Animistic and Shamanic elements of Asian Buddhism
Can convert Buddhists in the West reclaim these ancestral elements?
Indigenous Peoples’ spiritualities and Asian Buddhist lineages have many similarities in their tantric worldviews and practices that are often not talked about in Western mainstream Buddhists Centers in the U.S. Please see Appendix I for details.
In Asia, Buddhism adopted, enlarged, refined or even were defined by the more ancient Earth-based Indigenous spiritualities that predated Buddhism. In recent decades, many Buddhist teachers and researchers have pointed out that Buddhism was stripped of some of its crucial shamanic, animistic or tantric elements when it was brought from Asia to America in favor of a "modernized" tradition that focus on seated meditation or mindfulness practices (seehere, here, here, here and here). It is clear that even some “religious” Buddhist lineages in the U.S. (e.g., Zen and Theravada) have left out most Indigenous aspects of Buddhism.
Buddha genuinely questioned blind-faith based systems which were keeping people trapped in rituals for the sake of pleasing spiritual energies for “small” favors in the material world. Buddha also taught that all invisible realms are impermanent (a part of samsara and subject to “dependent origination”) and focussed on liberation. Nevertheless, both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhist scriptures repeatedly acknowledge the existence and intelligence of invisible realms (e.g., elements, ancestors and ecosystems, devas, nagas) and even suggest ways to build relationships with these realms.
I. Indigenous Animistic or Shamanic practices in Buddhism
Buddhism incorporated shamanic and animistic elements that reflect its engagement with Indigenous spiritual practices, particularly as it spread across Asia, such as Taoism, Shintoism, Shamanism and the Tibetan Bon religion. These shamanic aspects are more prominent in many forms of Buddhism, such as Tibetan Buddhism, Zen Buddhism in Japan, Theravāda forest traditions, and Southeast Asian folk Buddhism. Here's an exploration of Indigenous dimensions of Buddhist spiritual practices and techniques.
1. Shunyata, Mu, Jnanas and Altered Consciousness
Shamanism often involves entering altered states of consciousness for spiritual work. Similarly, advanced Buddhist meditation practices aim to transcend ordinary (small-self) perception and move towards shunyata (Mu in Zen) or formless jnanas. Techniques for developing samadhi (concentration) and vipassana (insight) can lead to states where practitioners feel deeply connected to universal energies. Tibetan Buddhist practices like deity yoga involve visualization and identification with a deity, akin to shamanic spirit possession or invocation. Seated silent meditation is not the only way to enter these states of mind. Many Buddhist traditions focus on long hours of chanting or prostrations instead of seated meditation. My first sweat lodge (a common Native American practice) felt like a compressed purification ritual similar to an intense 7 day Zen retreat (sesshin) to me.
2. Role of the Teacher, Ordained Monk or Lama as a Mediator
In some Buddhist traditions, monks, lamas, or spiritual leaders serve as intermediaries between humans and spiritual forces, a role analogous to Indigenous elders or shamans. They may conduct rituals for healing, protection, or exorcism, often invoking specific deities or using symbolic tools to channel spiritual power.
3. Use of Ritual/Ceremonial Objects
Shamanic traditions often involve symbolic and/or “spiritually alive” objects, and Buddhism incorporates similar tools:
Prayer wheels, bells, and drums are used in rituals to invoke spiritual forces.
Mandalas, intricate designs symbolizing the universe, are used as spiritual maps, guiding meditation or connecting with cosmic energies.
The phurba in Tibetan Buddhism functions as a tool for balancing energies/spirits.
4. Connection with and appeasement of Spirit worlds
Belief in spirits and non-human entities: In many Buddhist traditions, there is an acknowledgment of beings such as devas (gods), asuras (demigods), nāgas (serpent spirits), and pretas (hungry ghosts), which echoes shamanic cosmologies of multiple spiritual realms. Practices to pacify malevolent spirits or seek blessings from local deities are quite common, especially in regions where Buddhism merged with Indigenous animistic traditions.
5. Focus on the feminine: healing of the human body & emotions
Asian Buddhism was more “feminine”. Like Indigenous Peoples, Buddhists engaged in rituals and chants believed to have healing properties. The Buddha is often referred to as the "Great Physician" who provides teachings to heal the suffering of samsāra. Tibetan Buddhism incorporates rituals specifically for physical and spiritual healing. For example:
Like Indigenous traditions across the world, Buddhists in Asia considered menstrual blood, womb/placenta both sacred and very powerful. The book “Shamanic Bones of Zen” describes this well.
The recitation of mantras, like the "Om Mani Padme Hum" in Tibetan Buddhism, is believed to purify negative energies and promote well-being.
Forest monks in Southeast Asia often use herbal remedies and blessings, blending Buddhist teachings with local shamanic healing traditions.
6. Guidance for the Dead
A key Indigenous elder or shaman’s role is to guide souls after death, a practice mirrored in Buddhist traditions like:
The Bardo Thodol (Tibetan Book of the Dead), which provides instructions for navigating the intermediate state (bardo) between death and rebirth.
Theravāda monks or Zen priests perform chanting rituals to assist the dead in achieving complete and full passing from the world of the living or a favorable rebirth.
7. Syncretism with Animism
As Buddhism spread across Asia, it integrated with local animistic and shamanic traditions. In Southeast Asia, Buddhist monks perform protective rituals invoking local spirits and deities. In Japan, Zen Buddhists absorbed elements of Shinto animism, and emphasized a spiritual connection with nature and kami (spirits).
8. Nature Worship and Sacred Sites
Indigenous shamanism emphasizes a connection to nature, a sentiment echoed in Buddhism. Sacred trees, such as the Bodhi tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment, hold deep spiritual significance. Many Buddhist practices and pilgrimages are centered around natural sites, seen as imbued with spiritual energy.
9. Dreams, Divination and Prophecy
Indigenous shamanic practices often involve divination, and in some Buddhist traditions, monks and lamas perform similar roles. Mo divination in Tibetan Buddhism uses dice or other tools to predict outcomes and offer guidance. Oracles in Tibetan Buddhism, such as the Nechung Oracle, are consulted for spiritual insight and prophecy. While American Buddhist teachers might not interpret dreams, they routinely consider dreams to be a pathway for clearing out energies during Zen retreats (sesshins).
10. Protection and Exorcism
Shamanism often deals with protection against malevolent forces and appeasing elements and sacred sites, and Buddhism incorporates similar practices. The chanting of protective sutras (e.g., the Heart Sutra or Lotus Sutra) or mantras is believed to ward off negative energies. Buddhist rituals involve prayers, as well as fire or water offerings. This is not unlike several Indigenous communities creating dances for fire and water to communicate with the elements.
II. Similarities: Indigenous vs. Buddhist Worldviews
While Buddhism’s core teachings in the U.S. have come to acutely focus on spiritual liberation through meditation and mindfulness practices, Buddhism’s Asian worldviews or cosmology often reflect shamanic or animistic teachings of Indigenous Peoples across the world. Buddhism (including Zen, Theravāda, and Tibetan lineages) and spiritual traditions of Indigenous Peoples share several foundational perspectives, even though their cultural expressions might differ. These commonalities reflect shared insights into humanity’s relationship with nature, the cosmos, and the sacred.
1. Reverence for Interconnection and Interbeing
Central to Buddhist teachings is interdependence (pratītyasamutpāda), which highlights the interconnectedness of all phenomena. Everything arises in dependence on everything else, embodying mutual co-arising. Like Indigenous elders, Buddhists in Asia often communicated with “spirit” (i.e., energy that moves in everything) including in departed ancestors, elements, lands, ecosystems, waters, plants, animals and rocks. Indigenous Peoples’ worldviews also emphasize the unified web of life, where humans, animals, plants, elements, and spirits are intricately connected. Actions are understood to ripple through this network, affecting the whole.
2. Cyclical and Sacred Views of Time
In Buddhist teachings, time is seen as cyclical, with the concepts of samsāra (the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth) and impermanence (anicca) emphasizing the constant flux and renewal of existence. Similarly, many Indigenous cultures also perceive time as cyclical, marked by the rhythms of nature, seasons, and life cycles. Ceremonies and rituals are often tied to these natural rhythms.
3. Deep Relationship with Nature
Nature is integral to Buddhist practice. The Buddha attained enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree, and nature often serves as a teacher and refuge in Zen and Theravāda traditions. Monastics traditionally lived in forests, meditating and harmonizing with the natural world. Indigenous spirituality is deeply rooted in the land. Forests, rivers, mountains, and other natural elements are not just resources but are regarded as sacred relatives, alive, and deserving of respect.
4. Direct Experiential Pathways to Wisdom & Communion
The Buddhist path to enlightenment involves direct experience through meditation, mindfulness, and insight into the nature of reality. Practices often guide individuals toward union with universal truths. Indigenous spiritualities also emphasize experiential and direct knowledge, often gained through rituals, vision quests, or shamanic journeys that reveal the interconnectedness of life and the wisdom of the spirit world.
Both Buddhist and Indigenous Nations’ traditions across the world ask their practitioners to be mindful of five senses. Communication with the unseen spirit world happens through calming the thinking mind and then being non-conceptually aware of sounds, images, body sensations, smells, thoughts and emotions and what appears in the world beyond our body in the environment.
5. Non-Duality, “Not separate” and Sacredness of All Life
Non-duality (Advaya or Advaita) is a key Buddhist concept, teaching that distinctions between self and other, sacred and mundane, are illusory. This fosters reverence for all forms of life as manifestations of the same ultimate reality. It's also the idea that there is no separation between conventional delusions and ultimate truth, or between samsara and nirvana. Indigenous perspectives often dissolve barriers between the spiritual, emotional and material worlds, viewing all of existence as inherently sacred and interconnected.
6. Communal compassionate practices
Sanghas (communities) play a vital role in Buddhist practice, emphasizing collective support and shared spiritual work. Indigenous rituals and ceremonies are often communal, reinforcing bonds among human participants and their shared connection to the land and spirit world.
7. Ethical Stewardship amidst Climate Crisis
Teachings on right action (sīla) emphasize compassion and non-harming (ahimsā) toward all beings. Ecodharma movements build on this, advocating for environmental stewardship rooted in Buddhist ethics. Indigenous spirituality also teaches responsibility toward the Earth, emphasizing sustainability, gratitude, and reciprocity with all beings. Both Buddhism and Indigenous traditions offer frameworks for responding to the climate crisis by encouraging a spiritual and ethical reorientation toward harmony with nature, respect for all beings, and recognition of interdependence. By humbly drawing on these shared values, modern societies can cultivate a deeper sense of responsibility for the Earth.