practices

• visualisation is the act of imagining or seeing an object in ones mind
• after death, Japanese buddhists traditionally have the family pick out the bones from the ashes
• how is weak celebratd?

  • lighting up homes with candles, lamps and paper lanterns
  • make offerings to the buddha
  • give food to monks in the local monastery
  • chant from buddhist scriptures
  • sermons about the buddhas teachings
• what does parinirvana day celebrate?


  the buddhas passing into ultimate nirvana / parinirvana
• what does wesak celebrate?

  the buddhas birth, death and enlightenment
• what would occur in a japanese funeral?

  • coffin placed with head pointing west
• what would occur in a Tibetan funeral?


  sky ritual, body is placed on a high point and left to the vultures as a gift.

  prayers and offerings of yak butter lamps every 7 days for 49 days after the death
• what are the two aims of meditation?

  to develop a still, calm and focused mind

  to develop a greater awareness and understanding of the buddhas teachings in order to gain a deeper insight into the nature of reality
• how is parinirvana celebrated?

  some will organise retreats

  day of pilgrimage, people may go to the place where the buddha is believed to have died
• samatha meditation is calming meditation, it involves calming the mid and developing a deeper concentration

  may focus on the kasinas - earth, water, wind, blue , yellow, red, white , space and consciousness
• vipassana meditations is insight meditations

  involved reflecting o the three marks of existence. helps a buddhist to understand how everything is characterised by the three marks of existence
• what is a shrine ?

  provides a focal point for meditation
• what will a shrine have on it?

  • light - represents how light drives away the darkness of ignorance
  • flowers - represent impermanence
  • incense - represent purity
• what are the traditions of a Theravada funeral?

  very little money is spent, family and friends may donate to a worthy cause to transfer good karma to the deceased and give them a more favourable rebirth
• what is an arhat?


  someone close to enlightenment
• what is a bhodhisattva?


  someone who is enlightened but stays in the cycle of samsara to save others