Talk:Buddhist devotion

Unsourced content

"Recognized by most scholars as early." Can this be sourced? Mitsube (talk) 05:20, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

In theory you're right. WP:RS does say that statements of this sort should be sourced. Of course the whole article is in a very unfinished state. I wrote it because the whole topic is grossly neglected by the western(ized) Buddhists who write most of the WP Buddhism material. I assume you're Japanese, so perhaps you might look up the corresponding agama passage to confirm its presence there, on which basis most scholars would date it back to the Asokan period (tho' I can't supply a citation for that at present either). It's somewhat academic anyway since pilgrimage is mentioned in Asoka's inscriptions. Peter jackson (talk) 13:59, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

I don't dispute that it's early. I'm looking for the reason for stating that it is. There is a lot of material from the Pali Canon that is early but also almost certainly falsely attributed to the Buddha and his disciples, such as the backdated prophecies and the glorification of silly vinaya rules. So why even mention that this and the charm thing are early? Yes it is there. If the point is to imply "the Buddha said it" that's not verifiable. If that's not the point then why say it?

I agree with you that we can't present idealized versions of Buddhism as the real Buddhism, western or otherwise. But to what extent we can indicate what scholars think of as the original Buddhism, we should. Where we can't we shouldn't imply that we are doing so. In fact we should wherever possible relate conclusions as to what things are later "adventitious defilements." That's possibly the most important thing that researchers try to figure out after all. Whether or not we glorify this idealized, completely modern "original Buddhism" we can be fairly certain that there was an original Buddhism. Mitsube (talk) 22:03, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

I agree the current wording is liable to misinterpretation & should be improved. We mustn't give the impression that it's historical fact that something was taught by the Buddha unless there's consensus among historians to that effect, which in fact there never is. That is, there's nothing whatever that historians agree the Buddha actually taught. The nearest thing I've found to a citation on the subject is one to the effect that most scholars think the Buddha taught something of the sort. This applies across a very large number of WP articles.

As regards the particular material in question here, I think you'll find material of this sort in the Vinaya/Agamas of schools other than Theravada, from which most scholars would probably place it back to the Asokan period. I can certainly find a citation for the likely presence of raksha texts in Buddhism from that period. Beyond that, there's little or no hard evidence for anything. Peter jackson (talk) 10:44, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

Could you please explain this sentence a little more: "According to a spokesman of the Sasana Council of Burma, it is essential for the realization of truth." Mitsube (talk) 23:26, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure what it is you want explained. Is it his status as spokesman, or is it the way it's essential? The purpose of the citation, as of the whole article, is to correct the Western rationalist idea of Buddhism, of course. Peter jackson (talk) 08:14, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

Devotion to what, and what kind of truth. I think people in the West know that Buddhism has a lot of irrational elements. Western Buddhists must be clear that they are making their own way. Mitsube (talk) 18:21, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

Here's the whole paragraph.

"The rationality of Buddhism is not by itself enough–there must also be devotion in order that the truth may be realized. In Buddhism, mere belief is dethroned and replaced by confidence (saddha) based on knowledge of truth. Reason enables man to arrange and systematize knowledge in order to find truth, while confidence gives him determination to be true to his high ideals. Confidence or faith becomes superstition when it is not accompanied by reason, but reason without confidence would turn a man into a machine without feelings or enthusiasm for his ideals. Reason seeks disinterestedly to realize truth, but confidence molds a man's character and gives him strength of will to break all the barriers which hinder his progress in achieving his aims. While reason makes a man rejoice in truths he has already discovered, confidence gives him fresh courage and helps him onward to further conquests, to aspire to work strenuously for the realization of what has not yet been attained. It is this saddha which has the power to transform cold abstract rationalism into a philosophy of fervent hope, love, and compassion. It is also this saddha which is the basis of the loving devotion to the great teacher, the Buddha, his teaching and his holy sangha."

Bear in mind

1. verifiability policy requires that any statements cited from such primary sources should require no interpretation
2. as the article is still very short, we don't want to spend a large proportion of it on Burma

If people in the West know Buddhism has a lot of irrational elements, why didn't they put them in the Buddhism article? Nearly everything there, which is inadequate, was put there by me or at my request. Before I came along, there wasn't one single word about Pure Land, the religion of 1/3 of the world's Buddhists. There still isn't enough. Peter jackson (talk) 10:00, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

First, the quote. The quote is not evidence of an irrational element. In context, the quote also does not say that devotion to the Buddha is necessary precondition to attain nirvana, which is what I assumed the sentence in this article to mean on first reading. He is saying that devotion to pursuing spiritual aims is necessary as motivation for achieving them. This devotion then produces as a derivative loving devotion to the Buddha, dharma, and sangha which greatly advance the pursuit. This needs to be amended.

Second, the "irrational" elements. Non-rational might be a better word. If there's no actual false logic it would not be "irrational." There should be a balance between theory and practice in the treatment of articles. Certainly Pure Land must be given its full weight. But there's not that much to say about it. People add what they're interested in do they not? If most wikipedians are interested in the ideas of monk Buddhism instead of lay Buddhism then that is what they will add.

In Theravada countries as well most people don't get into Abhidhamma and have a simple folk religion I assume. That doesn't mean we shouldn't discuss the ideas of the Pali Canon far more than the lay practices of the majority of Theravada Buddhists. Ditto for Tibetan Buddhist theories vs. the folk religion which seems to me to be the twin of Hinduism, little as I know about either. The proper treatment is to say, the people who aren't deeply involved in pursuing the ultimate goal think about X Y and Z, while those that are get into the real meat of Buddhism, which is A B and C depending on the sect. Now if it is the case that the monks in Tibet mostly do worship that should be mentioned. But the advanced theories that are the real meat of Buddhism (whatever they are) should be fully explained as the real meat of Buddhism. The sects themselves (aside from Pure Land though this pays lip-service) say that what Western Buddhists are interested in is the real meat. Mitsube (talk) 18:06, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

I only used the term "irrational" because you did. I agree it's not the best word.

It's not a matter of monks vs lay people. In China, even monks are almost exclusively Pure land.

In principle we should deal mainly with the "official" teachings in the scriptures & other recognized authorities, where this differs from folk religion. In fact, tho', much of what Westerners tend to dismiss as ignorant peasant superstition has clear scriptural authority. This of course applies to Pure Land, but also to relics, pilgrimage, protection spells &c.

You can't treat Pure Land as an exception. It's followed by about 1/3 of the world's Buddhists. It would be like treating Protestantism as an exception to Christianity, when it's followed by about 1/3 of the world's Christians.

Bear in mind also that it's not our job to create an overall picture of Buddhism. that's forbidden by WP:OR. Our job is to try to summarize the pictures presented by scholars.

To emphasize advanced teachings & ignore elementary ones would give a false picture.

So far as I know, it's normal practice for monks following "advanced" practices to carry on with devotional practices as well, & I'm pretty sure tradition regards this as essential. The Visuudhimagga talks of surrendering oneself to the Buddha &/or one's teacher, & Tibetan texts say similar things.

Finally for now, you should remember that your own Japanese clergy aren't monks as understood in other Buddhist countries & the West, & indeed are mostly married. Peter jackson (talk) 10:42, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

I'm sorry, yes of course the Pali canon is full of superstitious nonsense. So there is definitely scriptural grounding. Also there are certainly Pure Land scriptures. I'm talking about levels of emphasis. Pure Land is an exception because in the other sects the monks (or priests or, as far as I know, lamas, though that situation seems to be more complex) are more engaged in meditative cultivation for the sake of pursuing enlightenment in this life. Or at least they should be doing so in theory, though I have no doubt that most Buddhist monks don't seriously pursue meditation. So there is a high vs. low distinction. Mitsube (talk) 19:41, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

Hoping to potentially be helpful, if I may toss in an idea: Wendy Cadge's book (based on her dissertation) "Heartwood" (2005) documents two Theravada communities in the U.S. — one an immigrant (largely) Thai community and the other a largely "white" (her word) community (which she at times appears to refer to as typifying "convert" communities, although it's not clear to what extent the latter group self-identify as "converts"). Among other things, Cadge reports that the former community generally takes refuge in the Buddha to seek protection and participates at the their temple to achieve merit, while the latter does not necessarily take refuge or pursue "merit" at all and largely identifies with the "mental development" aspects (e.g., meditation) of Buddhism. While such does not necessarily create a division between uneducated lay and scholastic monastic practices of which Mitsube might be thinking, it is suggestive of a similar (perhaps overlapping?) distinction between traditional and Western practices (perhaps akin to what Peter is pointing to?). It also does it using, I believe, a WP:RS source (University of Chicago press). I realize this is limited to Theravada Buddhism (and is just a qualitative case study), but I thought such (especially if similar pan-Buddhist material could be found) might meet the desire to create a distinction between traditional/Western practices while using WP:RS sources. Two cents, Larry Rosenfeld (talk) 14:53, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

The Routledge Encyclopedia of Buddhism says Western Buddhism is almost entirely modernist, not traditionalist. I already cited this at Buddhism in the West. The more detailed material you mention connects with Spiro's classification of Theravada into nibbanic, kammatic & apotropaic aspects, mentioned in that article. He makes the point I was making, that all of this is rooted in the Pali Canon. Also in that article is a listing of some categories of modern Theravada movements, including what has been called ultimatism, the concentration on the ultimate teachings while ignoring the elementary ones. Peter jackson (talk) 16:51, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

Hold on a minute, is it true that western experiments with Zen are also mostly modernist? Japanese Zen is already pretty "clean" but it also has excessive ritualism and dogmatism of its own. Western Tibetan Buddhists seem to have quite traditional Tibetan ideas from my reading. This excludes people like B. Alan Wallace but includes even such people as Robert Thurman who believes in the mythology. From your last quote what are the "elementary ones?" You mean the ritualistic aspects? Mitsube (talk) 19:41, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

It was you who talked of "advanced" teachings. What did you mean by that? I was simply stating a general principle.

I'm not an expert on Zen, so I can't go into much detail here. There's an article in 1 of the Encyclopedias of Buddhism, Macmillan or Routledge, I forget which, about popular misconceptions of Zen, but I haven't looked at it in detail. Something I remember from elsewhere (eg Dumoulin) is that since Hakuin, or shortly after, Rinzai has arranged its koans in a carefully graded system. Once you've "solved" a koan of the lowest grade to the satisfaction of your teacher, you get a nice calligraphic certificate saying you've attained satori of that grade, & if you want to continue you get a koan of the next grade. This doesn't fit the popular Western image of Zen. Devotional practices are standard, eg recitation of the Heart Sutra. (As an aside, I might mention here that the HS is included in the tantra section of the Kanjur, as is also, in most editions at least, a version of the Atanatiya Sutta, a standard protection text in the Pali Canon.

Likewise, I'm not an expert on Tibetan Buddhism. I think at present it's not too constructive to try to go into too much detail. The reason I created this article in the 1st place was that the chaotic arrangement of the Buddhism article left no obvious place to put this material. That's now been dealt with, so I suggest we not bother too much with this article until the relevant section of that one's been dealt with.

A bit more on the Pali Canon:

1. In so far as it's possible to tell, most of the Canon seems to be addressed to monks, so in that respect you're right to a fair extent about emphasis
2. However, most of the material in the Canon that seems to be addressed to laity is about the things that traditional Theravada laity concentrate on:
   1. in the earlier parts of the Canon, morality
   2. in the later parts, devotion
3. In the vast bulk of the Canon, there are only a handful of references to lay meditation

Conclusion: traditional Theravada is broadly faithful to the Canon, while modernist forms, while paying lip service, actually try to jump past to an alleged precanonical teaching. Peter jackson (talk) 08:30, 22 August 2008 (UTC)

This page has many articles where Western Buddhist monks are showing how the Visuddhimagga strayed from the early material in the Canon. But they seem to still have a somewhat fundamentalist view of the Canon itself. That is unfortunate. Mitsube (talk) 21:11, 24 August 2008 (UTC)

Articles by Buddhist monks are not reliable sources for the "correct" interpretation of the Canon. They simply give the authors' opinions. Anyway, did I mention the Visuddhimagga? I could have done, of course. In fact it supports your position more than the Canon does, having only a handful of mentions of laity. Peter jackson (talk) 08:41, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

Proposal for merge

After having worked for a while on this article, it seems it is hard to prevent it from overlapping with the article Faith in Buddhism. If you were only to concentrate on devotion in the sense of religious observances, you would still have a hard time to cover other material than already discussed in Faith in Buddhism. Furthermore, there are already a number of articles that discuss individual types of Buddhist observances and rituals, such as Buddhist meditation, Buddhist chant and prostration (Buddhism), making this article obsolete. Propose merge with Faith in Buddhism.--Farang Rak Tham (talk) 21:30, 18 May 2017 (UTC)

I think you are making a good point. "Faith" is certainly broader than "Devotion" so Faith in Buddhism would be a better umbrella title for the discussion.BrandenburgG (talk) 06:53, 27 May 2017 (UTC)

After having worked for a while on Faith in Buddhism, the article has become large. It may be better to withdraw the merge, and keep both articles, even though the Buddhist devotion article is still small. It may be possible to distinguish two separate articles after all, if Faith in Buddhism is about the mental quality of faith, whereas Buddhist devotion deals only with the detail of devotional practices. This could be further clarified by adding a top hat explaining the differences between the two articles, and perhaps by changing the titles of the articles. Suggestions on this are welcome. What do you think, BrandenburgG?

It will still be necessary to merge Puja (Buddhism) with Buddhist devotion.--Farang Rak Tham (talk) 20:13, 10 July 2017 (UTC)

I'm posting a help request to stimulate the discussion.

Should we merge, rename, or how should we otherwise deal with the articles Puja (Buddhism), Buddhist devotion, and Faith in Buddhism? --Farang Rak Tham (talk) 20:24, 10 July 2017 (UTC)

I'm sorry for being unhelpful, but that's not the purpose of the {{help me}} template. I suggest notifying WT:WikiProject Buddhism to bring in more editors interested in this topic; if the issue is contentious, a request for comments with clearly laid out options can be a good way to get broader community input. If the issue isn't contentious, you can of course just be bold and implement the solution that you (and other editors here) consider best - if people disagree, they'll revert, and then you can discuss the issue with them - see WP:BRD.

Personally I'd say the Faith in Buddhism article is not a good target for a merger because it's specifically about the concept of believing before understanding, as it pertains to Buddhism. That doesn't seem directly related to this article's topic. While the faith article seems to also verge into discussing devotional practices, either this article or the Puja (Buddhism) one seem better-suited for a discussion of Buddhist devotional practices in general. Huon (talk) 20:59, 10 July 2017 (UTC)

Thank you, Huon. Much appreciated. Sorry for using the wrong template. And no, I don't think it is contentious, but i do think it is important. And how do you feel about merging the articles on Puja (Buddhism) and Buddhist devotion?--Farang Rak Tham (talk) 23:34, 10 July 2017 (UTC)

The proposal of merging Puja (Buddhism) and this article has gone unopposed. I am proceeding with it.--Farang Rak Tham (talk) 22:21, 21 July 2017 (UTC)

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Buddhist devotion/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Skyes(BYU) (talk · contribs) 21:55, 3 May 2018 (UTC)

Hello Farang Rak Tham. It is my pleasure to do this GA review for you since you have been so helpful to me and my article. Upon first read, the article seems very good quality. I especially like the organization of the article; it is very logical and flows well. I will continue the review tomorrow in more detail. I am interested to learn more about Buddhist devotion, as that is a subject that I have very little knowledge of. Skyes(BYU) (talk) 21:55, 3 May 2018 (UTC)

Great, Skyes! Thanks.--Farang Rak Tham (Talk) 07:17, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

Citations

There are two references in your list that are not linked to any footnote. Skyes(BYU) (talk) 22:23, 3 May 2018 (UTC)

 Fixed.--Farang Rak Tham (Talk) 07:17, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

Definition

• I am a little confused about footnote 8 in this this section. The reference that it links to does not match the page number listed and I couldn't find the "Three gates of action" when doing a ctrl-f on the page. Skyes(BYU) (talk) 16:42, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

•  Fixed. Paragraph 4 on the page: "Devotion is expressed through rituals that engage the 'three doors' of body, speech, and mind. I am not certain whether three gates or three doors is used more, but I have now changed the redlink following the source cited.
• I also fixed the url, which linked to the wrong volume of the encyclopedia. This appeared to be a problem with several urls that linked to the same encyclopedia series, and I have corrected them now.--Farang Rak Tham (Talk) 11:52, 5 May 2018 (UTC)

History

• Same thing with the Skilling 2005 citation as stated directly above. Skyes(BYU) (talk) 17:08, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

• This refers to the passage "Thai religion has always been inclusive and eclectic, and homage does not neglect the classical deities of India or local spirits of all stripes. Reverence is also due to teachers and parents, and when they are invoked five joss-sticks or five candles may be offered. ... Modern studies tend to compartmentalize divinities, goddesses, and spirits as 'Hindu,' 'non-Buddhist,' or 'animistic,' assigning them static textbook identities that miss the point. In the tolerant pluralism of Southeast Asian culture they are part of a seamless hierarchy of power and merit, with the Buddha, at least ideally, at the top."

Symbols

• Yeah, I would check out that Skilling citation...I wonder if the pdf you linked is different or something... Skyes(BYU) (talk) 17:18, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

• This is the passage in question: Shrines housing replicas of the soles of a Buddha’s feet (positive models) or of his footprints (negative impressions)s the primary icon are common. The replicas are made on stone slabs, wooden panels, or cloth painting. In addition to replicas, there are also “natural” footprints, believed to have been left by a buddha—not only Sākyamuni, but also his three predecessors in this “Auspicious Aeon.”

Overall

• The article looks really good. Just fix the Skilling citations so that the correct pdf is linked and/or the correct page number is listed in the footnote for a future reader to go check out. I am going to allow myself to get some fresh eyes over the weekend and I will re-read the article on Monday and double check for grammar, MoS, clarity, and overall flow. I can imagine finishing up the review on Monday as there are very few flaws in the article. Skyes(BYU) (talk) 18:34, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

•  Done. Thanks!--Farang Rak Tham (Talk) 11:52, 5 May 2018 (UTC)

Final Thoughts

Thanks for making the changes with the references; that helps a lot. I made a couple of small copy edits, but other than that the article looks great. The flow is logical, the article is clear, and the prose is easy to understand. I'm ready to pass the article. Skyes(BYU) (talk) 19:09, 7 May 2018 (UTC)

Thanks, Skyes(BYU)!--Farang Rak Tham (Talk) 19:23, 7 May 2018 (UTC)

Any ideas for a DYK nomination?--Farang Rak Tham (Talk) 19:26, 7 May 2018 (UTC)

Farang Rak Tham, I found self-immolation to be pretty interesting. I had no idea it was a form of Buddhist devotion practice. I'm pretty bad at coming up with good hooks, but at least that's a suggestion for a topic to think about since it's a pretty dense article. Skyes(BYU) (talk) 19:48, 7 May 2018 (UTC)

GA review (see here for what the criteria are, and here for what they are not)
It is reasonably well written. a (prose, spelling, and grammar): b (MoS for lead, layout, word choice, fiction, and lists): It is factually accurate and verifiable. a (references): b (citations to reliable sources): c (OR): d (copyvio and plagiarism): It is broad in its coverage. a (major aspects): b (focused): It follows the neutral point of view policy. Fair representation without bias: It is stable. No edit wars, etc.: It is illustrated by images, where possible and appropriate. a (images are tagged and non-free images have fair use rationales): b (appropriate use with suitable captions):
Overall: Pass/Fail:
· · ·

DYK Ideas

Hi, I work with Skyes and noticed you were open to suggestions for DYK hooks. I liked the the sentence about paying honor to Buddha's footprints--if you can add more detail from the source, it could be worth it for a good hook (do they make a shrine? leave offerings? preserve them somehow?). I'm also intrigued by the practices of "making merit" and confession--most of my knowledge is of Zen Buddhism and I mistakenly assumed that repentance was just a Judeo-Christian thing. The practice of monastic rains retreat--intensive meditation during the rainy season?--was also interesting to me. You might even be able to tie in the Ghost Festival to Mother's Day, but the nomination might not be reviewed in time. Rachel Helps (BYU) (talk) 16:46, 10 May 2018 (UTC)

Sorry, looks like I was too late with that. Congrats on the DYK today! Rachel Helps (BYU) (talk) 17:13, 10 May 2018 (UTC)

Thanks, Rachel!--Farang Rak Tham (Talk) 20:50, 10 May 2018 (UTC)