RITUAL

In the P?li nik?yas there are four stages to final liberation: (1) stream-enterer (sot?panna), who has glimpsed nirv??a and will attain full liberation in no more than seven rebirths; (2) once-returner (sakad?g?min), who will be reborn only once more; (3) nonreturner (an?g?min), who will have at most one more lifetime in a celestial pure abode; and (4) arhat, who is fully liberated in this life. Each of these stages is associated with the elimination of progressively more subtle fetters (sa?yojana). The three lower fetters are removed upon entering into the stream: (1) wrong view in the reality of the self (sakk?yadi??hi); (2) doubt concerning the Buddha and his teaching; and (3) attachment to rules and observances (P?li, s?labbatapar?m?sa; Sanskrit, ??lavratapar?mar?a), whether ritual or ascetic, in the belief that these themselves are liberative.

During the nineteenth century, modernizing apologists emphasized the rational and ethical qualities of Buddhism and, in keeping with assumptions common to Western religious culture, focused on issues of belief and doctrine. This version of Buddhism interpreted the elimination of the fetter of attachment to rules and observances as a comprehensive rejection of ritual practices. Based on this selective reading of P?li sources, Buddhism was portrayed as a tradition in which ritual played no role. Claiming that ??kyamuni Buddha rejected all ritual practice, this interpretation of Buddhism gave privileged position to meditation, so much so that today Buddhism is often simply identified with meditation. The distinction of meditation and ritual as mutually exclusive categories, however, is an artificial one that has its roots in Western religious culture rather than in Buddhism.

Rather than rejecting ritual, however, ??kyamuni appears to have rejected animal sacrifice, which forms the core of Vedic ritual and the religious authority of the brahman priests who perform such sacrifices. Historically, many Buddhist activities, such as the pr?timok?a recitation, were ritualized early in the history of the tradition. By the third through sixth centuries c.e. ritual practices were well established among Indian Buddhist practitioners.

While use of the term ritual seems to indicate a specific category, such that there ought to be a clear way in which one can identify what is and what is not a ritual, scholars still do not agree on a general definition of ritual. It is instead more useful to think in terms of ritualization, that is, a process by which certain activities are regularized both in performance and periodicity. Rather than a bounded category, or a simply stipulative definition, ritualization suggests a range of degrees to which activities have been regularized. Over the course of Buddhist history, important activities, including individual religious practices (s?dhana), have been ritualized.

Basic model for Buddhist rituals

Elements of what became known as the unexcelled worship (anuttarap?j?) are found as early as the late second century c.e. The other name for this is the seven-limbed p?j? (sapt??g? p?j?), since rituals of this kind often employed seven elements. This latter name is somewhat misleading in that the number of possible elements was more than seven, and the number of elements in particular rituals might be more or less than seven. The standard elements from which rituals could be constructed include: praise (vandan?), worship (p?jan?), confession of faults (de?ana), rejoicing in the merits of others (modan?), requesting the buddhas to teach (adhye?a??), requesting the buddhas to remain in this world (y?can?), transfer of merit (pari??mana), arising of bodhicitta (bodhicittotp?da), taking refuge (?ara?agamana), making vows (pra?idana), and sacrifice of oneself (?tmaty?ga).

Another kind of ritual organization is found in many tantric Buddhist rituals. These rituals are constructed symmetrically around the symbolically central action of ritualized identification between the practitioner and the deity evoked; this is called deity yoga. The five steps of these rituals are:

• purification —preparation of the practitioner
• construction —preparation of the ritual site
• encounter —inviting, greeting, and feasting the deity
• identification —meditative union, or ritual identification
• dissociation —recapitulates the first three steps:
• departure of the deity : corollary of encounter
• dissolution of the ritual site : corollary of construction
• departure of the practitioner : corollary of purification

A number of different categories of ritual practice are known. Early eighth-century translations into Chinese by Bodhiruci list three categories: ?antika, for protection; pau??ika, for increase of benefits; and abhic?raka, for domination. By the end of the ninth century, an additional two categories are evidenced: va??kara?a, for attraction; and a?ku?a, for acquisition. These categories inform both the Indo-Tibetan and East Asian traditions. In Tibetan ritual traditions, a set of four appears to have become the standard grouping, while in East Asia the standard grouping comprises all five. These categories establish a complex set of associations for ritual performance: for example,

the time of day for performing the ritual, the color of the practitioner's clothing, and the kind of altar to be employed.

An exemplary ritual: homa

Originating in the Vedic tradition, homa, or fire ritual, is found in both Hindu and Buddhist tantra. Within the Buddhist world homa is found wherever the tantric tradition has taken root, including Mongolia, China, Tibet, Japan, and Bali. The ritual comprises a series of offerings made into a fire built on the altar. The mouth of the altar hearth is homologized to the mouth of the deity and to the practitioner's mouth, while the fire is the deity's digestive fire and the fire of wisdom (prajñ?) that purifies defilements (kle?a).

The homa ritual demonstrates the way in which rituals are organized according to a basic metaphor. Homa is a feast for the deities who are evoked in the course of the ritual. This ritual metaphor is found in many tantric Buddhist rituals, and evidences the connection between them and their Vedic sources, which also serve as ritual feasts.

In addition to the ritual metaphor and homa's organization, specific elements within the ritual highlight the continuity of practice across more than three millennia and multiple religious cultures. These include an opening offering to Agni, the Vedic god of fire and sacrifice; implements used (e.g., two ladles for making offerings); and the varieties of materials offered, most emblematically, clarified butter (ghee). The processes of cultural adaptation are reflected in the use of various substitutes, such as sesame oil (Japanese, goma abura) for ghee. The widespread practice of the homa ritual indicates the central place that ritual holds in much of the Buddhist tradition. Rather than being purely rational and ethical, Buddhism has therefore always maintained a crucial role for ritual in its religious culture and practice.

See also:Initiation; Ordination; Ritual Objects; Tantra

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Richard K. Payne