Buddhist Ceremonies and Rituals of Sri Lanka. All PTS editions. A. Digha Nikaya Atthakatha. J. Khuddakapatha Atthakatha. Mhv. Petavatthu Atthakatha.
S. Samyutta Nikaya. The theme of this study, Buddhist ceremonies and rituals, may not appeal to the self- styled Buddhist purist who wishes to restrict the designation . The fact remains, however, that the practices and observances to be described here justly claim an integral place within the stream of living Buddhism as practiced by its adherents. Because these practices form an intimate part of the religious life for the vast majority of devout Buddhist followers, they cannot be lightly dismissed as mere secondary appendages of a . In the case of Buddhism this has happened in every country to which it spread, and Sri Lanka is no exception. The core doctrines of Buddhism, such as the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, dependent arising, etc., often proved too abstruse and elevated for the ordinary populace to apply to their own religious lives. To satisfy their devotional and emotional needs, they required a system of outward acts, communally shared, by which they could express their devotion to the ideals represented by the Dhamma and absorb these ideals into the texture of their daily experience. Though the study focuses on Buddhism as practiced in Sri Lanka, the same basic round of rituals and ceremonies, with minor variations, can be found in the other countries following Theravada Buddhism, such as Burma and Thailand. I also hope that this survey will demonstrate that the expression of Buddhist piety in devotional forms is a necessity if Buddhism is to survive at the popular level as a vital and vibrant force in the daily life of its adherents. Thus the votaries of a . Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, is in Southern Asia. It is an island country in the Indian Ocean, south of India. The history of the Tamil people. The Tamils are an ancient people. Their history had its beginnings in the rich alluvial plains near the. ![]() Rather, they should come to recognize the devotional manifestation of Buddhism as an essential feature of the tradition, needed to mediate between its exalted ideals and the everyday concerns of the vast majority of its followers. A. G. S. Kariyawasam. Sri Lanka is generally regarded as the home of the pure Theravada form of Buddhism, which is based on the Pali canon. This school of Buddhism emphasizes the Four Noble Truths as the framework of Buddhist doctrine and the Noble Eightfold Path as the direct route to Nibbana, the final goal of the Teaching. However, side by side with this austere, intellectually sophisticated Buddhism of the texts, we find in Sri Lanka a warm current of devotional Buddhism practiced by the general Buddhist populace, who may have only a hazy idea of the Buddhist doctrine. Thus in practical life the gap between the . Devotion being the intimate inner side of religious worship, it must have had a place in early Buddhism. For Buddhism, devotion does not mean submitting oneself to the will of a God or taking refuge in an external Saviour, but an ardent feeling of love and affection (pema) directed towards the Teacher who shows the way to freedom from suffering. Such an attitude inspires the devotee to follow the Master's teaching faithfully and earnestly through all the hurdles that lie along the way to Nibbana. The Buddha often stressed the importance of saddha, faith or confidence in him as the Perfect Teacher and in his Teaching as the vehicle to liberation from the cycle of rebirth. Unshakeable confidence (aveccappasada) in the Triple Gem — the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha — is a mark of the noble disciple, while the Buddha once stated that those who have sufficient confidence in him, sufficient affection for him (saddhamatta, pemamatta) are bound for heaven. Many verses of the Theragatha and Therigatha, poems of the ancient monks and nuns, convey feelings of deep devotion and a high level of emotional elation. Although the canonical texts do not indicate that this devotional sensibility had yet come to expression in fully formed rituals, it seems plausible that simple ritualistic observances giving vent to feelings of devotion had already begun to take shape even during the Buddha's lifetime. Certainly they would have done so shortly after the Parinibbana, as is amply demonstrated by the funeral rites themselves, according to the testimony of the Maha- parinibbana Sutta. The Buddha also encouraged a devotional attitude when he recommended pilgrimages to the four places that can inspire a faithful devotee: the places where he was born, attained Enlightenment, preached the first sermon, and attained Parinibbana (D. The Buddha did discourage the wrong kind of emotional attachment to himself, as evidenced by the case of Vakkali Thera, who was reprimanded for his obsession with the beauty of the Buddha's physical presence: his was a case of misplaced devotion (S. Ritualistic observances also pose a danger that they might be misapprehended as ends in themselves instead of being employed as means for channelling the devotional emotions into the correct path. It is when they are wrongly practiced that they become impediments rather than aids to the spiritual life. It is to warn against this that the Buddha has categorized them, under the term silabbata- paramasa, as one of the ten fetters (samyojana) and one of the four types of clinging (upadana). Correctly observed, as means and not as ends, ritualistic practices can serve to generate wholesome states of mind, while certain other rituals collectively performed can serve as a means of strengthening the social solidarity among those who share the same spiritual ideals. Thus ceremonies and rituals, as external acts which complement inward contemplative exercises, cannot be called alien to or incompatible with canonical Buddhism. To the contrary, they are an integral part of the living tradition of all schools of Buddhism, including the Theravada. A ritual may be defined here as an outward act performed regularly and consistently in a context that confers upon it a religious significance not immediately evident in the act itself. A composite unity consisting of a number of subordinate ritualistic acts may be called a ceremony. Such observances have become inseparable from all organized religions. And owing to the fear, awe, and respect that characterize man's religious psychology, such acts assume a solemnity and a sanctity of their own. Ritual acts undertaken and performed by the Buddhists of Sri Lanka may be broadly classified under three heads: (i) Acts performed for the acquisition of merit (e. Buddha) calculated to provide a basis for achieving Nibbana, release from the cycle of becoming (samsara); such acts of merit are, at the same time, expected to offer semi- temporal rewards of comfort and happiness here and in the heavenly worlds in future lives. These supplementary forms of religious activity have arisen out of a natural need to augment the more austere way followed by the world- renouncing disciples.(ii) Acts directed towards securing worldly prosperity and averting calamities through disease and unseen forces of evil, e. Those rituals that have been adopted from folk religion. Hence these are mainly semi- religious in character like the tovil ceremonies. They derive their power and authority primarily through the superhuman power of the Buddha and also through the hosts of spirits, who are, as it were, commanded by invoking the power of the Buddha or of the Three Refuges — the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha — as a whole. Almost all the religious activities that have a ceremonial and a ritualistic significance are regarded as acts for the acquisition of merit (Sinh.: pinkama, from Pali: punnakamma, Sanskrit: punyakarma). In this sense, all the religious activities of lay Buddhism can be explained as being oriented towards that end. Accordingly, the first two types of rituals basically have a merit- generating character and thereby receive religious sanction. For instance, the idea of acquisition of merit through a religious act and its transference to the deities and soliciting their help has the scriptural sanction of the Maha- parinibbana Sutta itself (D. Here the Buddha says that wise men, when residing in a particular area, first offer alms to religious recluses and then transfer the merits to the deities of the area, who help them in return. This seems to indicate the early beginning of adoring vatthu- devata or local deities in Buddhism. Merit (Pali: punna: Sinh.: pin) earned by the performance of a wholesome act is regarded as a sure way of obtaining a better life in the future. The performance of these is also a means of expiation in the sense that the meritorious deeds have the effect of countering and hindering the operation of unwholesome kamma previously acquired and inherited. Thus the range of merit is very wide. For the ordinary householder, Nibbana is a goal to be achieved through a gradual process of evolution extending over many lives, and therefore until he achieves that sublime state at some future date he continues to perform these acts in order to lead a happy life. All merit- generating rituals are performed mainly with this end in view. Initiation. Buddhism lacks any ceremony or ritual of initiation or admission like the upanayana in Hinduism or baptism in Christianity. The traditional method of becoming a Buddhist is to repeat the formula of the Three Refuges (tisarana) and the Five Precepts (pa. The formula of refuge is as follows: Buddham saranam gacchami. I go to the Buddha as my refuge. Next, the convert repeats in the following manner the Five Precepts which are meant to regulate his moral life. Panatipata veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami. I undertake the precept to abstain from destroying life. Adinnadana veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami. I undertake the precept to abstain from taking things not given.(3) Kamesu micchacara veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami. I undertake the precept to abstain from sexual misconduct.(4) Musavada veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami. I undertake the precept to abstain from false speech.(5) Suramerayamajjapamadatthana veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami.
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