[firewns]

I have read somewhere that circumambulation clockwise around a stupa or Buddhist relic brings enormous merit to oneself.

Is it really a kusala kamma to do so, or merely a form of silabbata-paramaso?

Also, if it is a kusala kamma, will circumambulating anti-clockwise negate its merit and instead bring demerit upon oneself?

Thanks very much in advance for any insights you could share.

[Embodied]

Hello,

That reminds me Tibetan “buddhism” pervaded by tantra and magick.
According alot of magickal systems counterclockwise is often related to and might awake dark energies from the lower worlds.
Moreover it reminds me also the Purification Sutta where the Gotama criticises the brahmins rituals for purification , the Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta which is indirectly related to your question.

[Akvan]

Hi firewns,

I think the merit that is gained by circumambulation of a stupa is because of one’s respect (sadda) towards the Buddha. I think it is one’s thoughts during that time that will lead to merit. So one can circumambulate a stupa clockwise and gain demerit if one is thinking bad thoughts during that process. In the same way one may gain merit even by going anti-clockwise if his thoughts are pure etc. Saying this there are energies etc. that may play a part in all this, which I am not too familiar with.

Silabbatha paramasa refers to a view that one can attain nibbana through performing rights and rituals. It doesn’t mean that someone who doesn’t have silabbatha paramasa will not perform rights and rituals. It is just that he knows that performing such rights will not lead to nibbana. He can do this out of respect / shradda etc. And this shradda can help him gain panna which is vital to attain nibbana.

In the thera gatha different monks explain how they initially got on this path, many many lives before. And for all of them the start has been shradda towards a previous Buddha. So such “rituals” (done with proper understanding) can be very helpful on the path.

[Embodied]

Moreover,one should judiciously take advantage of the free available time one has.
If one has to choose between Insight Meditation/ Tilakhanna bhavana and circumnanbulations…well the decision isn’t difficult to make.

[Lal]

Firewns said: “I have read somewhere that circumambulation clockwise around a stupa or Buddhist relic brings enormous merit to oneself.
Is it really a kusala kamma to do so, or merely a form of silabbata-paramaso?
Also, if it is a kusala kamma, will circumambulating anti-clockwise negate its merit and instead bring demerit upon oneself?”

It is always good to know how the key Pali terms originated (“pada nirukti”).

Kusala comes from “ku” + ”sala”, where “ku” refers to “kunu” or keles or defilements, and “sala” means “to get rid of”.

“akusala” is the opposite of “kusala”.
Therefore, an akusala kamma is an action that defiles or contaminates one’s mind. Any kusala kamma involves an action that involves removal of defilements from one’s mind.

Now it must be clear that circumambulation (walking) around a stupa or Buddhist relic is neither a kusala or an akusala kamma.

The word “punna” is related to joy; the Sinhala word “pina” or “pin” is associated with “pinaveema” or “making one’s heart joyful.

Therefore, a punna kamma is an action that makes one’s heart filled with joy. It is usually an action out of saddha (faith in the Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha). Such actions may not necessarily be kusala kamma, but some punna kamma are kusala kamma too.

For example, when one offers food to the bhikkhus (or even to a hungry person) with joy in heart, that is both a kusala kamma (giving which is the opposite of stealing), and also a punna kamma because one does with joy.

Circumambulation around a stupa or Buddhist relic (usually while reciting a gatha or Tisarana Vandana) is a punna kamma. In fact, it belongs to the same category as offering flowers and reciting pirith (paritta).

The key reason is that one’s mind becomes temporarily free of pancanivara (kamaccandha, vyapada, tina middha, uddacca kukkucca, and vicikicca) when doing a punna kamma. All those actions make one’s mind joyful and be receptive to deep Dhamma. It is good to do them before sitting down to listen to a desana.

Whether there is an effect for clockwise or counter- clockwise, I am not sure. If there is, it must be a small effect.

In fact, when one does mundane anapana (breath meditation), that could be a punna kamma, but NOT a kusala kamma. That is because it helps keep the mind focused on the breath and thus suppress pancanivarana temporarily. But, by itself, it does not remove any defilements.

April 28, 2018: More details in a new post: “Kusala and Akusala Kamma, Punna and Pāpa Kamma“.

[Johnny_Lim]

Can a punna kamma be rooted in ignorance even if it is done out of faith? For example, bowing to a Buddha statue (we know there is no sculpture of Buddha during Buddha’s time and that the Buddha does not advocate idol worshipping). The same goes for offering fruits, lights, incense and other offerings to the Buddha statue.

[y not]

Firewns:

“… or merely a form of silabbata-paramaso?”, you ask ,in reference to circumambulation.

The following may be( perhaps only remotely) connected:

I have had a Buddha head statue for 10 years or so. It stands on a shelf in the room opposite where I usually am in contemplation/meditation, among other things. I hardly ever look at it – only perhaps when the shelf needs wiping etc.. When I am contemplating some Dhamma concept and a stray obstructing thought comes AT THE BEGINNING, it is THEN that I look at the statue, i.e. to get me back on track. This is its only use.

So in no way am I ‘paying respect’ to the statue, nor even thinking of the Buddha Himself, per se,…only a reminder of the Teaching. But here I must say that from earliest childhood I was not only averse to all kinds of images, rites , rituals, celebrations and symbolism of any kind, religious, social, or cultural, but actually REPULSED by such.

So in my case, the third Samyojana was a walk over from the very start. The other two in the first group of three took some doing mainly because of the partly incorrect or outrightly wrong renedering into English in popular Buddhist texts.

y not

[Lal]

Johnny said: “Can a punna kamma be rooted in ignorance even if it is done out of faith?”.

We need to clarify faith (saddha) first. In Buddha Dhamma, saddha comes through understanding, and different people may have different levels of understanding. Nevertheless, any act done with saddha makes one’s heart joyful, and thus is a punna kamma. This is explained in the post “Kusala and Akusala Kamma, Punna and Pāpa Kamma“.

As also explained in that post, some punna kamma may not be kusala kamma, but they ALWAYS make conditions that can lead to kusala kamma. Buddha taught that punna kamma are NECESSARY to cultivate the Path.

Johnny said: “..we know there is no sculpture of Buddha during Buddha’s time and that the Buddha does not advocate idol worshipping.”

This is absolutely wrong. It is true that Buddha Statues were not there at the time of the Buddha. But worshipping symbols REPRESENTING the Buddha were there at the time of the Buddha. There is the following account in the Tipitaka:
People brought many things to offer to the Buddha at Jetavanarama. If the Buddha was not there, they went back disappointed. When Ven. Ananda mentioned this to the Buddha, the Buddha asked a Bo tree to be planted there and to instruct people to make those offerings to that Bo tree. It was called “Ananda Bodhi“. It was just a symbol representing the Buddha. One’s feelings are based on one’s reverence for the Buddha, not for the symbol.

Of course, the same goes for offering fruits, lights, incense and other offerings to the Buddha statue. Faith is in one’s mind, not in any symbol.

A crude analogy can be given in terms of paper money that we use today. A hundred- dollar bill has no real intrinsic value. But it is accepted by the society to have a value of $100.

[Lal]

Firewns said: “Is it really a kusala kamma to do so, or merely a form of silabbata-paramaso?”

Contemplating on recent discussions, I realized that I need to make an important clarification regarding a possible misconception about silabbata paramasa, and also punna kamma.

Silabbata paramasa DOES NOT mean sila is bad. It just means one cannot attain Nibbana JUST via sila, i.e., just by living a moral life.

However, sila is an important and critical part of setting up the background to attain Nibbana, and doing meritorious deeds (punna kamma) is an essential part of sila. One CANNOT skip that step. And when one attains Arahanthood or even the Buddhahood, one does not stop doing punna kamma. It should become a habit to engage in punna kamma. It makes one’s heart joyful.

Just like one cannot do calculus without first understanding simple mathematics, one cannot get rid of silabbata paramasa by not appreciating the value of sila; see, “Sīla, Samādhi, Pannā to Pannā, sīla, Samādhi“, and “Kusala and Akusala Kamma, Punna and Pāpa Kamma“.

[firewns]

Thank you very much once again to those who have contributed to this thread and helped me to understand more about punna kamma. It was a great pleasure to learn from you.

[Author]

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