Buddhism and animism

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Buddhism says nothing about marriage. This is important, because the other major religions of the world--Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduisms--have marriage customs that define their culture to the extent that non-religious marriages resemble the religious versions. This has not always been the case (in Christianity, for example, marriage became religious during the Reformation), but marriage has always been defined by local culture. Buddhism speaks strictly to matters of monastic life and the other world, and while there are passages in Buddhist texts that advocate love in marriage, there is no tradition or ceremony that involves monks in any way.

Thus, Buddhism is not a culture that can exist on its own. Marriage is just one example of the cultural institutions it lacks. If you do not want to be a monk, you will have to supplement your Buddhist practices with some other set of practices relevant to your life. While you can of course draw on the Christian tradition of the West, for many people Christianity is something they want to get away from. Thus, animist restoration complements Buddhism.

When animism exists alongside Buddhism in countries where the relationship is long-standing, the shaman invokes the ultimate law of Buddha that has power over even the toughest spirits. For example, in the Sanni Yakuma the head demon is driven away by reading "the long-accepted varan (warrant) of the Buddha".

In Tibet, Buddhist monks were traditionally opposed to animism and made some effort to stomp it out, but among the common people there was much overlap (see Stan Mumford's Himalayan Dialog). Some monastics, such as Gelug-pa Tsongk'apa, even reconciled Buddhism with shamanism. In all branches of Buddhism, monks have incorporated some aspects of shamanic ritual, such as appeasing hungry ghosts in Mahayana or imbibing special power in statues across all traditions.

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