Sub Chida: A Reflection on Life Prolonging Ritual in Buddhism

Present paper deals with the life prolonging principles of a Buddhist ritual consisting of the animistic and the Brahmanistic and the Buddhist elements known as Shub Chida .The first part of this paper surveys the ritual that I participated in Chiang Mai on November 15 2009 and subsequently it discusses about the elements of the ritual with their corresponding implications.

A Buddhist monk performs this ritual by calling the spirit from the nature with the help of sacred triangular structural diagram, and channelizing that spirit through a thread that binds all the participants together. He chants hymns during the rituals and finally cuts the thread into pieces and bind them on the wrist of the participants with a blessing that the spirit from the nature will protect the participant from illness, bad omen and accidental phenomenon. This ritual is a very valid and interesting aspect of the relationship between Animism, Brahminism and Buddhism.

This ritual supposes that there is a creative energy force in the earth, and the priest plays a role of mediator between the human and the spirit world like that of the shaman in animistic tradition. In Brahmanistic tradition, the Brahmin plays the same role between the gods and human beings. The priest is believed to possess capacity to enter into supernatural realms to gain knowledge and power that could be beneficial to the human beings. Moreover, the priest communicates with the spirits on behalf of the participants by using objects, symbols and hymns that are considered to be sacred. Similar type of conduct can be observed in Brahministic puja (worship) where the Brahmin communicates with the god and calls the god from heaven to the earth for the benefit of the human beings. During the procession of the ritual, the priest pleases the spirit by chanting hymns or ritualistic mantras and turns the eminently malevolent spirit into a guardian of correct Buddhist cult. Similar type of pattern can be observed in Brahministic worship where the Brahmin approaches with the god through hymns and sacred fire place—jagya—and pleases the god with eulogy hymns and subsequently asks for the mercy and blessings.

The presence of spirit in this Buddhist ritual suggests its connection with animistic tradition and use of prayers and hymns to please the spirit confirms its relation with Brahministic tradition, and the whole procession conducted in a systematic order corresponds this ritual with other faith systems that acknowledge the existence of transcendent truth and reality. In summary, Sub Chida ritual is the syncretism of animistic, Brahministic and the Buddhist elements culminated in harmony with the local spiritual needs of the Theravada Buddhist tradition.