Dhamma Wheel Buddhist Forum

Hello everyone,

For about a year now, I have been making my way following Buddhist teachings and practicing frequent meditation; I have begun to take an interest in formal Buddhist rituals and practices, but I really have no idea where to begin!

I am looking to learn about simple rituals that I can practice daily, alongside meditation, and I would also like to learn about the ethical use and creation of a small home shrine.

Thank you all

Buddhist Veneration
In the Theravada tradition, it is customary to pay homage to the Buddha, recite the Three Refuges and undertake to observe the Pancca Sila (Pansil) on visiting a place of worship or at the start of a Buddhist ceremony. One can recite the following stanzas by oneself or invite a Buddhist monk to administer them.
The monk will recite each stanza in the ancient language of Pali and the devotee should repeat it after him


Vandana (Homage)

Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa Honour to the Blessed One, the Exalted One, the fully Enlightened One
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa Honour to the Blessed One, the Exalted One, the fully Enlightened One
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa Honour to the Blessed One, the Exalted One, the fully Enlightened One

Tisarana (The Three Refuges)

Buddham saranam gacchami I go to the Buddha as my refuge
Dhammam saranam gacchami I go to the Dhamma as my refuge
Sangham saranam gacchami I go to the Sangha as my refuge

for the audio, it is here.

http://www.londonbuddhistvihara.org/veneration.htm

ah yes I would chant this before meditation in the morning... Is that an appropriate application of the chant?

i think so, I chant it as often as I like.

I chant the homage to the triple gem after the homage and the refuges, also bowing before each refuge. It makes a nice daily devotion.

http://www.chantpali.org/homage.html

Discussion about attachment to rites and rituals split off to here: http://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=18563


Mike