From news.scruz.net!bulb.garlic.com!uunet!in3.uu.net!192.239.17.140!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!cam-news-feed1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!cocoa.brown.edu!NewsWatcher!user Wed May 7 12:42:25 1997 Path: news.scruz.net!bulb.garlic.com!uunet!in3.uu.net!192.239.17.140!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!cam-news-feed1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!cocoa.brown.edu!NewsWatcher!user From: William_Gilders@brown.edu (Bill) Newsgroups: talk.religion.buddhism Subject: Re: Water and Buddhism? Date: Wed, 07 May 1997 10:56:30 -0400 Organization: Brown University Lines: 54 Message-ID: References: <3370217E.3841@bconnex.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.148.199.35 In article <3370217E.3841@bconnex.net>, sandyc wrote: > I have a simple query I'm hoping someone out there can satisfy. And > that query is this: What is the Buddhist relation to water? I ask this > in the same sense that Christians baptize; and, similarly, that ancient > Romans had to cross a body of water before they could enter the > underworld. Are there potent symbols of water in Buddhism? These are > not well phrased questions but I am not yet sure of exactly what I seek. > > Sandy Campbell. "Stream entry" is a phrase used in Buddhism to decsribe that point in spiritual progress when a person is definitley on the way to liberation. Attainment of liberation is pictured as the crossing of a stream, using the teachings of the Buddha as a raft. The Buddha is know as the Tathagata ("Thus Gone"). This is partially connected with this image of crossing over. I have also seen samsara (the cycle of birth and death in which we are all trapped) described as a sea, where the image here of something in which we are drowning. I imagine there is more. As for initiation rituals with water, there are none that are basic to Buddhism as a whole. However, some Theravada (southern Buddhist) schools use water in rituals. Pots of water are connected with a thread, which is tied to a Buddha image. The group celebrating the ritual sits within the circle of string and monks offer chants and blessings. The water is supposed to "conduct" the positive energy. I imagine you could find more information in an anthropologically oriented book on Asian Buddhism. I have also seen Cambodian Buddhists chant while pouring water from one vessel into another. They then took the water and poured it out on the ground. I was told that the water was for "the angels". My guess is that the explanation was designed for a westerner. I imagine it has something to do with providing drink for spirits that protect the Dharma, but this is just a guess. Finally, when I visited a Thai temple I was blessed by the abbot, who sprinkled me with water. He also offered to sprinkle my car (I didn't have one). I imagine this had something to do with transferring spiritual power as a means of protection. I suspect much of this ritual activity (not well-know by western Buddhists and often looked down upon by those who do hear about it) is rooted in ancient pre-Buddhist ideas about the power of water to absorb and communicate unseen energies. This is just a guess. Finally, water is usually offered to Buddha images as part of a puja (devotional ceremony). Both water for drinking and water for washing is offered, along with flowers, incense, perfume, and food. The water is the same as what would eb offered to the Buddha if he were to be present in the flesh. The image receives by proxy the devotion we would show to the Buddha in real life. I hope this information gives you some help. Be well, Bill