The last post was about preparing for a ceremony, so I'd like to say a little more about Buddhist rituals and ceremonies. Yes, Buddhists have a lot of rituals and ceremonies. Why? Are they necessary?
Getting to the second question first -- if we assume that the Eightfold Path defines what is necessary, then the answer seems to be "no." I'm not aware that any aspect of the Path deals specifically with rituals and ceremonies. But don't be too quick to write them off.
Since the first western scholars began to take an interest in Buddhism in the 19th century, there has been an assumption that the Buddha's original, clear-headed teachings were buried under centuries of religiosity, which included rituals. This attitude is expressed in a Time magazine article about Buddhism in Tibet from 1940 --
"Buddha, in the 6th century BC, was Prince Siddhartha Gautama, heir to a province in northern India. Revolted by the superstitions of India's native religions and the caste system they supported, he turned philosopher, and taught a pessimistic denial of religion, a stoic, agnostic despair of the riddles of life that make religion a necessity.
"Within two centuries of Buddha's death he was enthroned ... as the God of a religion more elaborate and fiend-ridden than those he once denied."
This was a little before my time, mind you, but in my long waddle through literature about Buddhism in the West, I've come to see the view expressed above as the prevailing one among western scholars until very recently. I dare say a lot of contemporary western authors -- Stephen Batchelor comes to mind -- still see Buddhism this way.
However, I agree with what Francis Dojun Cook wrote in his book How to Raise an Ox --
"One way to make sense of the bewildering proliferation of Buddhist schools, doctrines, and practices over the last 2,500 years is to see them as a single, creative, ongoing effort to deal with the central problem of samsaric existence, which is the erroneous belief in an enduring, permanent self. Whether it is Zen, Pure Land, Theravada, or Tibetan Buddhist practice, all Buddhist paths teach practices that will effectively destroy the belief in this self."
For the most part, the ceremonies and rituals came out of that single, creative, ongoing effort. And some have been passed on from generation to generation because they are useful. They are upaya -- skillful means.
So that's why.
I do not claim that every single ritual generated by Buddhists over the past 25 centuries works equally well for everybody. I do think some practices are culture-specific and are unlikely to be exported from their culture of origin. Some practices work better for some people than for others. But many seemingly nonsensical rituals can have a profound effect, if you let them.
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