Animistic and Shamanic elements of Asian Buddhism

Should convert Buddhists in the West reclaim these ancestral elements?

 
 

There are profound similarities between the spiritual worldviews and practices of Tribal (or Indigenous) Nations and Buddhist lineages in Asia that are often not talked about by mainstream Western Buddhist leaders in the U.S. I feel that this omission of kincentric, tantric, shamanic and/or animist components of Buddhism is not serving Western Buddhist practitoners, communities or centers in these times of the global polycrisis. To compassionately stay relevant in these times, I invite Buddhist leaders in the West to examine how this omission of Indigenous aspects of Asian Buddhism decreases our chances of addressing the polycrisis.

Polycrisis, originally a eurocentric construct, is a cluster of interdependent global risks, such that their overall impact exceeds the sum of the individual parts, and which significantly threaten humanity’s survival. Often, European policy experts include in their definition of polycrisis 1) frequent extreme events fueled by the climate crisis, water shortages, human health burden and biodiversity loss due to pollution, the rise of fascist authoritarianism, 2) declining institutional legitimacy, 3) increasing economic, food, energy and water insecurities, 4) rising ideological or religious extremism, 5) refugee crises and 6) genocidal violence arising from geopolitical conflict. For me, the meaning of the global polycrisis must also include 7) escalating socio-economic inequities across race, religion, caste, class and countries, 8) separation of empowered Indigenous ecological wisdom keepers from their lands, & 9) acute and ever deepening mental-health crises due to unattended layers of trauma.

Needless to say, as a climate scientist, I feel a deep dread around the climate crisis. However, the kind of change I advocate for extends far beyond simply reducing emissions of greenhouse gases to address the climate crisis in isolation. The Earth is initiating us into a new way forward. I have been passionately advancing for the past two years a framework for transformation and movement-building that I call Reindigenzing.  I have been arguing that without place-based Indigenous spiritualities, we cannot protect the world’s amazing biodiversity, engage in trauma healing or develop ecological resilience.  In the last year, I have found myself saying that Western Buddhism itself needs to be “reindigenized”. 

In Asia, Buddhism adopted, enlarged, refined or even were defined by the more ancient Earth-based Indigenous spiritualities that predated Buddhism or even Hinduism. 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 (see here, here, here, here and here). Even some “religious” Buddhist lineages in the U.S. (e.g., Zen and Theravada) have left out the most Indigenous aspects of Asian Buddhism. In the U.S., some Tibetan Buddhist lineages seem to have most authentically retained these shamanic/animistic elements.  Consider these examples of the forgotten or neglected elements:

  • Genki, my Zen teacher’s teacher, used to give his early dharma talks in Japanese. Frequently, he would talk about invisible realms and spirits. The American translator, another Zen priest, would omit these references from the English version heard by students. Why?

  • When I first stepped into the role of a Zen Buddhist teacher, I designed a chant book for my sangha based on what I had learned from my teachers. I removed a daily chant that mentions invisible beings and refers to what happens after death. Why did I do that? 

  • When my beloved grandfather died, Hindu priests and male family members argued over which direction should the head of his body be placed, including on the funeral pyre. I was a teenager in deep grief: this loud fuss felt rude, irrelevant, fundamentalist, and created in me an aversion for rituals of all kinds. Religious patriarchal fundamentalism is real; and rituals can be used to establish authority or control. But can placing the body in a specific direction be a portal for deepening perception and wisdom for the good of all beings?

  • In her book, Shamanic Bones of Zen, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel explains how a Zen priest from Japan placed vital importance on placing an umbilical cord on the altar during a memorial ceremony for his sister; something which confused Zen practitioners in California. Umbilical chords and wombs are considered spiritually powerful among many Indigenous cultures across the world. Why were such practices not transmitted to the West?

  • Joanna Macy, beloved Ecodharma elder who has taught us the importance of honoring our ecological grief, was on the floor. She was sobbing hard on behalf of the waters of this world who have been polluted by their human children. Joanna is part of Tantric Tibetan lineage but most Westerners think she is expressing archetypal pain. Wouldn’t attuning ourselves to mother Earth’s pain make us more responsible children of her?

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 (Shiva realm in Tantric traditions or 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 invisible 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, roshis, 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, Zen staffs, whisks 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

Asian Buddhist believed in spirits and non-human invisible energy fields. 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 invisible spiritual realms. Practices to pacify malevolent spirits or seek blessings from local deities were/are quite common in Asia.

5. Focus on the feminine: healing of the human body & emotions 

Asian Buddhism has honored the “feminine” aspects of relating to body, mind and community. 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 Tribal Nations (or Indigenous Peoples) share several foundational perspectives, even though their cultural expressions might differ, especially in the West. These commonalities reflect shared insights into humanity’s relationship with nature, the cosmos, and the sacred.

1. Reverence for Interconnection and Interbeing

Central to our Buddhist teachings is inter-dependence (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.

III. Can we reverse our collective loss and reintegrate “Indigenous” Buddhism?

Because most convert Buddhist lineages in the U.S. have primarily focussed on meditation or mindfulness practices and have forgotten shamanic and animistic elements of our own lineages, we have not been able to wholeheartedly respect Indigenous practices of Native Americans (Tribal Nations), First Nations or other Indigenous tribes. If American Buddhists don’t Reindigenize and connect with “spirits” of the natural world and commune with our local ecosystems at a deep spiritual level, our ability to help Buddhist “students” identify which actions to take for protecting our ecosystems or communities might be diminished in these perilous times.

Western Buddhists, who were born in other faith traditions but adopted Buddhism later in life, and who have come to focus on stillness and silence during meditation can’t fully appreciate the practices and ceremonies of Tribal Nations that pay homage to natural elements (mountains, rivers and land) as well as sacred aspects of our own emotions (e.g., grief, rage and fear). As Eduardo Duran (Apache/Tewa), author of “Buddha in Redface”, says, “I sense that the Western psyche, with its grounding in the Cartesian (linear Newtonian) worldview, somehow stays separated from nature. People go inside themselves and dissolve themselves, but they don’t connect with natural processes.”

For me, Reindigenizing has four essential pillars. A vital pillar of Reindigenizing of organizations or institutions is that they must be rooted in a place: land, ecosystem or watershed. Tsultrim Allione, founder of Tara Mandala, has noted that it was only after Padmasambhava, a revered figure in Tibetan Buddhism, widely considered to be a Buddha and the founder of the Nyingma school, had connected with the local spirits of Tibet that Buddhism was able to take root in Tibet. Will American Buddhists be able to connect with local spirits in harmony with the Tribal Nations of the Turtle Island (North and South America)?  

Of course, modern practitioners in the U.S. should study the Asian Buddhist teachings with deep respect and avoid superficial (cultural) appropriation. Patient trust-building, apprenticeship and collaboration with Indigenous, Asian and other BIPOC spiritual leaders is necessary to Reindigenize Buddhism. But when we have guidance, permission and appropriate training, incorporating Earth-based rituals and ceremonies into Buddhist retreats and workshops could also have some immediate benefits beyond the larger impact on planetary climate and biodiversity:

1. Increased Cultural Relevance and Accessibility

Mainstream Western convert Buddhist spaces often reflect Eurocentric or academic interpretations of Buddhism, which can exclude non-white and queer cultural expressions. Many Indigenous and African-descended cultures emphasize Earth-based spirituality, rituals, and ceremonies that honor interconnectedness with nature. Re-integrating shamanic practices in Buddhist retreats could resonate deeply with participants from these backgrounds, fostering a sense of belonging. These elements might offer more inclusive entry points into Buddhist practice for individuals who feel alienated by strictly meditative or intellectual frameworks often associated with Westernized Buddhism.Reindigenized Buddhism may appeal more to younger, queer, and BIPOC individuals, particularly those whose ancestral, cultural, or spiritual traditions align with Indigenous or shamanic practices.

2. Healing, Embodiment and Community Building

BIPOC practitioners frequently discuss how Western Buddhism’s focus on no-self (anatta) and oneness can dismiss their lived realities of racialized oppression. Earth-based rituals, often grounded in community and embodied healing, provide alternative paths to liberation that honor those realities.

Rituals and ceremonies tend to emphasize collective participation and mutual support. This approach could create stronger, more inclusive sanghas (communities) where people from diverse backgrounds feel connected not only to the teachings but to one another.

3. Commitment to Environmental and Social Justice 

Many BIPOC communities have cultural traditions tied to environmental stewardship and justice. By genuinely respecting rights of Tribal Nations and re-incorporating Earth-centered shamanic and animistic practices, Buddhist centers can align more closely with these values, demonstrating a commitment to intersectional justice that attracts socially engaged practitioners.

Thus, Reindigenizing of Western convert Buddhist lineages by re-integration of Earth-based animistic worldviews, rituals, and shamanic elements while building relationships with Tribal Nations in the U.S. (Turtle Island), could help diversify Buddhist retreat participation. This will, of course, create a fertile ground for supporting biodiversity or place-based climate actions  and enabling Buddhist sanghas to be a transformative force in these times of polycrisis.