Sacred Moments - Reflections on Buddhist Rites and Christian Rituals (Contribution From 18 Global Practitioners)

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Ritual has a causal impact on people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, benefitting even those who claim not to believe that rituals work. When it is done effectively, ritual deeply impacts all aspects of human existence sometimes consciously, often non- discursively. Ritual becomes a sacred moment. Believing that there is value in the dialogue, SEANET proudly presents its 15th volume, "Sacred Moments: Reflections on Buddhist Rites and Christian Rituals." Each of the eighteen contributors from around the world are practitioners familiar with the Buddhist context. Each recognizes that the absence of ritual creates cultural vacuum, and that contextualization of values is a challenging continual process. Reading these pages will move you to promote deeper mutual understanding, greater social transformation, and the reinforcement of the best of life in all cultural expressions.

Paul H. de Neui serves as Professor of Missiology and Intercultural Studies and Director of the Center for World Christian Studies at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois.

What of the Bible did new Buddhist background believers want to study most? It came as a lesson to me to learn that it was not one of the gospels. It was the book of Genesis. Part of this was because the stories of human origin in the first chapters addressed questions largely ignored within the Buddhist tradition. But the reason that most people explained their fascination with Genesis to me was that they could relate to the stories of ritual. That book is full of dozens of rituals including the one mentioned in the verse above. I had read over that verse unthinkingly many times until it was explained to me that Isaan people (and other cultures) hold a weaning ceremony to celebrate the survivability of a child. The need for ritual crosses all cultural barriers.

But why do people need ritual? Preserving cultural values, re-inforcing identity, dealing with transition and restoring social equilibrium would top the list. Recent studies in the role of ritual however have moved beyond the observational tactics of anthropologists into the realm of psychology. Research in this field shows that ritual can have a causal impact on people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors - benefitting even those who claim not to believe that rituals work. When it is done effectively, ritual deeply impacts all aspects of human existence sometimes consciously, often non-discursively. Ritual becomes a sacred moment.