There are many different types of Buddhist practices across traditions and lineages—from chanting to bowing to meditation to prayer and mantra recitation—but the central practice of Buddhism is that of meditation. The Buddha offered meditation as the centerpiece of a larger framework for achieving well-being, freedom from suffering, and, ultimately, awakening.  

There are two basic types of Buddhists: monastics and practicing laypeople. You don’t have to become a monk or nun to be a Buddhist, but the monastic life is generally considered a faster path to awakening. 

Here’s a basic look at what it means to be a Buddhist—and what Buddhists do on a day-to-day basis as part of their spiritual practice. 

Discover Deck 3:

What is the purpose of meditation? Freedom of mind is possible, and meditation can help get us there. 

How do I start a meditation practice? Here are the basic things you need to know to get your practice off the ground. 

Do I need a teacher, or can I start practicing meditation on my own? You don’t need one to start, but you may want to seek further guidance as you progress. 

What is mindfulness? It’s not just a buzzword, it’s a specific state of awareness described by the Buddha in his earliest discourses. 

How does someone become a Buddhist? What it means to take refuge as the formal act of becoming a Buddhist. 

Do Buddhists worship the Buddha? The Buddha cautioned his disciples against thinking of him as a gzod or deity. 

Is faith important in Buddhism? Buddhism is a path of direct experience and revelation, but faith does play a role. 

Why do people become monks and nuns? A monastic life is one traditional pathway to enlightenment. 

Must you become a monk or nun to be enlightened? The short answer: no, you don’t. 

What is a Buddhist retreat? Time away for study and meditation is an important way to deepen one’s spiritual practice. 

Recommended Reading: 

• The Buddha’s Original Teachings on Mindfulness – introduction and translation by Thanissaro Bhikkhu 
• One Breath Meditation, by Ken McLeod 
• Sticking with It, by Sharon Salzberg 
• When My Son Became a Monk, by Sarah Conover 
• Why Pema Chödrön Became a Buddhist, by Tricycle 

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Under the meditation umbrella, we find the techniques that the Buddha taught directly, as well as others that have been developed and transmitted by his wisest, most experienced followers. When Buddhism spreads to different lands, it takes on different flavors, and so does meditation. From mindfulness to visualization practices, some forms are very calming and others are quite colorful.

What Buddhist meditation techniques have in common is their purpose: to help us remain focused and alert; recognize and relate to our experiences with equanimity and serenity; and, ultimately, to become enlightened. Along the way, we learn to put ourselves in others’ shoes and distance ourselves from unhelpful emotional reactions. This has a positive impact on our relationships and our own well-being: we find that meditation helps us encounter life with an open and confident heart.

Outer circumstances are always changing. By reinforcing our ability to work with the present moment and giving us space to explore our minds, meditation engenders qualities of balance, empathy, and happiness that are less and less dependent on causes and conditions beyond our control. We gain insights into the nature of mind and reality and learn to put these insights to good use on the path to freedom.

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Consistency is more important than lengthy sessions. Choose a time and space where your chances of being interrupted are at a minimum. Find a seat—a cushion on the floor or a chair that allows you to sit upright, for example—where you can sit comfortably with your back straight for a predetermined time (five minutes or ten minutes would be fine). Your eyes can be closed or half-open, with the gaze directed downward in front of you. Now set your busy-ness aside and tune into the feeling of being present in your space, your body, your life. Breathe. Use awareness of your breath to anchor your busy mind. Observe the breath, nonjudgmentally, watchfully, here and now.

Thoughts will arise! You will be distracted! Great: you’ve noticed. Now come back home to the breath. Every time you realize that your mind has wandered, bring it back, gently but firmly, to the breath. This is the basis of your practice: watching, acknowledging, letting go of distractions, and willingly coming back. A healthy sense of curiosity, a fresh outlook, and reasonable expectations are your best allies.

A variety of apps and online classes are there to help. And if it’s a good fit, a local Buddhist center can offer camaraderie and instructions.

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Of course, in the Buddha’s time the only way to learn to meditate or hear the dharma was through person-to-person contact—and that’s what the Buddha recommended. Indeed, the Buddha’s teachings have been transmitted across the generations from teacher to student, face-to-face, for 2,600 years. There is no substitute for a relationship in which you can ask questions when you come up against obstacles in your meditation, someone you can look to for inspiration and guidance. The same goes for being in the company of other like-minded practitioners: the experience of having friends on the path is precious.

The Buddha gave very explicit instructions for gauging whom you should take as your teacher. He said a spiritual seeker should work with someone they judge to have integrity, wisdom, and meditative skill enough to help the student cut through their own delusions and develop their own meditative skill, integrity, and wisdom in turn. Beginning a meditation practice and following the precepts is a great way to start cultivating the roots of such qualities.

You also don’t have to commit to someone right away and, according to the teachings, you shouldn’t. You need to observe someone for a while before you can discern whether they have the qualities of a reliable teacher (and by the way, expecting them to solve all your problems or fulfill the cravings of your ego is not what they’re there for). Practice in a group for a while before making up your mind whether it’s the right setting for you, and whether the teacher fulfills those common-sense benchmarks the Buddha provided.  

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The English word mindfulness is often used to translate a Pali term found in the early Buddhist teachings, sati. In fact, the Buddha gave a set of instructions for meditation that became known as the Satipatthana Sutta, or “Discourse on the Establishing of Mindfulness.” And “right mindfulness” is one of the steps of the noble eightfold path, the path of practice taught by the Buddha, that would lead to awakening.

As far as we know, the Buddha’s definition of sati was pretty straightforward: it means keeping something in mind—that is, continuously remembering the object you’re aiming to keep your attention on. So when a Buddhist teacher talks about mindfulness of the breath—in meditation, for example—they’re talking about remembering the breath, maintaining your awareness on the breath.

Other meanings the Buddha connected with mindfulness in his discourse were being alert; being ardent; being intent; and experiencing with comprehension. In other words, mindfulness is not just a kind of bare attention.

Ultimately, it is a way of training the mind that is integral to all other elements of Buddhist practice. Mindfulness is involved in living ethically—for instance, by following what are known as the precepts. In this case, it means remembering that you’re not going to kill anything, you’re not going to lie, you’re not going to steal, and so on. Sticking with that behavior requires remembering how you want to live, and being aware of the choices you make and what their consequences are likely to be.

As the popular concept of “mindfulness” has grown exponentially over the past three or four decades, the term has been defined and interpreted in all sorts of ways and applied to all aspects of life, from business transactions to eating to sex. Indeed, being “mindful” is often viewed as an end in itself.

That, however, is not a Buddhist idea. It’s worth remembering that the Buddha never said that mindfulness can solve our problems—it’s just one skill among many that he taught on the path leading to cessation of suffering.

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In general, a person’s practice and dedication to the teachings is fundamentally all it takes to be a Buddhist. However, all the major schools offer a formal ceremony to mark the transition. In it, a student acknowledges their commitment to and faith in the Buddha’s path of practice by taking refuge from the vicissitudes of life in three sources of shelter. These are the Buddha—the human embodiment of enlightenment; the dharma—the teachings of the Buddha; and the sangha—the community of practitioners. (Originally the term sangha referred to monks and nuns only, but today many Buddhists include lay practitioners in the definition, and Western practitioners understand sangha to mean the people they meditate and study with.) Together the three refuges are known as the three jewels or the triple gem, because they are so valuable.

The ceremony of taking refuge is presented somewhat differently in each of the various Buddhist schools, and it may be held for a single student or for several at once. It is not a requirement for anyone, but many beginners find it to be a personally meaningful part of deciding to “be a Buddhist.”

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The Buddha was not a god or deity, and he cautioned his disciples against thinking of him as one. He also did not condone idolatry. He wanted his life to serve as an example of the fact that by training the mind, any ordinary person could achieve enlightenment and find the same kind of reliable, lasting happiness that he had discovered.

In the centuries following his death, practitioners began bowing to symbols of the Buddha’s enlightenment, and eventually, representations of the Buddha himself. But unlike the practice of idolatry, in which a figure is worshipped as if it were a god, Buddhists use images as reminders of the Buddha’s example and of their own capacity for enlightenment.

When Buddhists bow—a gesture that can look a lot like a form of worship—they are actually showing profound respect for what the Buddha and his enlightened disciples taught and demonstrated through their own lives. They are also honoring their own commitment to following the Buddha’s path.

Of course, it can be easy to veer into feelings about the Buddha and his image that can turn into worship or adoration, and there are Buddhists around the world who consider worshipping the Buddha an activity that will accumulate positive spiritual energy. But it’s important that practitioners be reminded, and remind themselves, that the work of becoming like the Buddha is up to us.

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But that doesn’t mean faith isn’t an important feature of Buddhism. In fact, it’s through a personal experience of the truth of what the Buddha taught that practitioners develop faith—meaning trust or confidence—in his path of practice and their own potential for enlightenment. He also encouraged practitioners to put their faith in arhats, or his most accomplished disciples.

Like most elements of Buddhist practice, the role of faith has been interpreted and emphasized differently across time and geography. But nearly all Buddhist schools practice an expression of faith known as “taking refuge” in the Buddha, his teaching (the dharma), and the community of disciples or monastics (the sangha). Many Buddhists recite daily the pledge with which they first joined the Buddha’s path, meaning they express their ongoing commitment to the path and aspire to be guided by the example and wisdom inherent in the Buddha, dharma, and sangha.

In Mahayana Buddhism, faith became more broadly interpreted. In Tibetan Buddhism, for instance, in addition to faith in the three jewels, practitioners may refer to their trust in bodhisattvas and deities to support them on the path. In the East Asian tradition known as Pure Land Buddhism, devotees express faith in the Buddha Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light, and other so-called celestial buddhas. And in Zen and Chan Buddhism, faith, or confidence, in one’s ability to become enlightened is considered to be one of the “three essentials” of practice, alongside doubt—that is, persistent and deep examination—and resolve, or determination.

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Cultural, economic, and practical considerations can come into play as well. Some Buddhist traditions believe that joining the monastic order accumulates merit for monastics as well as their families. It’s customary in Thailand, for example, for young men to ordain for a short time, in part to make merit. Still others ordain to gain access to education, food, and housing, especially children; to atone for past misdeeds; or to fulfill their family’s wishes.

One key reason Buddhists take monastic vows is to live a life of renunciation. The Sanskrit word naiskramya (Pali nekkhamma), usually translated as “renunciation,” literally means “freedom from sensual lust.” It signifies giving up worldly pleasures and whatever else binds us to suffering. The Buddha taught that when students fully appreciate how desire and clinging bind them to unhappiness, renunciation becomes an act of liberation. The earliest Buddhist monks and nuns renounced their worldly lives and possessions and walked from village to village, offering teachings and receiving alms. Leaving behind everything familiar and comfortable was a means to help the disciple be freed from desire, craving, and grasping. 

Some schools of Buddhism have developed paths of practice for laypeople that incorporate elements of monastic practice but are still compatible with lay life. For instance, the Vipassana, or Insight Meditation, movement, whose roots go back to 19th-century Burma, popularized a meditation formerly practiced only by elite monastics. But though laypeople now have access to more practices, many still feel compelled to make a total commitment to the dharma by going forth on the traditional monastic path.

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Texts in the Pali canon, which contains some of the earliest Buddhist teachings, suggest that monasticism was considered the only path to enlightenment in early Buddhism, with a few exceptions. A layperson could become a “stream-enterer”—someone in the first stage of awakening, on track to realize enlightenment in a future lifetime—but monasticism was considered the best path to becoming an arhat, a fully awakened person freed from the cycle of rebirth. The reasoning was that monks and nuns were able to progress farther because they devoted their lives to dharma practice without the distractions and temptations of lay life. 

The Buddha had many lay followers, but the teachings he gave them differed from those he gave his ordained disciples: laypeople, it was believed, would be unable to understand the more advanced teachings. Lay Buddhists were generally taught to keep the five lay precepts, along with other ethical teachings, and to support monks and nuns with alms. The merit of their virtuous actions would ensure rebirth in a future life in which they could take monastic vows and work toward enlightenment.

For centuries, the belief that it is impossible for a layperson to become enlightened persisted among Theravada Buddhists of Southeast Asia. Some Theravada teachers maintain that position to this day, and monastic institutions continue to hold great importance in the Theravada school.

Mahayana Buddhism brought enlightenment out of the monastery with the belief in the universality of buddhanature, an intrinsic capacity to attain awakening. Texts like the Lotus Sutra, a core text in East Asian Buddhism, assert that all beings possess buddhanature; ordination is not a precondition for awakening. To give an example, the Vimalakirti Sutra tells the story of Vimalakirti, an enlightened layman who bested the Buddha’s own disciples in debate. 

Vajrayana Buddhism maintains that it is possible for monastic and lay practitioners alike to attain enlightenment in one lifetime by embracing tantric practices.

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