Buddhist Practices

• Main places of Buddhist worship

  • Temples
  • Shrines
  • Monasteries
• Buddhist Temples


  • Main hall for practice
  • Shrine dedicated to the Buddha
  • Meditation hall
  • Study hall
• Stupa


  A dome-shaped building or tiered tower, sometimes containing holy Relics
• Buddhist Shrines


  Focal point for Buddhists to meditate or practise
• Offerings at a shrine

  • To pay respect to the Buddha and show gratitude for his teachings
  • To remind them of what the Buddha taught
• Offerings at a shrine

  • Candle
  • Flowers
  • Incense
• Buddhist Monasteries


  • Where a community of monks or nuns live, eat, sleep and worship
  • Monks and nuns live a very simple and disciplined life
• Puja


  Buddhist worship
• Purpose of Worship

  • Express gratitude and respect for the Buddha and his teachings
  • Get closer to the Buddha and what he symbolises
  • Deepen understanding of the Buddha's teachings
• Buddhist Chanting

  • Reciting sacred texts to pass on what the Buddha taught
  • Helps calm the mind and concentrate to learn the teachings
• Mantras

  Sequence of sacred syllables chanted to concentrate the mind and connect with spiritual qualities
• Common mantra for compassion


  • Om mani padme hum
• Mala

  String of prayer beads used to count mantra recitations
• Samatha Meditation

  Calming the mind and developing deeper concentration
• Mindfulness of Breathing

  Paying attention to the sensation of breathing
• Kasinas

  Objects focused on in detail to help concentrate
• Purpose of Samatha Meditation

  Develop a calm and concentrated mind
• Vipassana Meditation

  Developing deeper insight into the nature of reality
• Samatha vs Vipassana Meditation

  Samatha focuses on one object/process, Vipassana changes focus to whatever is capturing attention
• Aims of Vipassana Meditation

  • Understand the three marks of existence
  • Develop greater wisdom and insight
  • Achieve enlightenment
• Zazen Meditation

  Sitting, relaxing and being mindful of the present moment to develop understanding of the nature of existence
• Walking Meditation

  Combining mindfulness with the rhythm of walking
• Visualisation

  Imagining an object in detail as a focus for concentration and spiritual connection
• Deity Visualisation

  Visualising a Buddha or Bodhisattva to connect with their spiritual qualities
• Zazen meditation

  A form of Mahayana Buddhism practiced in Zen Buddhism
• Walking Meditation

  1. Walking slowly and combining the rhythm of steps with breaths in and out

  2. Can be used as part of either samatha or vipassana meditation
• Deity Visualisation

  • Tibetan Buddhists may visualise a deity (a being who has achieved enlightenment such as a Buddha or a Bodhisattva)
  • Focus on the deity's spiritual qualities
  • May imagine themselves as the deity to help awaken their own Buddha-nature
• Buddhas or Bodhisattvas used in Deity Visualisation

  • The Medicine Buddha
  • Avalokiteshvara
  • Buddha Amitabha
• Thangka

  A detailed painting of a Buddha or a Bodhisattva
• Mandala

  An intricate, colourful, circle-shaped pattern that often contains symbols representing the Buddha, Buddhist teachings and the universe or a pure land or paradise
• Buddhists believe that when a Buddhist dies, their kammic energy leaves their body and is reborn in a new one
• Theravada Funerals

  • Family and friends may donate to a worthy cause and transfer the merit to the deceased
  • A shrine may display a portrait of the deceased person with offerings to the Buddha
  • Monks often attend and perform Buddhist rites before the casket is sealed
  • The deceased may be cremated or buried, although cremation is traditional and more common
• Tibetan Buddhist Funerals

  • Traditional practice of sky burial where the body is left in a high place as a gift to the vultures
  • Now more common to burn the body
  • Revered teachers have always been cremated and their remains placed in a Stupa
• Japanese Pure Land Buddhist Funerals

  • The coffin may be placed with the head pointing west
  • People chant the name of Amitabha Buddha as they process around the coffin
  • Relations gather after cremation to pick out the bones from the ashes using chopsticks
• Wesak

  • Also known as Vesak or Buddha Day
  • Commemorates three major events in the Buddha's life: his birth, his enlightenment and his death
  • Celebrated by decorating and lighting up homes, making offerings to the Buddha and monks, and participating in worship and meditation at the local temple or monastery
• Parinirvana Day

  • Commemorates the Buddha's passing into parinirvana, the final state of Nibbana
  • A more solemn occasion than Wesak
  • Buddhists reflect on their own future death, remember friends or relatives who have passed away, and focus on the Buddhist idea of Anicca (all things are impermanent)
• Buddhist Retreats

  Times spent away from normal life to practise the faith, especially at times such as Parinirvana Day