• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Religious rituals

Jainarayan

ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Staff member
Premium Member
Mine is a Hindu ritual called pañcopacāra pūjā (panchopachara poojaa). It simply means "five offerings worship". It's actually more than five, but the core five are in bold. Technically, and being picky, since I'm making 10 offerings it would be called daśopacāra pūjā. There are versions that include 16, 27 steps and maybe more. It becomes a full-on affair. My puja usually takes 18-20 minutes. Some people's takes 1-2 minutes, or 1-2 hours. There is no right or wrong way. The intention is that the deity is treated like an honored guest or even royalty, and shown devotion and love.

Ganesha is always prayed to first, asking him to keep trouble away.
āvāhana - Inviting and welcoming the deity.
dhyāna - Thinking about, meditating on the deity.
acamaniya - Offering a small cup of water.
akṣata - Offering a small dish of uncooked unbroken rice.
or gandha - Anointing the deity with salndalwood paste. I offer both the rice and sandalwood.
puśpa - Offering a flower (pushpa).
dhūpa - Offering incense.
dīpa - Offering a small oil lamp flame.
naivedya - A small offering of food or fruit.
mahānirājana - Another offering of flame, usually with a multi-wick lamp and a song of praise of the deity.
Then often some mantras, chanted hymns and prayers, etc.
Finally some prayers asking forgiveness if you flubbed anything, thanking the deity for attending, and saying goodbye.
 

Exaltist Ethan

Bridging the Gap Between Believers and Skeptics
I don't have any rituals, particularly because there doesn't seem to be anything I can do to enhance my reality, other than what I already do to experience it. I mean, almost every time my favorite streamer comes on YouTube, I make a pizza and eat it while he's playing his video game. Is that a ritual? The only thing I can think of that could be a ritual for me is when I cross my hands back and forth, cross my eyes at the same time, and connect brain cells by doing this - it actually works if you try it for at least five minutes. But I hardly do that anymore either, as my teacher who told me about the ritual idea told me that constantly doing it can be unhealthy for you. I don't think it is, but after it became a ritual I did develop bipolar disorder, and while I want to blame pure genetics as the reason there probably has is some effect the crossing of my hands has that I didn't fully attend on having while performing that ritual.

I must say however that crossing hands and eyes and being super focused on that for at least five minutes will make you at least feel smarter. It creates some sort of mental fixation that is similar to being focused on a sudoku or crossword puzzle. And if it doesn't make you smarter you will at least feel different after doing it. That's probably the one and only "ritual" of my belief system, although I haven't performed it seriously for several months.
 

SalixIncendium

अहं ब्रह्मास्मि
Staff member
Premium Member
I fast on Mahashivaratri.

I awaken at 3:40am each day, use the bathroom, shower, and meditate.

I leave for work at 6am each weekday and listen to a Vedanta lecture during my hour and a half drive to work (currently lectures on Guadapada's Mandukya Karika).

That's about the extent of it.
 

exchemist

Veteran Member
No one?..
I suspect for most people the rituals they follow will be those of their religion, information about which is readily available. Also, for many, it's a bit of a tedious question, as there are many different ones, for various circumstances. So not many will want to embark on a detailed explanation that could go on for pages. The rituals of the Catholic church, for instance, can be the subject of entire manuals.

But the answer to the exact question you pose would be "yes".
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
The rituals outlined in the Agamas, which are essentially texts on ritual in Hinduism, are absurdly complex for larger ceremonies. The Agamas probably hold 10 times more that people actually use or know. The different offerings made in fires, locations, accurate timings, directions things face, it all plays a role. An auspicious time can be down to the minute for both beginning the ritual as well as ending it. The mahakumbabhishekham (grand opening) of a large temple can take as long as 20 days, with a couple dozen priests involved.
 

Truthseeker

Non-debating member when I can help myself
I was inspired by this tread What Is Your Theology? by @Rival

Do you have any religious rituals?
We have few rituals. We do ablutions before obligatory prayers, which I see as a preparation of prayer and a symbol of us purifying ourselves before the prayer. Fasting could also be seen as being a ritual.

Fasting is symbolic, and a reminder of abstinence from selfish and carnal desired."
(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, January 10, 1936)
(Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 233)
 

Zwing

Active Member
I think that this is quite an important thread, for a couple of reasons. Ritual appears to myself to be the binding element in religious community. Also, the familiarity associated with ritual can be a catalyst to deep reflection, even apart from the dogmatic tenets which underpin the ritual in question. I was raised Roman Catholic, but have been atheist for several years, now. Even so, I enjoy on occasion, to attend a mass, especially a “Low Mass”, a spoken mass without music. Even though my participation is now quite limited, I have found that observing the familiar ritual can act as a catalyst in solving some or another source of perplexity. The ritual itself seems to have effects apart from the meaning of it.
I suspect for most people the rituals they follow will be those of their religion…
Some, like myself, might be interested in learning about the varieties of ritual experience, as an aid in developing private rituals for personal practice.
So not many will want to embark on a detailed explanation that could go on for pages.
Yes, then in such cases the “short form” or outline might suffice.
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
What is more meaningful than fun in this short life? :)
Play with colored water on Holi, brighten the whole city on Diwali, gorge on the choicest food on New Year (whichever you may have).
 

exchemist

Veteran Member
I think that this is quite an important thread, for a couple of reasons. Ritual appears to myself to be the binding element in religious community. Also, the familiarity associated with ritual can be a catalyst to deep reflection, even apart from the dogmatic tenets which underpin the ritual in question. I was raised Roman Catholic, but have been atheist for several years, now. Even so, I enjoy on occasion, to attend a mass, especially a “Low Mass”, a spoken mass without music. Even though my participation is now quite limited, I have found that observing the familiar ritual can act as a catalyst in solving some or another source of perplexity. The ritual itself seems to have effects apart from the meaning of it.

Some, like myself, might be interested in learning about the varieties of ritual experience, as an aid in developing private rituals for personal practice.

Yes, then in such cases the “short form” or outline might suffice.
Have a go, then.

By the way, I think you make excellent points about the purpose and effect of ritual.
 

Zwing

Active Member
Have a go, then.

By the way, I think you make excellent points about the purpose and effect of ritual.
Yes, ritual seems more like precious metal as opposed to fiat currency. While fiat currency has no value other than monetary, a gold or silver piece has intrinsic value derived from its material nature. In a similar way, ritual still retains a significance and power to effect us apart from whatever religious meaning it is determined to express, having cathartic and other psychological effects. Because of this effect, people will often turn to tiny personal ‘micro rituals’ to help relieve the effects of daily stressors.
 
Last edited:
Top