[Keywords:] Tibetan Buddhism, prayer and custom, physical and mental health.
Tibetan Buddhism is the ideology and culture of Mahayana Buddhism and Vajrayana tantric Buddhism introduced from India in "7- 1 1 century", which was formed in the special human and geographical environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China and is called the roof of the world. It is a Buddhist culture and belief system with extensive ideological and cultural connotations and distinctive local ethnic characteristics. " [1] As a belief system and potential spiritual strength, Tibetan Buddhism has penetrated into the spiritual world of the Tibetan people and become an important part of people's ideological and behavioral norms, moral norms and social customs. In particular, the diverse and different forms of prayer culture are the most unique cultural phenomena in various religions.
First, daily prayers and customs
The influence of Tibetan Buddhism on the Tibetan people is all-round and ubiquitous in people's lives. The values and outlook on life of the Tibetan people are deeply influenced by the ideology of Tibetan Buddhism, and have also been fully displayed in the real life of the Tibetan people.
Buddhist understanding of life is based on four truths. It is believed that the essence of life is pain, not only from physical pain such as birth and death, but also from other social pains. There are two kinds of sufferings, three kinds of sufferings, four kinds of sufferings, five kinds of sufferings, eight kinds of sufferings, ten kinds of sufferings, and even 1 10 kinds of sufferings, which describe and analyze all kinds of sufferings in the world from different angles. Buddhism believes that if you want to stay away from troubles, troubles, jealousy, resentment, etc. First of all, you should purify your mind (often do some peace of mind prayer activities) and develop and increase your wisdom.
The Tibetan people believe in the causal relationship of "karma, reincarnation of life and death" and "good is rewarded with good, evil with evil". Buddhism believes that everything has a cause, and so does man's fate and the pain of life. Everyone is his own career, and he suffers. What kind of "cause" will inevitably bring what kind of "result". Fate is caused by the karma of his own past life, and the fate of his next life is determined by the behavior of this life. Doing good will enter the "three good interests" and doing evil will enter the "three evil interests". "Compassion-oriented, universal salvation" is the most basic moral behavior advocated by Tibetan Buddhism. This kind of moral behavior is not only reflected in the self-cultivation needs of believers, but also runs through the guidelines for dealing with interpersonal relationships. What is beneficial to others is good, and what is unfavorable is evil. This altruistic moral concept is called compassion, compassion and compassion in Buddhism, so it is said in The Theory of Great Wisdom that "all beings are happy with great compassion" and "all beings are suffering from great compassion". In order to seek happiness in the afterlife, people are honest and patient, and always treat others with compassion. People strive to be a pacifist advocated by a doctrine in life.
This is the moral and ethical culture pushed by Tibetan Buddhism to the Tibetan people. This culture also embodies the religious custom culture with worshipping Buddha, praying for God, turning scriptures and praying for blessings as the main body, and gives people new enlightenment with unique thoughts and behaviors. People use it to complete their beliefs, realize their ideals and strengthen their beliefs; Through it, we can express our feelings, balance and treat life. Tibetan customs and ceremonies are rich and colorful, and there are various ways to pray for them. These etiquette and custom cultures are like a rotating kaleidoscope, bringing people into a national cultural atmosphere full of holiness, broadness and richness.
(1) recite the six-character mantra
In Tibetan areas, the six-character mantra (or six-character motto) of Tibetan Buddhism is engraved on wool tubes, stones or temple walls. "eh? Bamiyan "is the mantra with the highest application rate in Tibetan Buddhism. From a religious point of view, it is mainly manifested in people's belief and desire for Guanyin Bodhisattva. Judging from the actual effect of reciting the six-character mantra, according to tantric theory, believers' correct reciting of the mantra has a special effect on the body, among which, it is to purify the mind, prevent diseases and strengthen the body, and not to have random thoughts. So no one in Tibet knows and recites the six-character mantra.
(2) Take a long head
This is a kind of worshipping Buddha, and it is also one of the commonly used forms of worshipping Buddha and praying for blessings in Tibetan religious monks' customs. Inspired by Buddhism, in order to show their faith and piety, people make the worship ceremony complicated and worship. This way of bowing down is very common in Tibetan areas, and it has become a daily behavior for people to salute the statues of Buddha and Bodhisattva at home on weekdays. The purpose of kowtowing is to wish, pray, pray and avoid disasters, and purify the soul. At the same time, the worshippers also went to a place like no man's land, with no distractions and peace of mind.
Author: Dream Plateau 2006-4-22 2 1:07 Reply to this speech
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2 Try to talk about the relationship between prayer rituals and customs of Tibetan Buddhism and health-Wen/Hua Rui? Dongzhi (Tibetan culture
(3) Turn the stupa and Mani warp wheel.
Turning stupa and Mani chakra are also common daily religious behaviors in Tibetan areas. From the perspective of religious teachings and people's understanding, turning stupa and Mani chakra have two meanings: first, strengthening the body and eliminating diseases and disasters are immediate interests; Second, it is in the long-term interest to complete the merits across the board. Turning stupa is the same as turning to chakra. It is a process of purifying one's body, mouth and heart, as well as gratitude and admiration for the "three treasures" of Buddhism, Dharma and monks. Its function is that it can not only increase good luck, wash away all your sins and avoid suffering from hell, but also be an act of practicing and cultivating virtue to prevent evil and kindness and surpass yourself. There are all kinds of sacred objects hidden in the tower and meridian wheel, which makes them sacred "spirituality". People will get great spiritual satisfaction by turning meridians, so as to make themselves happy and not be troubled by other thoughts.
(4) dial the rosary
The simplest way for Tibetan Buddhists to pray is to chant Buddhist scripture with rosary in hand. No matter day, night, leisure or busy, touch the prayer beads thousands of times every day, and pray for health and purify the soul with short six-character mantra.
(5) What should I do if I hang myself?
Well, banners are also called prayer banners. In Tibetan areas, people think that places with aura are full of colorful prayer flags. Every place where prayer flags gather symbolizes the location of every god, and every prayer flag is entrusted with people's good wishes and blessings. For thousands of years, Tibetan people living on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau have become accustomed to supporting their hopes in this way-peace, disaster relief, smoothness, auspiciousness, peace and happiness. People print scriptures, BMW pictures, auspicious horses, dragons, lions, tigers and other pictures on cloth and hang them on the connection of gods to let the wind blow. The prayer flags sway with the wind once, as if chanting, so those who hang the prayer flags have boundless merits. The prayer flags constantly convey the master's wishes and prayers to the gods, and play a role in communicating the relationship between believers and the gods.
What we want to make sure is that whether we recite the "six-character mantra", turn the prayer wheel, meditate, kowtow, turn the stupa, stew mulberries, offer sacrifices to the gods and so on. We all do it with a calm and single-minded attitude. When reading the six-character mantra, you should be single-minded, because every believer knows that chanting and thinking about other things are futile, just like the mentality in prayer, especially focusing on your mind, being single-minded and sincere. Turning stupa and braising mulberry can also keep people happy all the time, because stupa is sacred and a symbol of Buddha Sakyamuni's great achievements in his life, and braising mulberry is a "ladder" to communicate Buddha, bodhisattva and gods. Belief and piety in Buddhism should calm your mind and expel all distractions from your heart. Only in this way can we achieve the purpose of prayer. Another example: meditation, "Zen", which means "thinking and practicing" or "meditation", requires the meditator to concentrate on the situation and meditate, thus developing real wisdom. In short, pray, be sincere and calm. If you want to pray, you must keep your worldly desires such as happiness, anger, sadness, thinking, surprise, fear and sadness in an appropriate balance, and completely eliminate and suppress your inner sadness and anxiety. This is what people often say: "Sincerity is the spirit." People can't live without certain beliefs. Belief is an indispensable part of human ideology, which is intertwined with feelings such as love and hate, subordination and gratitude. Belief will form some related fantasies and hallucination experiences in people's consciousness, as if they saw the gods, heard their voices and accepted the inspiration from the gods. In this way, it is easy and natural to enter a state of peace. The prayer activities of Tibetan Buddhism are all carried out in a calm state, so these prayer customs are beneficial to the physical and mental health of the prayers.
Second, the relationship between prayer and health.
As mentioned above, birth, old age, illness and death are the four great sufferings of life. On the contrary, health and longevity is one of the goals pursued in life. Therefore, Tibetans often wish others to be "old Jia" (Chinese means long life). The prayer custom of Tibetan Buddhism discussed in this paper is the specific behavior that people assist in real life. As far as the prayer activities of Tibetan Buddhism religious belief are concerned, their psychological activities (such as reciting six-character proverbs, meditation, etc. ) can achieve the effect of calming the mind and psychological balance, which is beneficial to physical and mental health from a psychological point of view; As for its "movement" (such as kowtowing, turning the wheel, etc. ), it can achieve the purpose of strengthening the body from the perspective of kinematics and medicine. Therefore, we believe that in Tibetan Buddhism, both "quietness" and "movement" are beneficial to health and play a role in strengthening the body.
In the last article, we commented on the common Tibetan prayer rituals and customs. On the surface, people realize their beliefs through prayer. From the substantive effect, people seek health and safety through prayer, drive away troubles and purify their hearts. In other words, these prayers are not only the support of faith and spirit, but also beneficial to people's physical and mental health.