Ritual in Buddhism

If you have to practice Buddhism with formal sincerity rather than just as an intellectual exercise, you will soon face the fact that there are many, many different rituals is Buddhism. This fact can cause some people to recoil, as it may seem alien and sect-like. To Westerners conditioned to individuality and uniqueness, the practice observed in a Buddhist temple may seem a little frightening and brainless.

However, this is exactly the point. Buddhism consists in realizing the ephemeral nature of the ego. As Dogen said,

"Going forward and experiencing a myriad of things is illusion. That a myriad of things emerge and experience themselves is waking up. By abandoning yourself to the Buddhist ritual, you calm down, abandon your individuality and preconceptions and let the myriads of things experience themselves. It can be very powerful. ”
What the rituals mean
It is often said that you have to practice Buddhism to understand Buddhism. Through the experience of Buddhist practice, you understand why it is so, including rituals. The power of rituals is manifested when one fully engages in them and gives oneself completely, with all one's heart and mind. When you are fully aware of a ritual, the ego and the "other" disappear and the mind-heart opens.

But if you hold back, choose what you like and reject what you don't like about the ritual, there is no power. The role of the ego is to discriminate, analyze and classify, and the goal of ritual practice is to abandon that loneliness and surrender to something profound.

The many schools, sects and traditions of Buddhism have different rituals and there are also different explanations for those rituals. You could say that repeating a certain song or offering flowers and incense deserves you, for example. All of these explanations may be useful metaphors, but the true meaning of the ritual will take place as you practice it. Whatever explanation you may receive for a particular ritual, however, the ultimate goal of all Buddhist rituals is the realization of enlightenment.

This is not magic
There is no magical power in lighting a candle or bowing to an altar or prostrating yourself by touching your forehead on the floor. If you perform a ritual, no force outside of you will come to your aid and give you enlightenment. Indeed, enlightenment is not a quality that can be possessed, so no one can give it to you anyway. In Buddhism, enlightenment (bodhi) is awakening from its own disappointments, especially the disappointments of the ego and a separate self.

So if rituals don't magically produce enlightenment, what are they for? The rituals in Buddhism are upaya, which is Sanskrit by "skillful means". Rituals are performed because they are useful for those who participate. They are a tool to be used in the general attempt to free oneself from illusion and move towards enlightenment.

Of course, if you are new to Buddhism, you may feel embarrassed and embarrassed as you try to imitate what others are doing around you. Feeling uncomfortable and embarrassed means running into delusional ideas about yourself. An embarrassment is a form of defense against a sort of artificial self-image. Recognizing those feelings and overcoming them is a vital spiritual practice.

We all go into practice with problems, buttons and tender points that hurt when something pushes them. Usually, we go through our lives wrapped in ego armor to protect the tender points. But the ego armor causes its pain because it separates us from ourselves and all others. Much of Buddhist practice, including ritual, is about detachment of armor. Usually, this is a gradual and delicate process that you do at your own pace, but sometimes you will be challenged to get out of your comfort zone.

Let yourself be touched
Zen teacher James Ishmael Ford, Roshi, acknowledges that people are often disappointed when they arrive at Zen centers. "After reading all those popular books on Zen, people who visit a real Zen center, or sangha, are often confused or even shocked by what they find," she said. Instead of, you know, Zen stuff, visitors find rituals, bows, songs and a lot of silent meditation.

We come to Buddhism in search of remedies for our pain and fear, but we bring with us our many problems and suspicions. We are in a strange and uncomfortable place, and we wrap ourselves tightly in our armor. “For most of us when we enter this room, things come together with some distance. We position ourselves often, just beyond where we could be touched, "said Roshi.

“We must allow ourselves the possibility of being touched. After all, it's about life and death, our most intimate questions. So, we only need a small opening to the possibilities of being moved, to turn in new directions. I would ask for a minimum suspension of disbelief, allowing for the possibility that there are methods for madness. "
Empty your cup
Suspending unbelief does not mean adopting a new alien belief. This fact alone is reassuring for many people who perhaps care about being "converted" in some way. Buddhism asks us neither to believe nor not to believe; just to be open. Rituals can be transformative if you are open to them. And one never knows, going forward, what particular ritual, song or other practice could open the bodhi's door. Something you find unnecessary and annoying at first may have infinite value for you someday.

Long ago, a professor visited a Japanese master to investigate Zen. The master served tea. When the visitor's cup was full, the master kept pouring. Tea spilled out of the cup and onto the table.

"The cup is full!" said the professor. "He won't come in anymore!"

"Like this cup," said the master, "you are full of your opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen if you don't empty your cup first? "

The heart of Buddhism
The power in Buddhism lies in giving you this. Of course, there is more to Buddhism than to ritual. But rituals are both training and teaching. I am your life practice, intensified. Learning to be open and completely present in the ritual is learning to be open and completely present in your life. And this is where you find the heart of Buddhism.