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~

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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~

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The World is an Illusion

When the world arises in me,
It is just an illusion:
Water shimmering in the sun,
A vein of silver in mother-of-pearl,
A serpent in a strand of rope.

From me the world streams out
And in me it dissolves,
As a bracelet melts into gold,
A pot crumbles into clay,
A wave subsides into water.

-Ashtavakra Gita 2: 9-10

James: This is an appropriate message today as it is has been raining heavily all day and it has been such a calming energy. I stare out into the driving rain and I am one with each droplet. It has been a wonderful meditation for me through out the morning and now afternoon.

I subside into the rain.

As the rain poured down I wondered why I wasn't seeing a huddle of birds that I normally see on stormy days such as this and then I realized the feeder was empty!! I ran outside and went to fill the feeder and in doing so found two wasps stuck in the feeder that were barely moving. I rescued them with a stick and put them up against the wall under the patio to dry out. I hope they make it through this day but I doubt it. If they do have their continuation day today then I hope that they are reborn in a state where they can find and realize liberation.

PHOTO: "Rain Drops on Pine Branch Needles" by Eric Kamp.

~Peace to all beings~

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Enjoy Earth Day

Take a deep breath, enjoy your breathing and thank a tree or plant for that breath. And don't forget to recycle!!

This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

~Chief Seattle


A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children.

~John James Audubon

Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.

~Franklin D. Roosevelt


Each time you look at a tangerine, you can see deeply into it. You can see everything in the universe in one tangerine. When you peel it and smell it, it’s wonderful. You can take your time eating a tangerine and be very happy.

~Thich Nhat Hanh


~Peace to all beings~

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This Body is Not me Poem by Thich Nhat Hanh

This is the poem I was looking for yesterday that I wanted to add to yesterday's post on the Virginia Tech killings. It is a great poem to meditate upon to find peace in regards to issues of violence, death, pain and suffering that come with samsara:

This body is not me.

I am not limited by this body.

I am life without boundaries.

I have never been born,

and I have never died.

Look at the ocean and the sky filled with stars, manifestations from my wondrous true mind.

Since before time, I have been free.

Birth and death are only doors through which we pass, sacred thresholds on our journey.

Birth and death are a game of hide- and seek.

So laugh with me,

hold my hand,

let us say good-bye,

say good-bye, to meet again soon.

We meet today.

We will meet again tomorrow.

We will meet at the source every moment.

We meet each other in all forms of life.

~By Thich Nhat Hanh, Chanting and Recitations from Plum Village. Page 188.

James: Isn't that lotus gorgeous!! I wish to extend a lotus to you all to hopefully bring a smile to your heart, face and eyes.

~Peace to all beings~

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