buddhist practices

Question 1

places of worship

Answer 1

Buddhists can worship at home or in a communal space such as a temple

Question 2

the temple

Answer 2

• A main hall where Buddhists practice together. This will include a statue or statues of the Buddha
• A meditation hall, only for meditation (this is called a gompa in Tibetan Buddhism)
• A study hall for meetings or lectures
• A shrine (Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism) dedicated to the Buddha
• A pogoda or stupa, which is a tiered tower or mound like structure used to contain holy relics

Question 3

shrines

Answer 3

offerings:
- lit candles show wisdom, driving away the ignorance darkness
- flowers show impermanence when they die
- incense shows purity

• focus of the shrine is the Buddha rupa
• can be at home or in a temple
• “The time and effort required to keep the shrine clean… is a skilful activity” tibetan buddhist monk

Question 4

Monastaries (Viharas)

Answer 4

• A building where a community of monks or nuns live to spend their lives dedicated to their spiritual practice, where they live a simple lifestyle.
• A stupa is really important because it contains relics to symbolise where Buddha was cremated and his ashes were left to rest after his death

Question 5

why buddhists worship

Answer 5

• Express gratitude and respect for Buddha and show how important he is in their lives
• Focus on their faith by developing their understanding of Buddha’s teachings
• Remind themselves of the nature of existence (way of life), leading to the wisdom and compassion of enlightenment

Question 6

buddhist worship: chanting

Answer 6

• Before written texts, Buddhists memorised the teachings and passed them on by word of mouth
• Today, Buddhists still chant sacred texts like the 5 moral precepts

Question 7

buddhist worship: receiting mantras

Answer 7

• a sequence of sacred syllables that is usually chanted over and over
• sometimes spoken sometimes thought
• used to focus the mind
• “om mani padme hum”
• often use a mala (string of prayer beads, usually with 108 beads) in order to count the number of recitations

Question 8

Samatha Meditation (theravada)

Answer 8

• calming meditation that develops deeper concentration
• person focuses on either their breathing or on one object
• done in preparation of vipassana meditation
• “Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness” vietnamese buddhist monk Nhat Hanh

Question 9

Vipassana meditation (theravada)

Answer 9

• people try to gain insight into the true nature of reality – to see things as they really are
• do this by thinking about the 3 marks of existence
• person focuses on breathing, but doesn’t focus on one single object, instead focuses on everything including personal things

Question 10

Learning scripture by heart (tibetan)

Answer 10

Split into two stages:
1. Analytic stage: think carefully about the meaning of the text
2. Concentrative: aim to fully understand the meaning of the text

Question 11

Metta Bhavana (all buddhists)

Answer 11

• aims is to develop a sense of compassion towards oneself and then to others and to let go of bad feelings
• and to create a loving sense of calmness and positivity

Question 12

meditation: purpose

Answer 12

• Develop a calm, still and focused mind
• Develop a greater understanding of the Buddha’s teachings in order to gain a better insight into the true nature of reality
• “Even the gods envy those awakened and mindful” the buddha

Question 13

Zazen Meditation

Answer 13

• practiced in zen buddhism
• zazen means seated meditation
• leads the meditator to a deeper understanding of the nature of existence
• person focuses their awareness on the present moment and when they start to stray, they come back

Question 14

visualisation

Answer 14

• Buddhists will try to imagine an object as fully as they can, imagining and examining all of the qualities and characteristics of the object
• They will try to hold the image in their mind for as long as possible

Question 15

deity visualisation

Answer 15

• Tibetan Buddhists will visualise a ‘deity’ when they meditate
• Deities are not gods but a being who has become fully enlightened, such as a Buddha or Bodhisattva
• they visualise both physical qualities and the characteristics of the deity
• they imagine who they want to be to become it
• some mahayana buddhists visualise themselves as they Buddha to awaken their buddha nature

Question 16

using Thangkas

Answer 16

a detailed painting of a Buddha or Bodhisattva

Question 17

using mandalas

Answer 17

Mandala: an intricate, circle shaped pattern
that is used for meditation by visualising the small details or making it and then destroying it to show impermanence (tibetan buddhism)

Question 18

Buddhist beliefs about death

Answer 18

• When a Buddhist dies, their kammic energy leaves their body and is reborn in a new one
• Death is not the end, but a transition from one form to another
• While Buddhists will naturally grieve the loss of people they loved, they think about Buddha’s teachings on impermanence being a natural part of life
• Funerals are a reminder of impermanence

Question 19

theravada funerals

Answer 19

• Very little money is spent on funerals, family and friends may donate the money to a charity to transfer good kamma
• offering new cloth to make new robes to a senior monk of a nearby monastery on behalf of the deceased person also transfers good kamma
• A shrine can be set up to display the deceased portrait, along with offerings to the Buddha next to a photo of him

Question 20

tibetan funerals

Answer 20

• sky burials, where the body is fed to vultures to transfer good kamma by becoming useful to nature
• more often now that bodies are cremated and yak butter lamps are brought every 7 days for 49 days and prayers are said

Question 21

wesak

Answer 21

• is celebrated on the full moon usually in may
• commemorates three major events in the Buddha’s life: his birth, his enlightenment and his passing into paranirvana
• a festival of honour to remember his teachings

1. Buddhists light up their homes with candles, lamps or paper lanterns and put up decorations
2. They make offerings to the Buddha, and may give gifts such as food, candles and flowers to the monks in the local monastery
3. the monks may lead some meditation or chant from Buddhist scriptures

Question 22

Paranirvana Day

Answer 22

• mahayana festival during feburary that celebrates his passing to paranirvana
• a more solemn occasion that allows buddhists to reflect on their future death and other past or future deaths

Question 23

kamma

Answer 23

• a principle that explains how the ethical impulses behind a person’s actions lead in the direction of either suffering or happiness based off of their skillful or unskillful actions
• consequences of peoples actions can be seen in different ways, developing bad habits and quality of rebirth

developing bad habits: it someone regularly does an unskillful action it becomes a habit and negatively affects those around them

quality of rebirth: good or bad kamma is transferred during rebirth into one of the 6 realms

Question 24

rebirth (6 realms)

Answer 24

you are reborn after you die into one of the 6 realms:

1. realm of the gods
2. realm of the angry gods
3. realm of the animals
4. realm of the tormented beings
5. realm of hungry ghosts
6. human realm

Question 25

buddhist ethics: eightfold path

Answer 25

• ‘Right action’ is one of the spokes of the eightfold path, so acting morally, ethically and skilfully is important for Buddhists – to reduce suffering and to reach enlightenment
• The concept of kamma is central to Buddhist ethics – the whole community benefits from skilful actions through the idea of dependant arising

Question 26

karuna

Answer 26

• compassion, feeling concerned for the suffering of other people and wanting to relieve their suffering
• also means recognising when you are suffering and having compassion towards yourself
• you cannot be truly happy while there are others in the world who are suffering

Question 27

metta

Answer 27

• a desire for people to be happy
• attitude of warmth and kindness towards all people
• Karuna arises when metta comes into contact with a specific person who is suffering

Question 28

ROPKA charity

Answer 28

• set up in the 1980s
• helps run schools and educate children in Zimbabwe, Nepal and Tibet
• aim is to help families to escape poverty through better education, but also teach children about the value of compassion
• believe that learning how to be kind and developing a desire to help others is the way to bring real and lasting change

Question 29

5 moral precepts

Answer 29

1. To abstain from taking life
2. To abstain from taking what is not freely given
3. To abstain from misuse of the senses or sexual misconduct
4. To abstain from wrong speech
5. To abstain from intoxicants that cloud the mind

“whatever man applies himself to drinking liquor and intoxicants,
that person digs up his own root here in this very world” the buddha

Question 30

6 perfections

Answer 30

express how a Bodhisattva lives, according to Mahayana
Buddhists.

1. generosity
   - Give material goods: food, clothes or money
   - Protection from fear
   - Give the Dhamma
2. morality
   - on top of the 5 moral precepts, mahayana buddhists have an extra 5, including not to talk about others people’s errors or faults and not to be angry
   - do meditation to achieve this
3. patience
   - expressed through tolerance and endurance
   - should learn to endure personal hardship and to practice compassion towards those who show them anger
4. energy
   - Cultivating mental energy and strength
   - buddhists should put as much energy into practicing the Dhamma as possible
5. meditation
   - helps to develop the concentration and awareness needed to achieve the sixth perfection, wisdom
6. wisdom
   - all other perfections contribute to this one
   - Buddhists aim to develop full understanding of the nature of reality by following these
   - they believe that the Bodhisattva, who is the ideal Buddhist, combines wisdom with compassion

Question 31

japan funeral ceremonies

Answer 31

• body is cremated and bones are picked out of the ashes with chopsticks
• remains are left for 49 days, prayer said every 7 days

Question 32

4 sublime states

Answer 32

1. loving-kindness
2. compassion
3. sympathetic joy
4. Equanimity (being stable and calm in the face of happiness and suffering)

Question 33

metta meditation

Answer 33

love:

1. Yourself
2. A good-friend
3. A ‘neutral’ person (you see them a lot but they don’t bring strong emotions out of you, whether positive or negative)
4. A ‘difficult’ person (you dislike)
5. All four of these people, followed by everyone else in the world