Buddhist practices

Buddhist practice is the lived expression of the Buddha's teachings. AQA expects you to know the major forms of meditation, key festivals, ethical conduct and how Theravada and Mahayana practices differ.

Meditation

Meditation is the heart of Buddhist practice. Two main forms:

Samatha (calm/concentration)

• Calms and focuses the mind.
• Common methods: focusing on the breath; loving-kindness (metta bhavana — radiating goodwill to all beings).
• Goal: stillness and concentration as a foundation for insight.

Vipassana (insight)

• Investigates the nature of reality.
• Often paired with samatha — calm first, then insight.
• Goal: direct experience of the Three Marks of Existence (anicca, dukkha, anatta).
• Mahasi Sayadaw's noting technique (Burmese) is a famous modern method.

Zen meditation (Mahayana)

• Zazen — "just sitting"; let thoughts come and go without attachment.
• Some Zen schools use koans — paradoxical riddles ("What is the sound of one hand clapping?") to break habitual thinking.

Worship and chanting

• Puja in a temple involves offerings of flowers (a reminder of impermanence), candles (light of wisdom) and incense (purity).
• Chanting of sutras (e.g. the Heart Sutra in Mahayana) — both an act of devotion and a meditative focus.
• Mantras — sacred phrases. Om Mani Padme Hum (Tibetan) invokes the bodhisattva of compassion.
• Prostrations — bowing three times to honour the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha).

Ceremonies and rituals around death

Buddhists generally believe in rebirth based on karma; what one becomes in the next life depends on one's actions and mental state at death.

• A monk may chant beside the dying to direct positive thoughts.
• Cremation is most common; in Tibet, sky burial (offering the body to vultures) reflects impermanence and detachment.
• Ceremonies on the 7th, 49th, 100th day after death help guide the consciousness through the bardo (Tibetan intermediate state).

Festivals

• Wesak (Vesak) — most important festival in Theravada. Celebrates the Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and parinirvana on a single full-moon day in May. Devotees visit temples, give to monks, light lanterns, listen to teachings.
• Parinirvana Day — Mahayana festival in February marking the Buddha's death.
• Songkran — Thai New Year (April), featuring water-blessing of Buddha statues, water fights, almsgiving.

Karma and rebirth

Karma (kamma in Pali) = intentional action and its consequences.

• Wholesome actions (motivated by generosity, kindness, wisdom) produce wholesome karma.
• Unwholesome actions (motivated by greed, hatred, delusion) produce unwholesome karma.
• Karma drives rebirth: at death, accumulated karma conditions the next life. The goal is to escape this cycle (samsara) entirely by attaining nirvana.

Ethical teaching — the Five Precepts

Lay Buddhists undertake to refrain from:

1. Killing living beings.
2. Taking what is not given (stealing).
3. Sexual misconduct.
4. False speech (lying, gossip).
5. Intoxicating drinks/drugs (which cloud the mind).

Monks/nuns observe additional precepts (227 for Theravada bhikkhus).

The Sangha and lay community

The Sangha (monastic community) and laypeople depend on each other:

• Monks teach Dharma; laypeople provide food and material support (dana — generosity).
• This mutual relationship is one of the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha) every Buddhist takes refuge in.

Examiner tips

• Always pair Theravada (samatha + vipassana) and Mahayana (Zen, Pure Land) practices in comparison questions.
• For festivals, name Wesak (universal) and one denomination-specific festival.
• For ethical questions, cite the Five Precepts AND the principle of non-harm (ahimsa).