Theravada practices
Material offerings nurture generosity (Pali: dāna ) and virtue (Pali: sīla ). [8] The act further honors the Triple Gem (the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha), deepening one's commitment to the Buddha's path. For instance, traditional chants (in English and Pali) when offering lit candles (padīpa pūjā) and incense (sugandha pūjā) to an image of the Buddha are:
With lights brightly shining
Abolishing this gloom
I adore the Enlightened One,
The Light of the three worlds.
With perfumed incense
And fragrant smoke
I worship the Exalted One,
Who is great and worthy of worship. [9] | Ghanasārappadittena
Dīpena tama-dhaṃsinā
Tiloka-dīpaṃ sambuddhaṃ
Pūjayāmi tamo-nudaṃ
Ghandha-sambhāra-yuttena
Dhūpenāhaṃ sugandhinā
Pūjaye pūjaneyyaṃ taṃ
Pūjābhajanamuttamaṃ [10] |
Similarly, a traditional Pali incense-lighting verse speaks of the Buddha's "fragrant body and fragrant face, fragrant with infinite virtues." [11]
By contemplating on an offering, one tangibly sees life's impermanence (Pali: anicca ), one of the three characteristics of all things upon which the Buddha encouraged his disciplines to recollect. For instance, the end of a traditional chant (in English and Pali) when offering flowers (puppha pūjā) to an image of the Buddha is:
I worship the Buddha with these flowers;
May this virtue be helpful for my emancipation;
Just as these flowers fade,
Our body will undergo decay. [12] | Pujemi Buddham kusumenanena
Puññenametena ca hotu mokkham
Puppham milāyāti yathā idam me
Kāyo tathā yāti vināsa-bhavam [10] |
Non-material offerings
In some traditions, two different types of offerings are identified:
- material or hospitality offerings (Pali: amisa-puja [14] or sakkara-puja [15] ) [16]
- practice offerings (Pali: patipatti-puja [17] )
In this context, material offerings are considered external offerings of "words and deeds." [14]
Practice offerings may be manifested by practicing:
In the Pali Canon, the Buddha declared practice offerings (Patipatti) as "the best way of honoring the Buddha" [19] and as the "supreme" offering. [14] This is primarily an internal offering for mental development (Pali: citta , bhāvanā and samādhi ).
"But Ananda, whatever bhikkhu or bhikkhuni, layman or laywoman, abides by the Dhamma, lives uprightly in the Dhamma, walks in the way of the Dhamma, it is by such a one that the Tathagata is respected, venerated, esteemed, worshipped, and honored in the highest degree." (Taken from Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta, Dīgha Nikāya) [20]
Satipaṭṭhāna is the establishment or arousing of mindfulness, as part of the Buddhist practices leading to detachment and liberation.
karuṇā is generally translated as compassion and self-compassion. It is part of the spiritual path of both Buddhism and Jainism. It is one of the four immeasurables.
Śrāvaka (Sanskrit) or Sāvaka (Pali) means "hearer" or, more generally, "disciple". This term is used in Buddhism and Jainism. In Jainism, a śrāvaka is any lay Jain so the term śrāvaka has been used for the Jain community itself. Śrāvakācāras are the lay conduct outlined within the treaties by Śvetāmbara or Digambara mendicants. "In parallel to the prescriptive texts, Jain religious teachers have written a number of stories to illustrate vows in practice and produced a rich répertoire of characters.".
Bhāvanā literally means "development" or "cultivating" or "producing" in the sense of "calling into existence". It is an important concept in Buddhist praxis (Patipatti). The word bhavana normally appears in conjunction with another word forming a compound phrase such as citta-bhavana or metta-bhavana. When used on its own, bhavana signifies contemplation and 'spiritual cultivation' generally.
Sukha means happiness, pleasure, ease, joy or bliss, in Sanskrit and Pali. Among the early scriptures, 'sukha' is set up as a contrast to 'preya' (प्रेय) meaning a transient pleasure, whereas the pleasure of 'sukha' has an authentic state happiness within a being that is lasting. In the Pāli Canon, the term is used in the context of describing laic pursuits, meditative absorptions, and intra-psychic phenomena.
Vijñāna (Sanskrit) or viññāṇa (Pāli) is translated as "consciousness," "life force," "mind," or "discernment."
Upāsaka (masculine) or Upāsikā (feminine) are from the Sanskrit and Pāli words for "attendant". This is the title of followers of Buddhism who are not monks, nuns, or novice monastics in a Buddhist order, and who undertake certain vows. In modern times they have a connotation of dedicated piety that is best suggested by terms such as "lay devotee" or "devout lay follower".
Anussati means "recollection," "contemplation," "remembrance," "meditation" and "mindfulness." It refers to specific meditative or devotional practices, such as recollecting the sublime qualities of the Buddha, which lead to mental tranquillity and abiding joy. In various contexts, the Pali literature and Sanskrit Mahayana sutras emphasize and identify different enumerations of recollections.
Jarāmaraṇa is Sanskrit and Pāli for "old age" and "death". In Buddhism, jaramarana is associated with the inevitable decay and death-related suffering of all beings prior to their rebirth within saṃsāra.
Indriya is the Sanskrit and Pali term for physical strength or ability in general, and for the senses more specifically. In Buddhism, the term refers to multiple intrapsychic processes and is generally translated as "faculty" or, in specific contexts, as "spiritual faculty" or "controlling principle." The term literally means "belonging to Indra," chief deity in the Rig Veda and lord of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven hence connoting supremacy, dominance and control, attested in the general meaning of "power, strength" from the Rig Veda.
In English translations of Buddhist texts, householder denotes a variety of terms. Most broadly, it refers to any layperson, and most narrowly, to a wealthy and prestigious familial patriarch. In contemporary Buddhist communities, householder is often used synonymously with laity, or non-monastics.
The Upajjhatthana Sutta, also known as the Abhiṇhapaccavekkhitabbaṭhānasutta in the Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana Tipiṭaka, is a Buddhist discourse famous for its inclusion of five remembrances, five facts regarding life's fragility and our true inheritance. The discourse advises that these facts are to be reflected upon often by all.
A prostration is a gesture used in Buddhist practice to show reverence to the Triple Gem and other objects of veneration.
The Uposatha is a Buddhist day of observance, in existence from the Buddha's time, and still being kept today by Buddhist practitioners. The Buddha taught that the Uposatha day is for "the cleansing of the defiled mind," resulting in inner calm and joy. On this day, both lay and ordained members of the sangha intensify their practice, deepen their knowledge and express communal commitment through millennia-old acts of lay-monastic reciprocity. On these days, the lay followers make a conscious effort to keep the Five Precepts or the eight precepts. It is a day for practicing the Buddha's teachings and meditation.
Abhijñā is a Buddhist term generally translated as "direct knowledge", "higher knowledge" or "supernormal knowledge." In Buddhism, such special knowledge is obtained through virtuous living and meditation. The attainment of the four jhanas, or meditative absorptions, are considered a prerequisite for their attainment. In terms of specifically enumerated knowledges, these include mundane extra-sensory abilities as well as the supramundane, meaning the extinction of all mental intoxicants (āsava).
The Dighajanu Sutta, also known as the Byagghapajja Sutta or Vyagghapajja Sutta, is part of the Anguttara Nikaya. For Theravadin scholars, this discourse of the Pāli Canon is one of several considered key to understanding Buddhist lay ethics. In this discourse, the Buddha instructs a householder named Dīghajāṇu Vyagghapajja, a Koliyan householder, on eight personality traits or conditions that lead to happiness and well-being in this and future lives.
In Buddhism, a mental fetter, chain or bond shackles a sentient being to saṃsāra, the cycle of lives with dukkha. By cutting through all fetters, one attains nibbāna.
In Buddhism, bodhipakkhiyā dhammā are qualities (dhammā) conducive or related to (pakkhiya) awakening (bodhi).
Passaddhi is a Pali noun that has been translated as "calmness," "tranquillity," "repose" and "serenity." The associated verb is passambhati.
The Ratana Sutta is a Buddhist discourse ( Pali:sutta) found in the Pali Canon's Sutta Nipata and Khuddakapatha ; with a parallel in the Mahavastu. In the Pali it is seventeen verses in length, and in the Sanskrit version nineteen. The Ratana Sutta extols the characteristics of the three ratana in Buddhism: the Enlightened One (Buddha), the Teaching (Dhamma) and the noble community of disciples.
