Meditation Classes, Rites, and Ritual

Abstract

This chapter describes the main introductory meditation classes offered at Friends of the Heart and Chandrakirti Centre in detail. It breaks the classes down into their various elements—rites of entry, opening prayers, meditation practice, talks or lectures, and so on—and discusses each as formalized or experiential means of learning that are ritualized to one degree or another. Comparisons are made between the two centers' approaches, and the degree to which each center identifies its teachings as specifically Buddhist is discussed. The chapter concludes with a discussion of ritualization and ritualizing, and the ways in which these concepts apply to meditation classes and practices. Finally, performance theory is introduced as an illustrative means of understanding learning and change in ritualized settings.