Ritual and prayer

The Abrahamic religions all have some kind of communal gathering where the believers together turn toward the god that they believe in. Within Christianity and Judaism this is called a service. Most often, Christians celebrate this on Sunday, Jews on Saturday - The Sabbath - while the Muslims have their Friday prayer. Many other religions also hold gatherings to practice one’s religion communally in this way. Gathered together, people perform various sacred actions: rites.

For instance communion in Christian churches. Some rites are performed to show how a person goes from one state of being to another, such as when a child becomes an adult. These are rites for name-giving or baptising, ordinations of priests or monks, confirmations, bar or bat mitzvas, weddings, funerals. Such rites are called rites of passage. Rites of passage are performed in all the world religions, and in most others.

But religion is not only taking place in community with others. The believer also turns toward their god or gods in privacy. Praying is one way of speaking to the divine. A prayer can be personal and be used when one is in need of comfort, or getting out of a bad situation, or having a wish fulfilled. In these moments the believers often use their own words.

But prayers may also be prescribed, and be seen as holy. As is the Christian prayer “Our Father” for instance, that according to the New Testament was spoken by Jesus. The most important prayer according to Muslims is the first Surah in the Quran: Al Fatiha. And the Jews, have their morning prayer Amidah. In Hinduism and Buddhism mantras are used - either read or sung during meditation - for example the Gayatri mantra, or Om mani padme hum.

Mantras are also prayers. Besides prayer, there is also another way to reach toward the divine: by means of a gift, an offering, or sacrifice. Believing Hindus leave offerings to the gods at altars with pictures of the gods on them: often a flower, incense, and some food. This is performed both in the temple and at home. A long time ago Hindu priests also performed animal sacrifice, but many people turned against this.

So now animal sacrifice is only performed in a few places in the Hindu world. As a Buddhist, there is no requirement for you to make an offering. However many still do. But not as a gift to the gods; Buddhists don’t worship gods in that way. Instead Buddhists leave their offerings as a way of practising giving away things, and not staying attached to any things or money.

What you offer as a Buddhist isn’t that important. Most often one gives an offering to a monastery or a monk. In Islam there is the practice of sacrificing a sheep or a goat during the celebration of Eid al-Adha. It takes place in remembrance of how, according to the Quran, when Abraham was ready to sacrifice his son, but an angel gave him an animal to sacrifice instead. This sacrifice is called Qurban.

In Judaism there is a word meaning sacrifice that sounds almost the same: Korban. This is the word for the sacrificial rite that is to be performed according to the Torah. But according to Jewish tradition these sacrifices ended by the year 70. Because that was the year of destruction of what was called “the second temple in Jerusalem”; after that there was no temple to perform the sacrifice in. Since then Jews instead consider prayers and gifts to charity as kinds of sacrifice.

In Christianity there are no regular sacrifices, that is apart from donations of money to the congregations or to charity. This is because Christians believe that the greatest sacrifice possible was performed about 2000 years ago, when Jesus sacrificed himself by dying on the cross. And that is what the Christians are reminded of, every time they take part in the rite of Communion.