What Is The Connection Between Buddhist Lamas And Gurung Shamans?

The Huichol Indians are an indigenous group that lives “in the Sierra Madre Mountains of northwestern Mexico” (Woolcott). The Huichol religion is an animistic religion. According to Dr. Pamela Lindell, animistic religions are “religions that believe that all of nature – humans, animals, plants, rocks, the ocean, etc. - is animated by spirits and souls” (“Professor’s Notes 2” 3). To better understand the Huichol Indians and their religion, this paper examines Huichol myth, symbolism, rituals, religious specialists, and deities from various anthropological perspectives.

Most  religious  leaders  come  to  power  through  elections  or  appointment.          However,  the  leader  of  the  Gelug  school  of  Tibetan  Buddhism,  the  Dalai  Lama,  is  simply  found.          Buddhists  believe  in    reincarnation,    the  idea  that  a  person’s  soul  never  dies  and  is  instead  born  into  a  new  body.          Additionally,    the  death  of  one  Dalai  Lama  spurs  the  quest  for  a  young  person  born  with  that  special  soul. The  search  for  the  fourteenth 

Both religions take part in some kind of ritual for the gods. In Hinduism, people preform pujas to worship the gods with burned incense and lamps that are lit. People use small objects to represent the gods and they are called murtis. Pujas can be done in the home and in Hindu temples. When pujas are performed at home food called Prasad is offered to the gods, but in temples the food is passed out after the puja to the devotees and is blessed. However, in Native American religions people use dance as a way to contact the Spirit World. During these dances, people will play sacred flutes and beat on drums that are made of deer skin. Rituals are also performed

ome of the most critical differences and similarities between a shaman and priest can be seen amid their textbook definitions where a shaman is described as “a part-time religious specialist who receives his or her power directly from the spirit world and acquires status and the ability to do things through personal communication with the supernatural” and a priest is described as “a full-time religious specialist who is associated with formalized religious institutes” (Stein & Stein, 2016, pg. 263-264). As evident from these definitions there are several differences between the two, although each are religious specialists who attained a certain amount of training, granted the training was different, in order to be a religious specialists. One difference is that a priest is associated with formalized religious institutes while a shaman is associated with tribes or small groups as they are usually “independent contractors” (Stein & Stein, 2016, pg. 121). Also, priests are more likely to

Religion played a very important role in the Aztec and Inca culture. Religious rituals consisted of human sacrifice and polytheism. Their deities were inspired by nature and the earth’s physical makeup. Both appear to be similar but peel back the onion and notable differences reveal themselves. It is difficult for modern day society to understand how human sacrifice can exist in such advanced civilizations.

While I was reading these interesting stories, each story had some qualities that where similar, but there were also many differences. Which wasn’t really a huge surprise since the setting of each story happened during different times, and on different parts of the planet. All the stories involved a special child, and everyone knew he was gifted. A few characters in these myths have powers, but some do not. Sikhism and Christianity seem to be based on Monotheistic viewpoint, but Buddhism and Shinto seem to be based on a polytheistic viewpoint. Each story was either about a god, or a prophet spreading his new found message to the people.

Ceremonies and rituals are critical to the Native American culture. This culture also considers these rituals as a part of their religion. When referring to religion it’s not the same as the way

''In both tribe's, religion is an integral part of their daily life''(Encyclopedia Britannica #1). This conveys that religion is an essential factor of their daily routine, furthermore it also explains that their lifestyle is revolved around their ethnicity. Both practice their beliefs through dances, festivals, ceremonies, feasts, prayers, and stories. ''Their religions' central belief is that all humanity and nature should be respected and appreciated for''(Grumet, Robert S. #6). This establishes that both the tribes are regardful about human nature and keen on religion. The Chilkat Tlingit's believe in the creator ''Raven''. They describe him as the supreme being who brought the world into existence. Both Indian tribes respect and acknowledge Mother Earth, because they believe she supplies their life with soil, water, air, trees, and many other necessities. The Sioux Indians are vastly religious, for

Souls, spirits, and their purpose regarding humans and life influences different Hmong cultural traditions, such as the Seed Ceremony, the String-Tying ritual, and a Hmong funeral (PBS:1). Each tradition involves souls and their connections to the human body, which establishes the importance of souls in the Hmong culture as they are a continuing theme and belief in many traditions and rituals (PBS:1). The Hmong and this connections to the soul is an example of habitus, unconscious actions and activities individuals in a group do often. The people are believing in spirits and their connection to souls. It is an unconscious and unquestionable belief shared by the Hmong people; therefore, categorizing the active thought and belief in spirits as habitus. Considering the Hmong’s viewpoint on souls in traditional rituals as habitus is critical to understand because it establishes that these views are common and important to the Hmong, thus establishing this view as an ordinary detail of their life. Spirits and their healing powers have a much greater value in Hmong culture over other healing methods, such as western medicine. Due to their large faith and belief in healing with spirits, other practices are not taken as seriously, as evident by Lia’s parents and not following the medication’s directions. There was a language and cultural barrier that also influenced their

Shamanism and ancestor reverence are key religions of the Chinese. Shamans are spiritual healers who call on spirits while they are dreaming to relieve an individual from uncertainty or cure an individual from a disease (Laughlin & Rock, 2014). Shamans are seen as elders of the Chinese community and are respected for the tremendous healing power they have on others. Furthermore, ancestor reverence is the respect many younger generations have for their

The main religion of the Hmong people is animist which is the belief in the spirit world and the interconnection between all living things. It revolves around an important figure in each hmong village called the Txiv Neeb or shaman which is a master of spirits, this shaman can be a man or woman and they have the power to access the spirit world. When someone gets ill or suffers misfortune the Hmong believe it is the evil spirits called dabs who have scared off or kidnapped the person’s soul. When this occurs it is the job of the shaman to perform rituals in order to ward of the dabs and bring back the soul thus restoring health and harmony to the person’s

Another characteristic of an indigenous religion deals with the emphasis placed on the spiritual specialists. The general consensus is that anyone can have personal or direct access to spirits or that which is unseen, yet felt (democratized shamanism). There is no special requirement in most indigenous systems that stipulate ‘who’ can commune or interact with spirits, however, as a general rule, many feel that it is best to leave interactions with spirits to those that have been taught or trained through ritual or purification of some sort. Most indigenous religions are not written down, but based on oral

* What causes a group of people to hold or sponsor this ritual? -most commonly used in Tibet as a rite for turning away demons

There are varied approaches that have developed all over the world under the designation of Shamanism, each having distinct practices that explore inter-relations. A common symbol used is the