Lesson video

Hello, I'm Ms. Pauvaday.

Welcome to another lesson on Buddhism.

Today, we're going to be looking at Buddhist practise.

We're going to be thinking about why might Buddhists worship, why might they pray and what does this kind of look like within the Buddhist world? So before we start the lesson, let's make sure that you have everything you need.

You do need some pen.

You do need a pen and some paper.

You need to go somewhere nice and quiet so we're not distracted.

Make sure that your phone, TV, anything that's going to distract you, just go ahead and turn them off and find somewhere nice and quiet.

Go ahead and pause now and then join me when you're ready.

So, today we are going to be looking at Buddhist practise.

So we're going to be looking at prayer, devotion.

Why are they so important to Buddhists, given what we've learned so far? Why do they need to do this? We're going to be looking at offerings and how you give respect, chanting and meditation.

And we're going to be looking at Viharas as well.

So let's start.

Do Buddhists worship the Buddha? I mean, why does worship happen in religions anyway? So if you think back to what you've learned in other religions, for example, in Christianity.

Christianity is the one that we've learned the most in this country, it's a Christian country.

Mostly it's to worship God, to give thanks to God.

So you're going to find this in Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

And also in some respects, in Hinduism as well, and definitely, in Sikhism as well.

It's to say thank you to God.

So according to these traditions, particularly the Abrahamic traditions, it's God, God is the creator, God is the protector, the father, all these kinds of ideas.

So it's usually to say thanks to God, or it might even be for things like to ask for things like salvation or, or good things such as health and prosperity.

So God is seen as this kind of supernatural being.

And it kind of makes us think about the question what is God like? And that tells us why God is worshipped.

So God is seen as this being that knows everything, is all powerful, is all present and therefore can impact on our lives.

This is what most Christians, Muslims believe.

So that's why you would maybe worship or pray to a God generally in religion.

Now there's a problem here.

So what's the problem with saying that Buddhists worship the Buddha? So go ahead and pause, have a think.

Go back to what you've learned so far.

Maybe you've got it straight away, but have a think.

What's the problem here? So when we think about the idea of worshipping the Buddha it's slightly strange because the Buddha was a man and the Buddhist tradition is very clear about that.

He was not a God, he wasn't a special being.

There are some translations of and focuses within Buddhism that tries to say that he had these kind of special supernatural powers, but generally speaking, the Buddha was seen as a man.

So he's not a God.

So he can't grant things like prosperity.

He's just a human being.

He can't, you know, make your cat better or make you rich or all of those kinds of things.

The Buddha can't do that.

All he taught was how to come out of suffering.

All he taught was his experiences of the way things are and how to come out of it.

That's what Buddhism is about.

So he doesn't have these abilities.

He doesn't have these attributes of God.

He might be, some Buddhist traditions see him as potentially omniscient.

So this idea of having complete knowledge.

So yeah, the jury is still out on that.

Some traditions say, yes, he was omniscient, through his meditation, he was able to know everything, Even though he didn't teach everything.

But you know, he's still a human being.

So when we talk about worship or prayer in Buddhism, we aren't talking about worshipping the Buddha like a God or praying to the Buddha, like he's a God and ask him for things.

Really, what it's about is respect, giving respect.

So worship and prayer, to give respect to this person that all Buddhists see as this great human being who has given them something precious, the Dharma.

And that's why we have to think about it in Buddhism.

So let's have a look at prayer.

So prayer is actually mostly practised in the East.

You're going to find this in China, in Tibet, in Theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia.

Not so much over here, I mean, you might be lucky, you might be able to go to see a Buddhist temple with the school, or even maybe your family might take you, even better and you might see some of it there, but it's not, remember it's not prayer in the same way that we might see in a church, in a Christian Church.

But it does tend to happen more in Asian countries rather than over here.

And the practise of prayer does change across different Buddhist schools.

So they have different versions of prayer.

So for example, in Tibetan Buddhism, for example, Bodhisattvas are beings that have reached enlightenment.

And they have made a conscious decision to delay Nirvana, to stay in the cycle of Samsara, to stay in the cycle of birth, death and rebirth.

And the reason they do that because, in particularly Mahayana Buddhism, we'll see later and Tibetan Buddhism, there's this real focus on compassion that everyone is in this cycle and therefore, people who have become enlightened, they choose to stay in this cycle in order to help others, all beings out of this cycle of Samsara.

So it's motivated by deep compassion.

Now what's interesting is in, particularly, Mahayana Buddhism, these Bodhisattvas, so you might see images like what I'm showing you here.

You might see, Bodhisattvas popping up.

It looks a bit like Hinduism, it looks like there's lots of different gods.

Actually, these are other enlightened beings, remember the Buddha, Buddha means enlightened being.

So Bodhisattvas are other enlightened beings that have chosen to stay in Samsara to help.

And what happens is, particularly in Mahayana and Tibetan traditions, some Buddhists, they kind of pray, they pray to these Bodhisattvas, these Bodhis, to help give them insight, help them on their journey towards enlightenment.

So that's where prayer often happens in the Buddhist tradition.

And here's an example of a Bodhi.

In fact, I've got a statue of her.

This is Guanyin.

She is a Chinese Bodhisattva and she's an enlightened being and she's often prayed to for prosperity, good luck, that kind of thing.

So, yeah, you'll see lots of them.

They're quite interesting.

And they all kind of represent something.

Now, in order to understand this, we need to think a bit bigger about what all of this is about.

So if you think about evolution, so I've got a picture of evolution, I'm sure you've seen that.

The theory of evolution is the idea that the human species has kind of collected with other species and is kind of this process.

Well, actually all species are on this process to refinement, evolving into better beings, evolving to their environment, through natural selection, to survive and becoming better versions.

And you can use the same idea of evolution when we think about spirituality, and particularly in Hinduism and Buddhism, because they really use this idea that everything is evolving.

If you look at Hinduism, this idea of Brahman, it's an energy, you start off as this kind of really basic thing, and you kind of evolve through each life.

Each lifetime, you're evolving into a more kind of purer being.

In Hinduism it's being divine, in Buddhism it's becoming more, being on your way to enlightenment, really.

It's this slow unveiling of all the obstructions, illusions that cloud the mind, stop people from seeing the true nature of things, that keep us suffering and in this circle of desire and rebirth and death and all those kinds of things.

Because of that, interestingly, I quite liked this part about Buddhism.

They have this idea of different realms of existence, different realms, even some talk about multiverses, that kind of thing.

You might see, you know, if you're interested and you're thinking, "Oh, I think I'm quite interested in Buddhism." You might find and see that there is, sometimes Buddhism, Eastern traditions are paralleled with things like quantum mechanics' multiverse theory, that kind of thing, and that's just because if you look at ancient texts, they had, Hindu and Buddhist texts, they kind of had this idea.

It's obviously not the same as the scientific study of quantum mechanics and physics.

It's just that they share some ideas, that's all.

So, in Buddhism you have different realms. And typically there are six realms, they do change.

There are different ways of describing them across the different traditions, but there are six realms and there are less, low realms which have, these are kind of worlds, which have lower evolved beings.

So they might be possibly seen as a bit hellish, really.

That's how they're portrayed.

But then there are also higher realms that have more evolved beings.

So, beings that are still in the cycle of Samsara, but at some way, further up the spiritual evolution line and excuse me, and are just a bit more aware.

Now, the reason we want to know about this is because some Buddhists pray to these beings.

So this is where deities and gods come in, so some of the Hindu gods, in Buddhism are seen to be in this realm of deities.

So some people might pray to these deities and ask them, again, for things like health or prosperity and what have you, because they're part of this system of Samsara.

And here's an example, I mean, you can see, I don't know how well you can see, but that's a picture of the Buddha, when he died.

And you can see in the sky, you've got all these deities that are part of this different realm who have come to give respect, but also sad that he has died.

The Buddha, Nirvana is completely passed all of these realms. So there's six realms, which include like hellish realms, but also realms where there's gods, Nirvana is completely passed all of that it's completely out of that realm.

And this is what the Buddha achieved.

So this is why the Buddha now is aware of all these different beings.

And as I've said, that Tibetan Buddhists, particularly Tibetan Buddhists, but you might find a little bit of it in Theravada, it's not really something that the tradition actually really focuses on.

They don't see it as important, but if you do go to places like Sri Lanka or parts of India, you do see some of it.

But it's mostly in the Mahayana tradition, Tibetan Buddhism.

So you see people praying to these deities and Bodhisattvas for guidance on how to become enlightened.

And again, why do they pray? It's not for the same reasons as you would find in the Abrahamic traditions.

It's not to ask for things like to be closer to God or have Christlike compassion.

It would be things to develop personal compassion, for all beings.

It would be things like to really, to really realise the truth of illusion, realise this the truth of Anatta and to become enlightened.

So, it's asking for insight, help to be, help to for wisdom.

So, effectively they're asking for wisdom, help to be wise.

So, do Buddhists worship the Buddha? So it's quick, true or false.

You can do true or false.

True, false, true false.

Let's go, Buddhists worship the Buddha.

That it's false.

They don't, he's just a human being.

Bodhisattva is someone who's not yet enlightened.

That is false.

A Bodhisattva is a being that is enlightened, but chooses to stay out of Nirvana to help other beings.

Some Buddhists pray to deities and gods.

That is true in some traditions.

But remember, we're not talking about deities or gods in the way that we see in the Abrahamic traditions.

Buddhists and Hindus believe in different realms of existence.

That is true, they do believe in different realms. Okay, and that brings us to devotional acts.

So we're going to think about how do Buddhists show their devotion to Buddhism, the faith? Now, do Buddhists worship idols? So you probably see like Buddhist statues everywhere, but they're not idols in the way that we typically think of idols.

So, an idol is an image or representation of a God, and it's used as an object of worship.

So it's really to kind of worship and say, "Thank you for my creation.

"Thank you for, you know, protecting me and my family." Again, idols are usually for gods to say thanks for the kind of supernatural powers of creation and protection, that kind of thing.

Buddha can't do that, Buddha was a man.

So it doesn't make sense in Buddhism.

However, you will see that there are just billions of statues everywhere.

You might have seen that I seem to be growing, my collection seems to be growing, not quite sure why.

And there are different statues because each statue has different meanings.

Don't forget, there are also different Bodhisattvas as well.

So they often get confused with the Buddha.

So these are different beings, these are different enlightened beings.

So you'll see them all over, if you ever get a chance to go to a temple or anything like that, or if you do go or ever manage to go to any Asian countries, then you will see them.

And each symbol, each Buddha has different kind of symbolism.

Something known as the Mudras.

So the hand positions of the Buddha have different meanings.

So for example, I think I've got one here.

It's actually in the picture, but I've got another one here, where you can see the Buddha there.

He's kind of touching the ground.

And that represents touching, that's a part of the Buddha's story where he finally becomes enlightened and he touches the earth and asks the earth to be his witness.

He has reached this state.

So, and for Buddhists, that kind of helps them remember the story of the Buddha, helps remember the journey that he went through.

Here's another one.

So you've got the Dharmachakra Mudra.

So you can see that he's kind of doing this kind of thing.

That represents the teaching of the Dhamma.

So you'll see this in temples where you see, and again, it reminds Buddhists of the Dhamma.

So it reminds them of the journey of the Buddha's life.

Now, something you might've come across in Hinduism is something called Puja.

And these are devotions that happen in the home, but it can happen in the temple.

Often, it's a tray with flowers, water for purification, incense, these are all things that represent beauty, but also Anicca, impermanence.

So it reminds Buddhists that nothing is permanent so they should enjoy in the moment.

Lights, you'll see lots of candles, lots of lights represents illumination, enlightenment.

And the statue, you will also see statues of the Buddha, but it's not for, to pray to, again, to pray to the Buddha, it's to show respect.

So what we mean by devotion in Buddhism is to show respect to the Buddha.

And another way of doing that is, I mean, the Buddha was seen as a great man.

For Buddhists, he deserves a great deal of respect, as well as things like Bodhis, deities, monks and nuns they're also respected, but the Buddha is seen as really, really important.

And so you might see bowing.

If you ever see any videos or again, if you get lucky and get the chance to go to some of these countries and see it for yourself, you'll see people bowing to the Buddha.

I was lucky that I have spent some time in Southeast Asia and there was a statue of the Buddha kind of near one of the McDonald's, which is really weird.

And people would walk past the McDonald's and they'd just kind of give the Buddha a bow.

I always used to find it really interesting.

And the reason that happens is because in Asia, in general, bowing is seen as a kind of sign of respect.

So perhaps, you know, in England, a way of being with being respectful is maybe shaking someone's hand or, you know, if you are wearing a hat, you might take it off as you go into somewhere special, that kind of thing.

But in Asia, bowing is a sign of respect.

So it's just natural that they would bow to the Buddha because he's their great teacher.

So it's not, again, it's different to perhaps in Islam or other religions, where you bow to say, you know, grace and thanks to God that you owe your creation to, that's different.

In Buddhism, it's about respect.

That's why Buddhists bow.

Pause while you go and have a look at these key terms. So which one is a Mudra? Which one is an idol? Which one is a Puja? Pause, have a look, write them down if you can, and then un-pause and have a look at the answers.

Okay, so an idol is an image or representation of a God used as an object of worship.

A Puja is, oh, I've gone too fast.

A Puja is a ritual of devotion in Buddhism and Hinduism.

So, it's a ritual.

And Mudra are these different kind of hand positions that show the different teachings and the different parts of the Buddha's life.

Great, I'm sure you did very, very well.

I'm sure you've nailed that.

Let's have a look at chanting and meditation.

Often, we see, again, if we see anything about Buddhism on TV, we often see Buddhists chanting, particularly, Buddhist monks.

So let's have a look at what that means.

The most important thing is meditation.

That's going to be the most common practise across Buddhism.

And again, the main purpose of that is to develop this skill to watch the mind develop focus and concentration.

Because if you can do that, you become more mindful about what you do, your actions change, your behaviour changes, you often become a lot happier, a lot more content, that kind of idea.

And it's the most vital tool for the Eightfold Path.

So things like right speech, right action.

You might be able to hold your tongue, for example, you might be able to think, "Okay, I can communicate this piece of information in a better way, where it doesn't upset people." Common thing that happens, initially when I come out with my students, is sometimes they're a bit kind of rough with each other.

And eventually they kind of learn, "Actually that doesn't give me the reaction that I want." So they learn to kind of communicate in a more diplomatic way.

That's a good example of right speech.

So meditation is very important.

It's one of the most important things for Buddhists.

And if you look at the Dhammapada quote here, it really reinforces this idea.

"He who has control over his hands, his feet, his tongue, "who is feeling controlled, delights inward development "is absorbed in meditation, "keeps to himself and is contented.

"Then do people call this a monk." Remember this is a really old text.

So you're probably looking at that, thinking that really seems a bit upside down.

But effectively what it's saying is that meditation, monks, people who can control their minds, their actions, what they say, it's through inward development, meditation.

But this is actually available for everyone.

Everyone can do it according to the Buddhist tradition.

And, okay, so I mentioned chanting at the beginning.

So mantras and chanting often go hand in hand with prayer, but meditation, mostly.

Mantras, we've come across this idea, you might see the Om.

That is a mantra, it's a sacred syllable.

It's a sacred sound, which is supposed to permeate the entire universe.

And what it does is it helps evoke.

Evoke means create, bring up this sense of concentration.

So it helps people concentrate and focus.

So often in certain schools of Buddhist meditation, Buddhism, they will chant certain mantras over and over again.

The most common one is Om.

And it just helps focus the mind and helps some Buddhists into a deep state of meditation.

And some Buddhists use beads.

I've got some beads there for you.

They look a bit like the Catholic rosary beads.

Possibly used in the same way, Buddhists, they kind of count the beads.

So they hold the beads and they count them as they're chanting.

And it just helps keep track of the chants and it helps keep them in that state of meditation to reach deeper meditation, go deeper into the mind.

So let's have a quick pause and match the key terms. So mantra, meditation, chanting.

Go ahead and pause now.

Have a good look, write them down and join me when you want to look at the answers.

Okay, so let's have a look.

Meditation, this is the practise of watching and focusing the mind.

Chanting is the repetition of words, particularly Mantras to help focus the mind towards meditation.

And Mantra, which are the sounds, the sacred sounds such as the Om, that can help focus and develop concentration for deeper meditation.

Good, well done.

Now, Viharas.

So Vihara is, you'll find this mostly in Southeast Asia, but also in places like Tibet as well.

It's actually a temple and its design is to show the journey of enlightenment.

So I've got a stupa here, which is the often, the vihara's a temple, a stupa is a kind of object building that represents the journey of Buddhism.

And for example, you can see that there's three here, that might represent the three marks of existence.

Often there are four rings here, which might mean the Four Noble Truths.

Sometimes this might be eight.

Normally at the top is a diamond, which represents enlightenment.

Quite interesting, again, if you do get a chance to go to a vihara with the school, then, you know, you'll be really smart and be able to point that out to your teacher and other students.

So what I'd like you to do now is there's a video that I'd like you to watch, which actually goes into a temple.

Pause the video to complete your task.

What you need to do is you need to pause this video, open the worksheet and watch the Truetube clip and make a note on the following.

So what kinds of things can you find in a vihara? What kind of practises happen in a vihara? And how the vihara is designed to show the Buddha's journey.

So I've shown you a couple of bits, but there's a bit more in the video.

So I hope you enjoy it.

Resume once you're done and once you've got your notes down.

Okay, what I'd like you to do for your task today is have a go at creating a model vihara.

Lots of fun, my students really enjoy doing this, but the important thing is you don't have to make a model if you don't want to, but you can draw one.

And what you need to do is you need to make sure that you label what happens in the vihara and how a vihara shows the journey of the Buddha.

And do share them with us, I'd love to see them, I'd love to see them.

So if you can, make sure you get permission, but do share them with us at Oak Academy.

Well done on another great lesson.

Really, really well done.

Hopefully you've learned a lot more about Buddhist practises and you might be able to start recognising different Buddhists, next time you're in a Chinese restaurant, or just maybe you might travel, or you might just see them on your travels and you can impress people and go, "Okay, this is a Buddha for, the Buddha of enlightenment "or the Buddha of meditation." What I'd like you to do now is do two things as usual.

Go ahead, do the quiz.

Let's really try and recap some of the things that we're learning.

So they're nice and solidly in there.

And as usual go and tell people what you've learned.

It really helps you remember, it really helps you kind of piece together how all of these things fit together.

And I will see you again for next lesson.