Tag: devotion

Devotion and prayer, ritual and freedom, engagement and tradition, Bodhidasa explores the fascinating meanings behind our common traditions in modern Buddhism - from tea and tim-tams to puja, chanting and offering. Sourcing the Pali canon, Bodhidasa discusses the Three Fetters, and the pitfalls of superficiality, habit and vagueness that can hinder our progress on the path. How do we relate to blessing and purity in the spiritual life? Through a sense of reverence and engagement with symbol,...

Saccanama explores shraddha, often translated as ‘faith’, as the emotional counterpoint of wisdom. It’s not a foundation for insight to arise, but rather it’s the equivalent of perceptual, cognitive insight experienced through reverence, worship and devotion.

From the talk entitled The Roots of Faith recorded at the Swedish Summer Retreat at Dharmagiri, July 2019. This talk is part of the series ‘To Place the Heart Upon’ - Exploring Faith in Buddhism.

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Here Sangharakshita explores how Buddhism, being the most rational of religions, appeals no less to the heart than to the head, using the language of myth to do so. Examples are four ‘myths’ from the Buddha’s biography, here correlated with four of Jung’s archetypes.

From the talk entitled Buddhism and the Language of Myth, part of the series Ritual and Devotion in Buddhism, 1967.

Here Sangharakshita explores how Buddhism, being the most rational of religions, appeals...

Today’s FBA Dharmabyte is called The Heart of the Puja from A Personal Take On the Sevenfold Puja by Amarapuspa. Amarapuspa discusses the Going For Refuge section of the puja, and the Refuges and Precepts, with examples from her own personal journey towards letting go into the puja. We hear the story of Dhaniya the Cattleman and the session finishes with a series of led reflections asking “can we be inspired by...