | Bodhi Day |