Ablution  

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Ablution is the act of washing oneself. It may refer to:

  • Ablution as hygiene
  • Ablution as ritual purification
    • Ablution in Hinduism and Buddhism
      • Saucha (daily cleansing rituals) If in good health, daily full body shower is a common ritual across all segments of Hindu society. Cleansing the tongue after a brush as well as washing hands before and after meals is also common. Water is also used in daily life to clean oneself after emptying the bowels. Cleansing with water is considered important not only as a daily ritual but as and when required eg before visiting a holy place like a temple or before sitting down for worship in one’s home.

A ritual dip in a flowing water body like the river at sunrise and sunset is a religious form of the daily secular practice of full body washing. Saucha or cleanliness is one of the five niyamas or external observances to be performed if one undertakes the regular practice of the 8-limbs of yoga. Cleansing with water is also required before funerals and the ashes from the cremated bodies are consigned to the water in a final rite of liberation.

  • Shatkarma: Regular Hatha Yoga practice is prefaced with the performance of the Shatkarma or 6 acts of cleansing. One of these is Jala Neti or cleansing the nose with salt water. This is done in preparation for Pranayama (Yogic breathwork), which is itself considered a form of cleansing of the body using one’s breath. The other five acts of purification in Hatha Yoga are: Dhautī (throat and upper digestive tract), Naulī (stomach), Basti (lower digestive tract), Kapālabhātī (skull-shining breath technique) and Trāṭaka (purifying through concentration of the gaze at one external object like the flame of a lamp).
  • Abhisheka (ritual purification): The ritual importance of purification from birth to death is emphasized through sacred cleansing rituals performed for deities in temples.
  • Buddhism

In Buddhism, followers seek spiritual awakening through meditation and wisdom, thus rites and rituals are often absent, or essentially in the hands of monks. However, water is used in Buddhist funerals. In many cases, it is simply poured to overflowing into a bowl and placed before the attending monks and the dead body. In some funeral rites there is included a bathing ceremony where family and friends pour water over (or dip) one hand of the body. The water "illustrates that life is ephemeral, like water falling from a hand."

  • Ablution in Islam:

See also




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Ablution" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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