Forms of Devotion

This year, I couldn't attend the Vesak (Waisak) celebrations, so I went to the Atthami Visakka Puja instead. Atthami Visakkha means the eighth day after Vesak. Vesak is mostly a morning event, Atthami Visakkha is an evening event.

After the usual rituals, there was meditation, followed by a Dhamma talk.
People sit in rooms, terraces, and gardens under the trees and under the moon.
Everyone carried a candle, an incense, and a fragrant flower (Polianthes tuberose, see wiki and image below)
The chanting together of thousands of people was especially powerful.
On this occasion, the meditation was a short Metta Bhavana (Loving Kindness meditation). It went something (abbreviated) like this: May all beings, in all directions, visible or invisible, devas and other beings, may they be free from greed and attachments, may they be free from hate and anger, may they be free from ignorance and spiritual darkness, may they be free from suffering, and may they be blessed with happiness.
(Actually we start with ourselves first and then extend to others.)

In the Dhamma talk by Sri Paññavaro Mahathera, he said that there are many forms of devotion to Buddha.
The following are my own paraphrasing and examples, not Sri Paññavaro's.

One form could be day to day mindfulness of our thoughts, actions and feelings. The source of greed and hate are often pleasure and displeasure, hence we should be particularly mindful when we feel pleasure and displeasure. We could enjoy sitting in front of the computer all day, blogging, surfing, programming or game playing, that it became an attachment.
We were upset when we heard Sharon Stone's silly remark on karma.
But mindfulness should prevent us from getting angry, and we are no longer upset. Even better, mindfulness could prevent us from getting upset in the first place.

Mindfulness can be cultivated so that it is present most of the time.

Mindfulness in Buddhism is always connected to (it includes) clear comprehension, see e.g. Debugging mind viruses: Clear Comprehension, which is a little different from non-Buddhist mindfulness.

Sri Paññavaro went on to touch on environmental issues, everybody could contribute a little by not littering, not using our private cars at least once a day in a week, not leaving the lights on when not used, not connecting to the internet when not needed, not to cut down a tree without replacing it with another tree. All these are simple little things which anyone can do, and which will have a great effect if added up.

All the above examples are forms of devotion to the teachings of the Buddha.