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Flip to reveal answersWhere did Buddhist lifetime rituals originally come from?
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All 10 Flashcards — Rites of passage and worship
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Question
Where did Buddhist lifetime rituals originally come from?
Answer
The Buddha's teachings and the practices he laid down, especially for monks in the Vinaya. Later variations emerged in different schools.
Question
What is the Vinaya?
Answer
The monastic rule laid down for the sangha. Buddhist ritual grew out of it, which is why the rites entering the sangha are the fullest.
Question
Name the rites almost every Buddhist shares.
Answer
Recitation of the Three Jewels, following the Five Precepts, puja (daily devotion), meditation, pilgrimage, funeral rites and punya/punna merit-transfer ceremonies.
Question
What does Theravada Buddhism NOT have, and why does it matter?
Answer
Birth and marriage ceremonies. The absence shows that Buddhist ritual grew out of a monastic rule rather than out of household life.
Question
What is punya (punna)?
Answer
Merit — accumulated by lay Buddhists through giving, keeping the precepts and attending festivals, and transferable, above all to the dead.
Question
What does the guide say Buddhist worship focuses on?
Answer
Veneration: living the Five Precepts, reciting the Three Jewels, puja, and following the Noble Eightfold Path.
Question
What does the guide say about who meditates?
Answer
The monks meditate, but most Buddhists do not — they venerate the Buddha.
Question
What is a mudra?
Answer
A choreographed symbolic hand position, used to assist meditation and shown on Buddha statues.
Question
Name three things associated especially with Vajrayana practice.
Answer
Mudras, thangkas (Tibetan religious cloth paintings) and mandalas (sand paintings and diagrams). Also the Tibetan wheel of life.
Question
Distinguish pabbajja from upasampada.
Answer
Pabbajja is initiation into the sangha, often as a novice for a short period; upasampada is full ordination as a bhikkhu, from which the Vinaya governs the whole of life.
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Full study notes for Rites of passage and worship
Topic 3.1 hub
Rituals
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