buddhist practises

• Shrine


  A place regarded as holy as it is linked to a holy person or object
• Samatha


  A form of meditation that aims to develop calmness
• Puja


  Buddhist word for "worship" or "devotional ritual"
• The Book of the Dead

  A Tibetan Buddhist text which guides a person through the process of death and rebirth
• Wesak


  Theravada festival that celebrates the Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and death
• Vihara


  A Theravada temple-monastery
• Vipassana


  Insight meditation
• Triratna


  Buddhist term for the Three Jewels
• Sky burial


  A funeral practice where a dead body is eaten by birds
• Parinirvana Day


  Mahayana festival that commemorates the Buddha's death and parinirvana
• Offering


  Something given (e.g. to a god or a religious figure) as part of worship
• Metta-bhavana


  Meditation focused on developing loving kindness
• Mantra


  A sacred sound or phrase which is repeated over and over again as a form of meditation
• Alms-giving


  Giving food, clothing, or other items to monks
• Kathina


  A Theravada festival which comes at the end of Vassa (an annual period of retreat)
• Shrines


  • Found in temples and homes
  • Usually set up on a table
  • A statue of the Buddha, and/or bodhisattva
  • Buddhist scriptures
  • Offerings
• Offerings and what they symbolise

  • Flowers: anicca
  • Candles: enlightenment
  • Water: purity and calm
  • Fruit: karma
  • Incense: the dharma
• Theravada temples


  • Shrine room
  • Accommodation for monks and/or nuns
  • Stupa monument
  • Bodhi tree
  • Ordination hall
  • Place for children to learn about Buddhism
• Mahayana temples (Japan)


  • Hondo (hall containing sacred objects)
  • Kodo: lecture hall
  • Pagoda monument
  • Bonsho: bell used to summon priests to pray
  • Accommodation for priests and their families
• Samatha meditation


  • Focuses on 1 thing eg breath
  • Over time, concentration gradually improves
  • Often used to prepare for other forms of meditation
  • Focusing on one thing keeps out harmful mental states
• Metta-bhavana meditation


  • Involves directing metta towards different people
  • Done in stages, starting with metta to yourself, working up to all beings
  • Can be supported by silently saying e.g. "may you be free from suffering"
  • Aim is to cultivate an attitude of metta
• Vipassana meditation


  • Meditator focuses on their breath
  • They silently label activities they notice (e.g. "in" and "out" as they breathe)
  • Distracting thoughts are labelled (e.g. "anger") and observed, until they cease
  • Attention is returned to the breath
  • Believed to lead to great insights into reality, and ultimately to nirvana
• Buddhas and bodhisattvas


  • The Buddha or a bodhisattva may be used as a focus for meditation
  • May done by using a statue or by visualisation
  • Allows the meditator to focus on the Buddha's qualities, e.g. wisdom
  • Believed that this can help the meditator develop these qualities
• Chanting


  • Repeating word or phrases rhythmically
  • Eg Buddhist texts or teachings
  • Calms the mind
  • Helps remember teachings
  • Creates Awareness
  • Not prayer – aims for internal transformation
• Mantras


  • Deeper meaning of word / phrase unlocked by repetition
  • A simple, powerful practice
  • Can create good karma
  • Can purify the mind
  • A way off calling upon the help of a bodhisattva
  • Avalokiteshvara mantra said to contain essence of the whole dharma. Chanting it can lead to enlightenment
• Malas


  • Buddhist prayer beads
  • Used as an aid to worship
  • Used to count chants / mantras to aid focus
  • Often worn by Buddhists as a symbol of identity
• Mudras


  • Symbolic hand gestures
  • Often seen on Buddhist statues
  • Used to aid to worship / meditation
  • Represent particular mental states
  • Adopting a mudra helps connect to that mental state
• Buddhist traditions


  • Sri Lanka: Theravada
  • Japan: Mahayana (Pure Land)
  • Tibet: Mahayana
• Theravada festivals


  • Wesak
  • Kathina
  • Parinirvana Day
• Wesak celebrations


  • Displaying lights to symbolise enlightenment
  • Giving offerings at temples and shrines
  • Giving alms to support monks
  • Releasing captive animals to symbolise the liberation of nirvana
  • Lay Buddhists may follow the five additional precepts expected of monks
• Parinirvana Day celebrations


  • Giving gifts to monks and/or the poor
  • Reading the Parinirvana Sutra or hearing it recited in a temple
  • Preparing and sharing food
  • Praying for loved ones who have died recently
  • Some Buddhists take a pilgrimage to Kushinagar, where the Buddha died
• Kathina celebrations


  • A time for monks and lay Buddhists to come together again after the Vassa retreat
  • Lay Buddhists may prepare a meal for the monks
  • Lay Buddhists present the monks with gifts and, most importantly, cloth
  • The monks cut the cloth and make new robes, giving it to monks who most need them
  • In Myanmar, colourful "donation trees" made and taken to the monastery