Reply To: Namaskaraya and Tisarana Vandana

#21204
Lal
Keymaster

Happy New Year to you too, Lang!

Yes. As I mentioned in one of those two posts, each quality of a Buddha can be described in many ways.
– The qualities of a Buddha cannot really described in a limited way. They are infinite. I have not seen a reference to a sutta, but Waharaka Thero has mentioned that there is a sutta that states so. And I have no doubt about that.
– The point is that each one of us starts with that set of nine described in a way we can understand (and each of us may be described differently by differently people; I have a book in Sinhala on the 24 supreme qualities of the Tiratana or Three Jewels: Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha).
– As our understanding grows, we can see that those nine are inadequate, even if we stick to just nine.
– One’s faith grows too, and that is all that matters. That mindset is important, since it allows one to comprehend deeper Dhamma. Some people disregard these chantings as “ritualistic”, but they are not, if one does that with understanding. Of course, chanting the verses like a parrot will be of no use.