..续本文上一页s of reverence for bhikkhus; wearing the robe with the right shoulder bared, kneeling down, and holding the palms of the hands together in the gesture of reverence. Prostration at the feet of the Buddha is also mentioned many times in the Suttas. Lay people are free to show their reverence in any suitable way and people of those times were recorded in the Suttas as expressing their reverence variously:

　　So the Kalamas of Kesaputta approached the Lord. Having approached him, some prostrated towards the Lord and sat down at one side; some greeted the Lord politely, and having conversed in a friendly and courteous way, sat down to one side; some raising their hands in añjali to the Lord sat down to one side, some called out their names and those of their clans and sat down to one side; while others saying nothing sat down to one side.

　　— Kalama Sutta, Anguttara-nikaya iii 65 (PTS edition). See A Criterion of True Religion, Mahamakut Press, Bangkok, and The Kalama Sutta, Wheel No. 8, BPS, Kandy, Sri Lanka.

　　No doubt these expressions depended upon their confidence and serenity (saddha-pasada). Down to the present time, Theravada tradition in any Buddhist country is rich in the various forms of reverence accorded to Buddha-images, stupas and to the Sangha. So a negative view as the one mentioned is neither an advantage for practice nor in agreement with tradition.

　　But other people too might have such ideas, for instance some who have read about the iconoclastic attitude of some Zen masters, or of the siddhas who were the last partly Buddhist teachers in India before the extinction of Buddhism there. There are remarks and actions recorded of some of the former teachers which might lead one to expect that whatever else Zen is, surely reverence plays no part in it. Such people are bound to be a little startled by the emphasis on reverence and the large devotional element present in the daily training of anyone, monastic or lay, who stays in a Zen training temple. The siddhas too spoke against rituals but that was because they were faced with a great overgrowth of Buddhist ritualistic devotion gradually accumulated through centuries of Mahayana and Vajrayana. In matters of devotion, as in other things, one should remember that the Buddha himself taught "Dhamma in the middle," with the rejection of extremes, Confidence (saddha) should be balanced with wisdom (pañña), but one-sided practice will not lead to great fruits.

　　Another sort of objection which has been raised is that the forms of respect in Buddhist tradition are specially Asiatic and not suitable for Buddhists in other countries. One hears of calls for a peculiarly British or American Buddhism pested of "Asiatic trimmings." Perhaps the various non-Indian peoples to whom Buddhism has spread also raised such objections when Buddhist tradition contrasted with their own established cultures. However that may have been, the Dhamma requires some time before it puts its roots down in any culture and before one can even begin to imagine western forms of Buddhism, westerners who have long trained in the Sangha, become learned and serene in their hearts are necessary. The priority in Buddhism is on properly trained people, not on arguments as to exterior forms.

　　Now, to return to the shrine room. Lay people will find it most useful in the morning and evening, and perhaps on some days when more time can be given to the cultivation of calm and insight. The usual course of practice taught for lay people in Buddhist countries is that they should practice giving (dana) according to their faith, and as far as their circumstances allow make an effort to keep the precepts (sila) pure, and as far as they are able so develop the mind in meditation (bhavana). That is to say, thos…

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