Buddha's Enlightenment Day
The Buddha's Enlightenment day is considered the high point of the Buddhist calendar each year, but is celebrated on different days in different branches of the tradition. In the texts it is said that the Buddha's Enlightenment happened - at dawn on the full moon of the fifth month.
For the Theravadin tradition (SE Asian countries such as Shrilanka, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand and so on), this day is called Wesak and is celebrated this year on Tuesday 4th of May, which is the full-moon of the fifth month of the solar year.
The Buddha's birth and passing away (parinirvana) are also celebrated on this day. This year there is a lunar eclipse during the evening of that day. It is believed that the effects of positive and negative deeds are intensified at the time of an eclipse, so again it is good time to be practising Dharma.
In the Tibetan calendar (which is a lunar calendar) the Buddha's Enlightenment and parinirvana will be celebrated on the full-moon of Thursday 3rd June this year. In Tibetan it's called the feast of Saga Dawa. The whole month is considered a holy month (as is the first month of the Tibetan New Year) and so its considered a very powerful month to put extra focus into our practice and make lots of pranidhanas (wishing prayers). The Saga Dawa month begins on Thursday May 20th and the Buddha's birth is celebrated on Wednesday May 26th.
We shall be holding our Annual Sangha Celebration on Saturday and Sunday (May 29th and 30th) thinking of it as a celebration of the Buddha's birth, Enlightenment and parinirvana as well as a celebration of our Sangha and of the mutual support we get from practising together as a community. On the Saturday a number of people will be taking Refuge and Bodhisattva vows at this auspicious time.
The Saturday is also a special Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) day. The tenth of each lunar month is the day we especially remember Padmasambhava, the Lotus Born. There are special events in the life of Padmasambhava that are remembered annually on certain days of the year.
Saturday 29th May this year is the day for remembering the story of how the King of Zahor, Mandarava's father, tried to burn Padmasambhava to death as a punishment for his having entered his daugher's nunnery to teach her and her nun companions the Dharma.
Instead of being burnt alive however, the oil used to fuel the fire miraculously turned into a lake and Padmasambhava appeared on the lake in the midst of a lotus flower with Mandarava. This miracle converted the King of Zahor. He gave his kingdom and Mandarava to Padmasambhava so that they ruled Zahor as king and queen and they turned it into a Buddhist kingdom.
On the surface this story may sound like a fairy story or legend and you may wonder what relevance it has to us today. However, stories and legends carry a richness of messages within them. The way to listen to them is simply to hear them (best to hear or tell them if possible, next best is to read them). You do not have to ask yourself whether you believe the story or not. In a kind of childlike way you just open yourself to the story and wonder at it.
Over time the story works its magic and leads you into the world from which it came. This is a story of our lineage, of our teachers and of those practitioners and followers of Dharma that have brought the truth of Dharma into our world. So wherever that story is leading us is probably exactly where we want to be led!
The Buddha's Enlightenment day is considered the high point of the Buddhist calendar each year, but is celebrated on different days in different branches of the tradition. In the texts it is said that the Buddha's Enlightenment happened - at dawn on the full moon of the fifth month.
For the Theravadin tradition (SE Asian countries such as Shrilanka, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand and so on), this day is called Wesak and is celebrated this year on Tuesday 4th of May, which is the full-moon of the fifth month of the solar year.
The Buddha's birth and passing away (parinirvana) are also celebrated on this day. This year there is a lunar eclipse during the evening of that day. It is believed that the effects of positive and negative deeds are intensified at the time of an eclipse, so again it is good time to be practising Dharma.
In the Tibetan calendar (which is a lunar calendar) the Buddha's Enlightenment and parinirvana will be celebrated on the full-moon of Thursday 3rd June this year. In Tibetan it's called the feast of Saga Dawa. The whole month is considered a holy month (as is the first month of the Tibetan New Year) and so its considered a very powerful month to put extra focus into our practice and make lots of pranidhanas (wishing prayers). The Saga Dawa month begins on Thursday May 20th and the Buddha's birth is celebrated on Wednesday May 26th.
We shall be holding our Annual Sangha Celebration on Saturday and Sunday (May 29th and 30th) thinking of it as a celebration of the Buddha's birth, Enlightenment and parinirvana as well as a celebration of our Sangha and of the mutual support we get from practising together as a community. On the Saturday a number of people will be taking Refuge and Bodhisattva vows at this auspicious time.
The Saturday is also a special Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) day. The tenth of each lunar month is the day we especially remember Padmasambhava, the Lotus Born. There are special events in the life of Padmasambhava that are remembered annually on certain days of the year.
Saturday 29th May this year is the day for remembering the story of how the King of Zahor, Mandarava's father, tried to burn Padmasambhava to death as a punishment for his having entered his daugher's nunnery to teach her and her nun companions the Dharma.
Instead of being burnt alive however, the oil used to fuel the fire miraculously turned into a lake and Padmasambhava appeared on the lake in the midst of a lotus flower with Mandarava. This miracle converted the King of Zahor. He gave his kingdom and Mandarava to Padmasambhava so that they ruled Zahor as king and queen and they turned it into a Buddhist kingdom.
On the surface this story may sound like a fairy story or legend and you may wonder what relevance it has to us today. However, stories and legends carry a richness of messages within them. The way to listen to them is simply to hear them (best to hear or tell them if possible, next best is to read them). You do not have to ask yourself whether you believe the story or not. In a kind of childlike way you just open yourself to the story and wonder at it.
Over time the story works its magic and leads you into the world from which it came. This is a story of our lineage, of our teachers and of those practitioners and followers of Dharma that have brought the truth of Dharma into our world. So wherever that story is leading us is probably exactly where we want to be led!
