Buddhism: Methods of Worship (AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062))

How Buddhists Worship (Puja)

The Purpose of Worship

• Worship (puja) is carried out at home and in the temple

• Worship has several purposes for Buddhists:

  • It allows Buddhists to express their gratitude and respect for the Buddha and his teachings

  • It helps them to get closer to the Buddha and what he symbolises

  • It also helps to deepen their understanding of the Buddha's teachings (Dhamma)

Types of Buddhist worship

Buddhist chanting

• Before printing or computers were invented, people shared information by learning it and passing it on orally

• This is where chanting comes from

• Monks used chanting to memorise and pass on Buddhist teachings and holy texts

• Today chanting is still used

• Buddhists recite sacred texts to pass on what the Buddha taught:

  • Examples are The Five Moral Precepts, The Three Refuges and the Bodhisattvas vows

  • Chanting has an extra purpose: it can calm the mind and help the Buddhist to concentrate so they can learn the teachings more easily

Mantras

• A mantra is a sequence of sacred syllables that is usually chanted over and over

• Sometimes mantras are spoken, or they might be experienced silently in the mind

• They help to concentrate the mind, therefore they can be used in meditation

• Some Buddhists believe that mantras have magical powers:

  • They are often connected to the spiritual qualities of a Buddha or Bodhisattva

  • One common mantra used by Tibetan Buddhists is om mani padme hum.

    • Chanting this helps Buddhists connect with the Bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara.

    • They hope it will help them to show the quality of compassion in their lives

• Because Buddhists chant mantras hundreds or even thousands of times, they can use a mala (a string of prayer beads) to count the number of recitations:

  • Buddhists might carry the mala with them throughout their daily life to help them to meditate and focus wherever they are

Malal - String of prayer beads

_{Beelerb, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons}

Buddhists would use a mala to help them count how many times they recite a mantra. A mala usually has 108 beads

Samatha (Concentration &Tranquility) Meditation

The practice of meditation

• Meditation is an important form of Buddhist worship

• Many Buddhists will meditate daily

• There are two main aims of meditation:

  • Through meditation, a Buddhist can calm their mind and make it still

  • Meditation helps Buddhists to develop a greater insight into the Buddha’s teachings and understand more about the nature of existence

• There are a range of meditation techniques in Buddhism

• They help to develop samatha (calm) and vipassana (insight)

• Buddhists may use different objects as a focus to help them with meditation, or processes such as breathing

Samatha Meditation

• Samatha means “calming”

• Samatha meditation is a type of meditation that involves calming the mind and developing deeper concentration

• It is often associated with breathing techniques, via a technique called mindfulness of breathing

Mindfulness of breathing

• In Samatha meditation the person pays attention to their breathing:

  • They focus on the sensation of breathing and how the body responds to each breath

  • When they become distracted and their mind wanders, they simply return their attention to their breathing

Using kasinas in samatha meditation

• A kasina is an object that someone can focus on in great detail to help them to concentrate

• The Buddha mentioned ten kasinas:

  • They are earth, water, fire, wind, blue, yellow, red, white, space and consciousness

  • If a Buddhist wants to meditate using a kasina, they just place the object in front of them and concentrate on it

  • It gives them something other than breathing to focus their attention on

Kasinas are objects that Buddhists use to help them focus in samatha meditation. They include the colours red and blue, and the element of water

The Purpose of Samatha Meditation

• The purpose of samatha meditation is to develop a calm and concentrated mind

• Therefore samatha meditation is important in Theravada Buddhism as a preparation for vipassana meditation

Vipassana (Insight) Meditation

Vipassana Meditation

• Vipassana meditation is also called insight meditation

• It involves developing a deeper insight into the nature of reality

• This is the second main type of meditation in Theravada Buddhism

• It is similar to samatha meditation because in both the meditator uses the technique of mindfulness to help them concentrate and focus on specific things

The Differences Between Samatha and Vipassana Meditation

The Aim of Vipassana Meditation

• Vipassana meditation has three main aims:

  • To understand how all things are characterised by The three marks of existence

  • To develop greater wisdom and insight

  • Ultimately to achieve enlightenment

Zazen Meditation

• Zazen is a Japanese word that literally means “seated”

• In Zazen meditation the person will sit, relax and spend a period in mindful breathing

• They will think about the present moment and become aware of their time now

• The aim is similar to Vipassana: to develop a deeper understanding of the nature of existence

• Zazen meditation is practiced in Zen Buddhism, so it is a form of Mahayana Buddhism

Walking Meditation

• Although most people practice meditation by sitting cross-legged on the floor, they can also use mindfulness techniques while walking

• The person would walking slowly and combine the rhythm of their steps with their breaths in and out

• Walking meditation can be used as part of either samatha or vipassana meditation

The Visualisation of Buddhas & Bodhisattvas

What is Visualisation?

• Visualisation is a when a meditator visualises or imagines an object in their mind

• They may look at an object first and then put it out of sight

• They will then look at the object in their mind in as much detail as possible:

  • The object is therefore a focus for concentration

  • It may also connect with some spiritual qualities

Deity Visualisation

• Tibetan Buddhists may use deity visualisation when they meditate

• They will visualise a deity (a being who has achieved enlightenment such as a Buddha or a Bodhisattvas, not a god)

• They will focus not just on what the deity looks like, but also its spiritual qualities

• They may imagine themselves as that deity to help awaken their own Buddha-nature

Examples of Buddhas or Boddhisattvas Used in Deity Visualisation

• The Medicine Buddha:

  • The Medicine Buddha is related to healing

  • Buddhists believe that visualising the Medicine Buddha will heal them and reduce their suffering, and even increase their own healing powers

_{Art Institute of Chicago, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons}

An thangka of the Medicine Buddha, the Buddha of healing, which Buddhists may use in visualisation meditation to help reduce their suffering

• Avalokiteshvara:

  • This is the Boddhisattva of compassion

  • Visualisation of this Boddhisattva may help Buddhists to develop a sense of compassion

• Buddha Amitabha:

  • This Buddha offers his worshippers rebirth into a paradise

  • Pure Land Buddhists might visualise Buddha Amitabha to help them be reborn in the Pure Land

Using Thangkas or Mandalas

• Buddhists might use a thangka or a mandala to help them to visualise a deity:

  • A thangka is a detailed painting of a Buddha or a Boddhisattva

  • A mandala is an intricate, colourful, circle-shaped pattern that often contains symbols representing the Buddha, Buddhist teachings and the universe or a pure land or paradise

• In Tibetan monasteries, monks create mandalas out of coloured sand:

  • When they finish their detailed mandalas they always brush them away to symbolise Anicca (impermanence)

_{John Hill, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons}

Buddhist monks create coloured sand mandalas