Buddhist rituals (video)

Doug Smith (Doug's Dharma); Ananda Pereira, Escape to Reality, Buddhist Publication Society Wheel No. 45/46); Ashley Wells, Amber Larson, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Not in mere rites and rituals, nor in much learning,

nor in gaining concentration, nor in withdrawn abiding,

nor in thinking, “I enjoy the bliss of renunciation

resorted to by the non-worldling,” should you,

O meditator, rest content, without accomplishing the

destruction of the defilements [annihilation of the

taints or tainted failures in living].

— Dhammapada

The Buddha is an icon of great reverence.

Those who have yet to understand the Buddha Dharma (the Doctrine or Teaching of the Awakened One) are sometimes misled by the “religious” practices of Buddhist worldlings.

For instance, the offering of flowers at Buddhist shrines, the recurrent “taking” of the Five Precepts by Buddhist laypeople, the chanting of protective chants (parittas or recited charms), and the salutation of monastics (monks and nuns), these and many other practices are pointed to as evidence of a highly ritualistic content in Buddhism.

This is due to lack of understanding. The historical Buddha said that, just as there is one taste that permeates the sea, the taste of salt, so there is one taste that permeates the entirety of the Teaching — the taste of liberation.

In the Dhammapada stanza quoted above, the Buddha has expressly pointed out that rites and rituals do not constitute the be-all and end-all of the path of purification and way of life taught by him.

The “taints” to be uprooted and destroyed are the four āsavas:

1. craving for sense pleasures
2. craving for endless rebirths
3. clinging to wrong views and
4. ignorance.

When these are destroyed, one wins freedom from the Round of Rebirth (samsara). On this path, when one attains the very first stage of enlightenment, one drops all faith in rites and rituals. So it will be seen that by no stretch of the imagination can Buddhism be called a religion that values ritual for its own sake.

But there's no doubt that for worldlings, those who have not yet attained the first stage of enlightenment, rites and rituals have value.

Religious rituals are a means to an end not an end in themselves. In times of distress, for example, they can serve as an anchor. In times of grief, they can be a powerful solace. In times of temptation, they can be a reminder that there are higher things in life than feeding physical appetites.

So a Buddhist might offer flowers at the foot of a sacred enlightenment (bodhi) tree or before a statue of the Buddha. While doing so one reflects on the perfections of the Awakened One. One also reflects on the impermanence of the fading flowers one offers. With such thoughts, one's mind/heart grows calm and steadfast.

One takes the Five Precepts recurrently, day after day, because one wishes to be reminded of these voluntary observances. One listens to and chants or recites parittas because they are the truth enshrined in the words of the Buddha. One salutes monastics because they and the saffron robe they wear represent the supreme way of life possible for a human being or deva. These are rituals.

But they are not meaningless rituals. They are very definitely a means to an end. Only a superficial and unthinking observer would see a person sharpening an axe and conclude that one does so because one believes there is some ultimate good in the process.

Of course, as with many other helpful things, rituals can assume an undue importance in foolish minds. This must be guarded against or else one will be mistaking the means for the end.

But as indicated by the Buddha, this observation applies not only to ritual but also to vast learning, the attainment of concentration (absorptions, jhanas, states of samadhi), the solitary life of wandering, and the bliss of renunciation (letting go). None of these is the end. All of these are like rafts that carry one across a dangerous river. They are like the bamboo reeds of a single raft. When the river is crossed, the raft is all left behind. More