Today is Wesak Day. The full moon of Wesak is singularly the most significant Buddhist holiday of the year. I wake up early in the morning to go to a Mahayana Buddhist temple with my family to join the celebration.
I am glad to see many devotees inside the temple. As I step into the temple, what that come to my first vision is a small image of the baby Buddha in front of the altar in a small basin filled with water and decorated with flowers. Kneeling down with respect in front of the altar, I pour water over the statue. It is symbolic of the cleansing of bad karma in us and as a reminder to cultivate loving kindness.
Wesak day is an important day for Buddhist. Regardless of traditions and nations, Buddhist from all over the world celebrates this auspicious day by various ways -- offerings to the Sangha, chantings and services. It commemorates the birth, enlightenment (Nirvana), and passing away (Parinirvana) of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha 2500 years ago in India. This significant day reminds Buddhist to pay homage to the Buddha by following His teachings in the Dharma.
There are many elements of in reflecting on the Buddha’s life story. Many of us are dissatisfied with our lives. Some hope for more money to buy a new car, house, the list goes on. Suffering comes when there are cravings in our lives. When we look at Prince Siddhartha Gautama, he had about as much as anyone could hope for; a loving family, talent, health, privilege, opportunity for studying, and he was heir to the throne. But when he encountered the universal predicament of old age, sickness and death, he gave up all his worldly pleasures to embark on a road of Noble lineage in quest of a Way to end all the sufferings. When he finally achieved enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree, he was known as the Buddha which means “The Enlightened One” and started to teach the Dharma.
Tradition ascribes to the Buddha himself instruction on how to pay him homage. Just before he passed away, he saw his faithful attendant Ananda, weeping. In the Diamond Sutra: The Buddha explains that “everything that has a form is unreal and will disintegrate with time.” The Buddha advised him not to weep, but to understand the universal law that all compounded things (including even his own body) must disintegrate. He advised everyone not to cry over the disintegration of the physical body but to regard his teachings (The Dhamma) as their teacher from then on, because only the Dhamma truth is eternal and not subject to the law of change. He also stressed that the way to pay homage to him was not merely by offering flowers, incense, and lights, but by truly and sincerely striving to follow his teachings.
Although the Buddha has not been around us for 2500 years, His teachings still remain in our hearts. May the celebration of Wesak brings peace and harmony to our hearts, our country and our world…Happy Wesak Day!
