LEARN BUDDHISM RITUALS (IMPORTANT)

When worshippers come to the temple to pay homage to the Buddhas, many of them perform several Mahayana rituals. Buddhists may chant, pray, meditate, eat vegetarian meals, and celebrate Buddhist holidays, such as the Buddha's Birthday and other Enlightenment dates of the Chinese lunar calendar.

1. Bowing
2. Chanting
3. Lighting Incense
4. Altar Offerings
5. Meditation

BOWING

When worshippers enter a room in which there is a Buddha statue, they put their palms together and bow, to show their highest respect for the Buddha and His teachings. The proper term for the bowing is prostration. The individual prostrates three times by facing the Buddha or Bodhisattva and kneeling – with palms turned upward – on a kneeling stool. The open palms represent wisdom and compassion; during the first prostration, the turning out of one hand symbolizes cultivating wisdom internally, while the movement of the other represents the outward offering of compassion.

The second prostration indicates the Buddha or Bodhisattva’s bestowal of wisdom and compassion upon the individual. The third shows the sincerity of the person’s prayers to the Buddha or Bodhisattva. It takes three prostrations to build up concentration and emphasize one’s earnestness.

CHANTING

When Buddhists chant, their speech is pure and free of lies, curses, slander, and so on. Chanting is the uttering of the Buddha’s teachings, and thus it trains our thoughts, through repetition, to be visions of benevolence, perseverance, self-discipline, and charity.

Gongs are used in Buddhist ceremonies as chanting instruments. They are used in the temples for three purposes: to announce the time for a meeting, to mark different phases of services or tempos of chanting, and to aid the congregation during their meditation. We listen as it resonates to soundlessness, which signals the beginning of the meditation session.

LIGHTING INCENSE
Lighting or burning incense is a gesture of paying one’s highest respects to the Buddha. The lit incense prompts us to follow the Buddha’s practices and teachings, and trains our minds to focus on one single object during meditation. The act of lighting incense reminds us to free ourselves from the samsara of life and death, from mental afflictions, reincarnation, and attachment to material desires. This practice guides us on our journey of spiritual development.

Some worshippers may also use lit incense as offerings to the Buddha for His blessings.

ALTAR OFFERINGS

At the temple, one would often see tables laid with fresh fruits and flowers. Buddhists place these items upon the altars in appreciation for the Buddha’s teachings, and blessings bestowed by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. This is most apparent on the Chinese New Year’s Eve, when thousands of people come to the temple with offerings, to thank the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas for a safe and harmonious year.

Altar offerings at the temple are typically flowers and fresh fruit. Sometimes there may be small vegetarian dishes. All food offerings are vegetarian, as Buddhists advocate vegetarianism and do not kill animals for food.

MEDITATION
Meditation is about the mind and its purification. It is a technique for developing the right concentration which can only be acquired through direct experience, and not from reading alone. The purpose of meditation is to calm the wandering of our minds. To calm the mind is the first step, Samadhi. We focus on an object and direct our monkeying or false minds so that it is no longer engaged in egoistical thought. Vipassana or self-contemplation follows. This is when we put our minds under control and contemplate introspectively.

In detail, meditating is the adjustment of the body, breath, and mind. The first adjustment is the Body:

Sit upright, with legs crossed and hands on your knees. Gently close your eyes. Keep your back straight and your head upright. If you cannot cross your legs, you may sit on a chair.

The second adjustment is the Breath –

breathing is one of the most important steps in meditation:

Concentrate on the spot where air enters the nostrils.

The third adjustment is the Mind:

Be conscious of your breath as you inhale and exhale. When air comes in, touching the insides of your nose, count "one" in your mind. Do not count when the air exits the nostrils. Count to ten in this method and then repeat from "one".