Ritual

1
Chapter 9

• Ritual

2
(No Transcript)
3
(No Transcript)
4
(No Transcript)
5
(No Transcript)
6
(No Transcript)
7
(No Transcript)
8
The Master Confucius said, Without ritual,
courtesy is tiresome without ritual, prudence is
timid without ritual, bravery is quarrelsome
without ritual, frankness is hurtful. Confuciani
sm The Analects 82
9
Recite that which has been revealed to you of the
Book the Holy Koran and keep up prayer surely
prayer keeps (one) away from indecency and evil,
and certainly, the remembrance of Allah is the
greatest. Islam Holy Koran 2944
10
He said to them, I have eagerly desired to eat
this Passover with you before I suffer for I
tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled
in the kingdom of God. Then he took a cup, and
after giving thanks he said, Take this and
divide it among yourselves for I tell you that
from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the
vine until the kingdom of God comes. Then he
took a loaf of bread, and when he had given
thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying,
This is my body, which is given for you. Do
this in remembrance of me. --Christianity Luke
2215-19
11
If the practice is properly carried out, one
session of meditation is one session of Buddha a
day of meditation is a day of Buddha. Or, as the
ancients have said, One inch of meditation, one
inch of Buddha so inch by inch to the six-foot
Buddha. --Zen Buddhism Amakuki Sessans
commentary on Hakuins Song of Meditation.
12
Then, by means of the knowledge of the art of
worshiping the lotus-eyed deity Vishnu, he the
worshipper should place water for bathing,
cloth, sacred thread, ornaments, scents, flowers,
incense, lamps, and edibles. --Hinduism Puja
described in the Agni Purana
13
When Tzu-kung arrived at the funeral, he found
one of the dead mans friends weaving frames for
silkworms, while the other strummed a lute.
Tzu-kung hastened forward and said, May I be so
bold as to ask what sort of ceremony this is,
singing in the very presence of the corpse? The
two men looked at each other and
laughed. --Taoism Chuang Tzu, section 6.
14
The first and second quotations (from
Confucianism and Islam) declare something of the
profound importance of ritual in Confucianism and
in Islam. What are the benefits of following
religious ritual, according to these claims? Do
you think they are right?
15
The man worshiping with rased hands might be a
Christian Pentecostal praising Jesus. Just from
the form, it is unlikely that he is a Hindu
worshiper doing puja, as described in the fifth
quotation. Yet, they both look like worship.
What is worship?
16
Jesus words above are the traditional basis for
the Christian sacrament of the Lords Supper (or
Eucharist). What do you know about this ritual
and how it is based upon these actions of Jesus?
Do you think Jesus meant for this action to
become a major, central religious ritual?
17
The wedding ceremony and the Bar Mitzvah depicted
here are Hindu and Jewish rituals, respectively.
There are, of course, also Jewish weddings and
Hindu coming-of-age rituals. Can you think of
other rituals that mark stages in life for these
or other religions? What kind of stage of life
seems to be sanctified here?
18
The man in white depicted here is a Sufi mystic
of the Mevlevi order, or what is often called a
Whirling Dervish. His dance is a kind of
communication with God for some Muslim mystics,
yet it may seem very different from the Muslim
prayer suggested in the second quotation. Might
the dance ritual be more like the Zen meditation
mentioned in the fourth quotation?
19
The Indian with a peace pipe might seem like a
cliché, but certainly, Christmas with Santa is an
even worse cliché. What might be the real
meaning of such ritual? Is it possible to
forget or terribly misunderstand the rituals of
others or even of ourselves?
20
What might be the point of the men laughing in
the last story? Note that there is an almost
humorous traditional rivalry between the
Confucian emphasis on ritual and the
philosophical Taoist suspicion that ritual is a
distraction. Might there be reasons to reject
ritual?
21
What is Ritual?
In the broadest sense, ritual is nothing more
than any kind of repeated action that carries
with it some kind of extra, perhaps symbolic,
significance beyond the action itself. repeated
action believed to carry performative character
in religious context Religious ritual in
particular, then, could be defined in this
general sense, with one very obvious addition
reference or connection to the Sacred Ultimate
Reality. Repeated, stylized actions and words
that have their significance explicitly or
implicitly tied ot the Holy are, by definition,
religious rituals. (Richter pp. 227-28)
22
Religious Rituals

• Rites of Passage
• Other Transformative Rituals
• Seasonal Rituals
• Commemorations

23
Religious Rituals

• Rites of Passage
• passages of identity, stages of life
• e.g., Bar Mitzvah, marriage, etc.
• baptism
• vision quests
• rejection of ritual
• How do we handle such passages (birth, puberty,
  marriage, death, etc.) in our culture?

24
Religious Rituals

• Rites of Passage
• Other Transformative Rituals
• Definition deal with the transformation of the
  human being or the world, by or for the power of
  the Sacred.
• meditation rituals
• ritual washings
• self-inflicted punishments
• magic
• others . . . e.g., the Mass/Eucharist?

25
Religious Rituals

• Rites of Passage
• Other Transformative Rituals
• Seasonal Rituals
• e.g., Thanksgiving
• Modern Wicca, Solstice, etc.
• Festival of Booths

26
Religious Rituals

• Rites of Passage
• Other Transformative Rituals
• Seasonal Rituals
• Commemorations
• Christmas (but cf. Sol Invictus)
• Passover
• Vesak (Buddhism)
• Night of Power
• Eliade reenactment at the root of all ritual

27
Worship, Prayer, and Magic

• Worship
• Prayer
• Magic

28
Worship, Prayer, and Magic

• Worship
• Worship is the ritual performance of proclaiming
  the value and greatness of the Sacred, declaring
  its worth and glory. (Ricther, 237)
• worship vs. veneration
• salat as worship (dua-petition)?
• liturgy vs. spontaneity

29
Worship, Prayer, and Magic

• Worship
• Prayer
• requests for aid and love
• may acknowledge that the god/God may refuse

30
Worship, Prayer, and Magic

• Worship
• Prayer
• Magic
• if prayer is believed to be automatically
  effective, it takes on the form of magic
• incantations
• personal prayer may evolve from magic

31
Value of Ritual

• unity to the community
• sense of identity to the people
• guidance in stages of life
• consistent relation to the Sacred

32
Problems with Ritual

• Formality (vs. spontaneity)
• Manipulation (vs. submission)
• Is ritual necessarily dead, lifeless, boring,
  etc.?

33
Ritual and Globalization

• Religious ritual and public ritual (in the
  secular, modern world)
• Primary identity national or religious?
• Religious rituals become secularized?
• Sports a new public (religious) ritual?
• Other (religious) rituals . . .?

34
Hindu Temples
35
Nobutada (1565-1614) Meditating Daruma. 18th
century. Kakemono ink on paper H 59 cm W 17 cm.
36
Haggadah Story of the Exodus and redemption of
the people of Israel by God, read during Passover
services. Developed over centuries, it includes
excerpts from the Bible, rabbinical writings,
psalms, stories, and prayers. "Haggadah"??Worl
d Encyclopedia. Philip's, 2005. Oxford Reference
Online. Oxford University Press. Irvine Valley
College. 31 October 2006 ce.com/views/ENTRY.html?subviewMainentryt105.e5
017
37
(No Transcript)
38
(No Transcript)
39
(No Transcript)
40
(No Transcript)
41
(No Transcript)
42
(No Transcript)
43
(No Transcript)
44
(No Transcript)
45
(No Transcript)
46
(No Transcript)
47
(No Transcript)