page_title: Buddhist devotion
section_title: Blessing
hierarchical_section_title: Buddhist devotion / Practices / Blessing
caption_attribution_description: English: Chaitya Bhoomi is a memorial to B R Ambedkar, Chief architect of Indian Constitution.Where he was cremated here after his death on 6 December 1956.
context_page_description: Devotion, a central practice in Buddhism, refers to commitment to religious observances or to an object or person, and may be translated with Sanskrit or Pāli terms like saddhā, gārava or pūjā. Central to Buddhist devotion is the practice of buddhānussati, the recollection of the inspiring qualities of the Buddha. Although buddhānussati had been an important aspect of practice since the early period of Buddhism, its importance was amplified with the arising of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Specifically, with Pure Land Buddhism, many forms of devotion were developed to recollect and connect with the celestial Buddhas, especially Amitābha.
  Most Buddhists use ritual in pursuit of their spiritual aspirations. Common devotional practices are receiving a blessing, making merit, making a resolution, prostrating, making offerings, chanting traditional texts and pilgrimage. Moreover, many types of visualizations, recollections and mantras are used in Buddhist meditation in different traditions to devote oneself to a Buddha or a teacher. The often politically motivated practice of self-immolation is a less common aspect of devotion in some Buddhist communities.
context_section_description: In Buddhism, ceremonies are meant to provide a blessing. A Buddhist practitioner may engage in devotional practices to ask for blessings from a Buddha or enlightened being. Monks and nuns are also believed to be able to convey spiritual power by giving a blessing (Sanskrit: adhiṣṭhāna, Pali: adhiṭṭhāna) through chanting, a blessed object or some other means. The spiritual power of monastics is considered to come from their ordination lineage and virtue. In expressing faith and devotion to a Buddha or other spiritually advanced being, devotees may also ask for repentance to help free themselves from the retribution of bad karma or as an exercise for self-improvement.
  Sometimes a distinction is made between the direct, visible help a Buddha gave to a disciple, for example, by giving encouragement, and the hidden powers that a Buddha had and still has, which he also uses to help living beings. These hidden powers can refer to psychic powers, or it can also refer to the power gained when a practitioner invokes the Buddha's name.
caption: Replica of an image at the Sanchi gate at Chaitya Bhoomi, which shows a devotion scene involving a Buddhist stupa.
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