Buddhist Practices Flashcards
Why do Buddhists chant
It elevates their consciousness to a more spiritual state of mind
To learn and recall teachings of the Buddha
It is relaxing and helps with meditation
Remind them of the purpose of their practice
What are Malas
Prayer beads used to count the number of times a mantra is recited, breaths whilst meditating, or repetitions of a Buddha’s name
What is a mantra
A sequence of words or syllables that are chanted, usually repetitively, as a part of a Buddhist practice. Some do this in order to invoke spiritual states of mind
What is present at a Buddhist shrine
Water, flowers, incense, light, perfume, food, music
What is the Shakyamuni Mantra about
About paying homage to the Buddha
Asking the universe to bring out Buddha’s nature in you
What is the Medicine Buddha Mantra for
Assistance relieving pain and suffering
Releases all the darkness and pain that blocks the path to enlightenment
What is the Amitabha Mantra for
Overcoming obstacles that block the path to enlightenment
Vipassana meditation
- Means insight or clear seeing
- Closed eyes, focus on breathing, label objects as they arise and let them go, return awareness to breathing and the body
Samatha meditation
- Means calm-abiding mediation
- Focus on calming the mind
- Mindfulness of breathing leads to concentration
- Condition of insight and the development of liberating freedom
Zazen meditation
- Roots in Chinese Zen Buddhism
- Eyes open and face a blank wall
- About accepting the present moment and letting go of the past and future
What is a vihara
A Buddhist temple
What is a stupa
A mound-like structure containing relics that is used as a place of mediation
What possessions are a bhikkhu allowed
A bowl for donations, robe, belt, needle and thread, a razor, water filter
What are the five precepts of lay Buddhists
Refrain from killing
Refrain from stealing
Refrain from sexual misconduct
Refrain from harmful speech
Refrain from using harmful intoxicants
What are the 10 moral precepts of a monastic Buddhist
5 moral precepts +
Refrain from eating after noon
Refrain from listening to music or films
Refrain from listening to perfume
Refrain from sleeping on a luxurious bed
Refrain from handling money
What other rules do bhikkhus undertake
227 Patimokkha
-e.g not to tiptoe, not to sleep under any other roof other than the monastery, not to tickle people
Vassa (Rain Retreat)
- Theravada
- Three month annual retreat, July-October
- Lay Buddhists give up meat, alcohol, and smoking
- Monks use the time for intensive meditation
- Predates the Buddha
- Followed by lay giving gratitude to monks e.g new robes
Parinirvana Day
- Mahayana
- Celebrates the Buddha’s death- freedom from existence
- Died at 80 whilst meditating
- Passages from the Nirvana Sutra often read
- Meditation and visits to temples
- Social occasion
Theravada funerals
- little money spent
- family and friends donate to a worthy cause
- rituals transferring merit performed by mourners (giving robes to a monastery)
- shrine displaying the deceased’s portrait
- cremated or buried
- contemplate impermanence
- mourners use walking sticks to show how they need support
Tibetan funerals
- sky burial
- body placed in a box overnight near the main temple to be reborn as a human
- body carried up the mountain
- body chopped up and fed to vultures
- cremated after all flesh is eaten
- bones crushed up and thrown into the wind
Japanese funerals
- coffin placed with head facing west (towards Sukhavati)
- chanting Amitabha’s name whilst walking around the coffin
- body cremated and the bones are picked out from the ashes using special chopsticks
- bones placed in an urn, urn in the home then moved to family site
What does karma influence
The quality of their new life
What are the six perfections (Mahayana Buddhism)
Dana- generosity
Kanti- patience
Dhyana- concentration
Sila- morality
Virya- effort
Prajna- wisdom
