What is Vesak Day and Why Celebrate It?

Jack asked that I blog a bit on Vesak Day (celebration of the birth of the Buddha) so here is my offering on the day.

Perhaps some might think the celebration of the birth of the Buddha is odd as Buddhists are encouraged not to attach too much importance to birth, death and the body in general.

However, I feel that the true essence of Vesak Day is to celebrate the Dharma rather then the physical presence of the Buddha himself. Indeed the Buddha did not want his followers to worship him but rather follow and honor his teachings. The Buddha was a human being--not a God. However, he was indeed a special, rare being who was inspired to bring us the timeless Dharma.

Thus, Vesak day for me is a special day to honor not only the Dharma that the Teacher Buddha so generously taught but also to celebrate the Buddha within us all. After all being interconnected to all things seen and unseen we are natural continuations or roots of the Tathagata. It is also a day for me to remind myself of what is possible and why I follow the path of the Middle-Way taught by the Buddha. It is a day of re-dedication to the Four Noble Truths, the Eight-Fold Path as well as the The Jewels: Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

The date of celebrating Vesak Day seems to change from country to country and tradition to tradition usually in accordance of the first full moon in May. According to my Thich Nhat Hanh calendar the first full moon in may is on the 2nd. In places such as Thailand and Singapore the day is celebrated on the 31st of May.

In some places the day is a celebration of not only the Buddha's birth but his enlightenment and continuation from this life of samara (suffering) into Nirvana and Parinirvana. He did not die in a special way nor was seen ascending into the sky as a God would. He died just like any other human being.

In addition, in certain countries caged birds and fish are set free as a compassionate and lovingly kind gesture to show respect to all living creatures.

I plan on celebrating the day spending some time looking for trapped insects in our house in order to set them free. We have a fun device that allows one to gently and humanely catch insects in order to set them free outside in the garden. However, If I find a spider for example in a nest then I will leave them be as to not disturb their babies and cycle of life.

I also would like to purchase a lovely spring Lilly plant to grace our altar. As well as candles in honor of our founding father's enlightenment who pointed out the Way of the Infinite Dharma, the Buddha within us and the community of followers who keep the teachings alive. I will also meditate as usual and maybe attend the Tibetan Buddhist Stupa located in the mountains near by here at the Shambhala Mountain Center.

I see Vesak Day as being very different then the Easter of Christianity because the celebration of the birth of the Buddha is not the honoring of a Savior or God. Rather it is the celebration of the teachings of a great teacher.

Growing up and living in the western United States and spending several years in Africa I have, in addition, been highly influenced by the spirituality of the native peoples of those places. Thus, I also see this celebration as the honoring of spring arriving to bring life again to the world. Just as the great teacher the Buddha brought True Life to this time and place where we find ourselves.

Jack, I hope this gives you an idea of how I plan to celebrate this auspicious day. I shall blog again on the actual day on Wednesday.

~Peace to all beings~

Dishwasher Mindfulness

Upon emerging from my formal sitting meditation I decided to unload the dishwasher with deep concentration and mindfulness. As I slowly began the process of unloading the clean dishes I thought about each cup, each plate and each utensil. How many wonderful meals have these plates and bowls held for this body to enjoy!! How many times have those forks and spoons helped me eat??

Yet I could not have savored these many wonderful tastes without water for more then one reason but mostly I was concentrating upon the cleaning aspect of water. How wonderful that we have this beautiful, soft, cool manifestation to cleanse our body and dishes amongst so many other gifts. When later washing dishes to put into the dishwasher I ran my fingers through the water cascading out of the facet. Here I had a little waterfall right in my home!! I couldn't help but think of all the beautiful waterfalls that I saw upon our visit to Oregon a few years ago. However, mostly I thought of the world famous Multnomah falls (pictured above) outside Portland--the water pouring into the sink through my hands was no different then the water pouring down the Multnomah falls!! What a great thing to have a waterfall in one's house!! How lucky that I am to have such a delightful and generous gift.

It made me think about my brothers and sisters around the world who do not have such access to clean drinking water. I remember the difficulty that some Africans had in obtaining water during my two years living in the Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), West Africa. They cherished every drop because of all the effort that went into obtaining it. It reminded me not to take that fresh water available right inside my house for granted. Water is so precious and as we know we'd die without it so let us treat it as the precious treasure that it is and keep our rivers and lakes clean.

However, let us return to the dishes. My focus then settled into the make-up of the plates themselves. How wondrous and curious a thing is a plate. I wouldn't even know where to start to make manifest a plate from all the non-plate elements within it. I don't even know how to make a paper plate!! However, I do enjoy them and honor all the things that go into their creation including the artisans who invest their time, energy and concentration into making these dishes possible. I care for these plates as to not break them and waste the efforts of these wonderful people.

There is no magic other then what is already around and within us. How amazing that we can create any number of things from the joining of individual elements and other materials!! A bowl is a bowl and yet it is not--it's also a rock. A table is a table and yet it is not--it is also water and iron. This warm hooded sweatshirt is a warm hooded sweatshirt and yet it is not--it's a sheep and a sowing machine. The fingers that type this post are fingers and yet they are not--they are oxygen and tomatoes. Why tomatoes? Why not? All things are found within an one isolated "thing" (as well as anything can actually be isolated). In a more precise answer, however, my mother ate many tomatoes when she was carrying me in her womb and I would not have grown into a human being without those tomatoes--amongst so many other things that she ingested and did NOT ingest.

My focus also settled next upon my beautiful, kind and compassionate wife who was the last one to touch these dishes. She was in those dishes and I gently caressed them before placing them gently in the cabinets because I wasn't just handling fragile dishes--I was handling my fragile wife at the same time. If I slammed the dishes into the cabinets without care then I was doing the same to my wife and I didn't want to bring discomfort to her so I handled them with the careful attention that they deserve.

And I also saw you, my friend reading this right now--and I smiled to you. I hope that you see my smile the next time you use a plate. And when you do? Please smile back to me to maintain an infinite circle of smiles. Thank-you in advance for your smile blessed one.

:)

~Peace to all beings~