Do Buddhist priest exorcize demons?

Question

I've learn so much about Buddhism but the one thing I have not learned about is whether Buddhists exorcize demons or if they even believe in this practice. Is the exorcism of demon predominantly a western practice?

I have yet to hear of occasions when people in Buddhist practicing communities becoming possessed like occurances that are reported from the Catholic or evangelical communities. Does the concept of demonic possession not exist among Buddhist communities?

Answer 1

I am a Buddhist of the Theravadan tradition and my family is in Thailand which is also Theravadan, otherwise known as Southern Buddhism.

In short, there are no demons to exorcise. The mind is composed of many consciousnesses which are in constant battle. Sometimes a mind can be overwhelmed by trauma and a particular consciousness becomes the controlling one. As there are very violent consciousnesses sometimes these control the mind and insanity can result. The Dharma helps us to recognise these various types of consciousness and eliminate their influence on us allowing our true selves to dominate our mind and engendering true awareness. This concept is known as "I am not Me" and is the basis of the First Noble Truth.

There is no such thing as possession, rather it is an uncontrolled mind which is being witnessed. Buddhist Monks can and do help the lay folk by assisting in the contemplative meditation techniques required to examine and realise the truth of awareness and to eliminate the influences of uncontrolled selfish thought, and it requires constant practise to allow the true mind to become fully aware.

Many in my Thai community believe in Spirits and there are many Spirit Houses to be seen, my house has one in our yard. Buddhists do believe in Spirits and these are Beings from lower Realms trying to influence this Realm, often by invading our thoughts. But they are insubstantial and only carry influence not physical effects. It is not a requirement of the Dharma that we believe in Spirits, but it does help to explain the various negative uncontrolled thoughts that we have. By training the mind to calm it of its various influences, our awareness can overcome its selfish influences and by cultivating selfless ones we become better Human Beings.

Peace from a Buddhist...

Answer 2

Buddhist Demons

Answer 3

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RE:
Do Buddhist priest exorcize demons?
I've learn so much about Buddhism but the one thing I have not learned about is whether Buddhists exorcize demons or if they even believe in this practice. Is the exorcism of demon predominantly a western practice?

I have yet to hear of occasions when people in Buddhist practicing...

Answer 4

Hmmm, not sure exorcism is the goal but if you go to Thailand they have spirit houses everywhere, the intent being that the spirits of people who died nearby would live there, rather than in the other houses. Also there's some bit about praying for the spirits of those who lived there before you for instance in a hotel room or a new house. But you don't suppose the spirits are good or evil, just that you want them to be happy rather than angry and maybe somewhere else rather than here.

Those practices may or may not predate Buddhism and they're really animist but try separating them. I think the answer is that some Buddhists believe in the existence of such things as spirits, souls, gods, angels etc, but it's not strictly required by Buddhist Dharma (to my very very limited understanding).

Answer 5

It would depend on which Buddhist group you belong to. Most Buddhist masters would probably say a prayer for you and leave it at that. But others can exorcise spirits/entities. I've studied under a Tibetan esoteric Buddhist Master who did perform exorcisms on the rare occasion. But Buddhists inherently do not believe in demons because the line between good and bad is at best a gray area. If you understand Karma, you will find it difficult to define what a demon is, without compromising your belief in Karma.

Answer 6

Buddhism considers that there are six main realms. Roughly we can say, the realm of the gods, the antigods, humans, animals, ghosts and pain realms. This is just a classification: in reality there are thousands of realms. But these realms can affect each other. Our activities can affect what we may call the 'spirit realms', deliberately or accidentally. Beings from those realms can affect us. There are some that are inimical to us and wish to harm us, just as some humans wish to harm spirits.

The answer that Gaz gives is what we can call 'Buddhist Rationalism'. That is one type of Buddhism and it's a valid interpretation, but it is only one way that Dharma is practised - Dharma is very wide. The fact is that many temples and monks in all Buddhist countries specialize in protective amulets and exorcisms. Thailand is riddled with them! Especially with most rural temples, they will give various blessed and protective amulets containing sacred substances. Buddhism supports the belief in spirits and magic, and all Buddhist countries have co-existing shamans and exorcists.

Theravada monks in many temples perform a twice daily service called Pirith (Paritta) - that means protection. It is intended to protect the area and people. It includes a long chant or prayer given by the Buddha to placate spirits that harm humans. I find it very ironic that many Theravada monks take a Rationalist view, while twice-daily reciting a prayer to placate demons. This is also the reason for the construction of very large Buddha statues and stupas such as the Runaveliya in Sri Lanka. When it was constructed in about 140 BC, it was the 3rd highest monument in the world. Nothing that big had been made in 2,40 years, since the two Greatest Pyramids. Hundreds of thousands of people came for the dedication ceremony The idea of things such as this and the Bamiyan Buddhas is that they radiate a benevolent influence over the whole area where they can be seen. That is why Buddhism constructs such huge Buddhas.

One prominent example is Cambodia. The former torture prison of Tuol Sleng, and the Killing Field of Choeung Ek, are only two of hundreds of sites where people were imprisoned, tortured and killed during the Khmer Rouge period Consequently they are places filled with horror and suffering. Hence monks visit to chant there, and stupas have been built. This is deliberately to cleanse the energy of the place. This is also why people invite monks to chant in their houses.

So, Gaz's answer is right - but there is nowadays an attempt to present Buddhist thought as very modern and secular, just as the Catholic Church likes to hide the fact that it is hugely increasing its exorcists. All religions teach the existence of such an invisible world. I don't want to put people off Buddhism, but it is a fact that Buddhism believes in a huge range of spirits, and the life of the Buddha and of great modern teachers such as Achrn Mun are filed with such accounts. The Thai film 'Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives' is a good account. Buddhism is very rational and deep about the Mind, but I believe that is is misrepresenting the thought of the Buddha if we do not acknowledge that we are but one very small part of a huge varied universe.

Answer 7

Re:Buddhists do believe in Spirits and these are Beings from lower Realms trying to influence this Realm, often by invading our thoughts.

SADHU!3x to Gaz for the answer.

My master(ordained inThailand),told us many similar stories;and we had lenghty discussion on it.Gaz's answer is very close to my master's explanation.You have to study The Abhidhamma to appreciate Gaz's answer.

Metta to all.

Answer 8

I don't believe demons are a part of Buddhism at all.

Answer 9

We don't believe in demons. The only demon is the suffering that occurs in an untamed mind.

Answer 10

I don't think they believe in demons