Happy Vesak Day

[Ananda26]

Happy Vesak Day


The full moon day in May is the anniversary of Buddha's birth, gaining enlightenment, and final Nibbana. This year the actual moon day in May is scheduled on May 14.

There are activities scheduled around the world to celebrate Vesak and you can do a google.com search to learn more about the Vesak activities closest to you.

[Hickersonia]

May your observation of Vesak be pleasant and fruitful, friend, whether you observe tomorrow or today, or last weekend (as my Vietnamese friends did).



Are you doing anything special for the occasion?

[Crazy cloud]

been there done that ..

[culaavuso]

In honor of Vesakha Puja, some relevant sutta references:

Regarding the birth of the bodhisatta:

MN 123: Acchariya-abbhūta Sutta (The Discourse On Wonderful Things)
Snp 3.11: Nalaka Sutta (To Nalaka)

Regarding the enlightenment of the Buddha:

MN 4: Bhaya-bherava Sutta (Fear and Terror)
MN 19: Dvedhavitakka Sutta (Two Sorts of Thinking)
MN 36: Maha-Saccaka Sutta (The Longer Discourse to Saccaka)
SN 12.65: Nagara Sutta (The City)

Regarding the parinibbana:

DN 16: Maha-parinibbana Sutta (The Great Discourse on the Total Unbinding)

[Kwaingo]

Yes, Happy Vesak Day. Nice to have a day off, no?

[Kasina]

Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammā-sambuddhassa.
Homage to the Blessed One, the Worthy One, the Rightly Self-awakened One.



Happy Vesak all.

[Mkoll]

Yes, Happy Vesak Day. Nice to have a day off, no?

Is Vesak Day a work-free holiday in some countries?

[Kwaingo]

In Theravada Buddhist countries in Southeast Asia (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar) it is a government holiday (schools, banks, govt. offices are closed).

[Mkoll]

In Theravada Buddhist countries in Southeast Asia (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar) it is a government holiday (schools, banks, govt. offices are closed).

Is it comparable in importance to the Christmas-New Year holidays in the West, in terms of amount of celebrating and hype?

[Kwaingo]

Not so, at least here in Thailand people just consider it as a day off. Old people and the very religious go to the monastery to make merit, listen to a dhamma talk or whatever, otherwise you'd never even know it was a Buddhist holiday other than 7-11 won't sell beer or alcohol. The biggest holiday here is Songkran, Thai new year, similar to Christmas in the west, though hardly Buddhist in practice anymore, mostly getting pissed and throwing water at people.

[Ananda26]

In Theravada Buddhist countries in Southeast Asia (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar) it is a government holiday (schools, banks, govt. offices are closed).

Is it comparable in importance to the Christmas-New Year holidays in the West, in terms of amount of celebrating and hype?

One Vesak I went to the temple in Sri Lanka and a monk was giving a Vesak talk to a large number of people.

In the United States I was invited to give a Vesak talk to my Vietnamese friends around Vesak time.

In a Bangkok, Thailand there were a large number of booths or tents set up in the field a close walk from the Royal Palace around Vesak time. There was a little feature movie in 3D about Buddha's enlightenment.