Buddhists everywhere, not just in Asia countries but also in the West, including the United States, will be celebrating Vesak soon, usually during the month of May. It is Buddhism’s most sacred holiday. It is a time to meditate on and commemorate the wisdom and the teachings of one of the world’s most revered religious or enlightened figures - the Buddha.
Born a prince named Siddhartha Gotama more than 2,500 years ago and raised in Kapilavatu near Nepal in North India, he lived a life of royalty, married and had a son. Siddhartha was kept ignorant by his father of the vicissitudes of life outside the palace gates. When he finally stepped outside his protective environment, he became aware of pain and suffering, old age and death.
At the age of 29, he left the palace in search of truth and peace. He found them while meditating under what is now known as the Bodhi Tree. There he comprehended the dharma (life’s fundamental truths), purified himself during the Full Moon Day, known as Vesak, and obtained perfect enlightenment at the age of 35.
With his enlightenment he became known as the Buddha, because the word Buddha means the enlightened one. Anyone in search of enlightenment while practicing loving kindness and compassion can be called a Buddhist.
For 45 years he taught these truths, which are as relevant today as they were then. He had a deep wisdom and boundless compassion for all sentient beings. The Buddha is neither a god nor a prophet of God, nor are his teachings the only way to gain enlightenment.
In a sense, Buddhism is not a religion, a philosophy, nor a doctrine. However in a way it is all three. But in the West it is more often called a psychology.
Buddhism’s Four Noble Truths make up the cornerstone of the dharma. They are (1) For the unenlightened, life is unsatisfactory, (2) caused by attachment or desire, anger and ignorance, (3) but there’s a way to get rid of this unsatisfactoriness, and (4) the way is the Eightfold Path .
The Path described by the Buddha is sometimes symbolized by the eight-spoke Buddhist wheel of realistic, skillful, and wise understanding or view, thought, speech, action, aspiration, effort, mindfulness and concentration. It is a way of life, a blueprint for building a better YOU, or the medication one needs to become and stay well, free from suffering and frustration.
Actually, Vesak celebrates the four historic points in the life of the Buddha: his birth, enlightenment, death, and his passing into nirvana (sometimes called “oneness”).
Vesak is the name of the lunar month in the Indian calendar, usually falling either in April or May (sometimes even as late as June in a leap year). This year it will be celebrated mainly on Saturday, May 2. However, it tends to be celebrated on different days, depending on whether the tradition is Theravada or Mahayana, or one of the many schools of Mahayana such as Vajrayana, Zen and Pure Land. If you are interested in attending one of the celebrations it is important to check with the temple or organization well in advance to learn the correct date.
The diversity of Asian ethnicity in Southern California and elsewhere in America, provides Buddhists and interested non-Buddhists a chance to observe a variety of culturally oriented celebrations featuring chanting and performing arts of Thailand, Sri Lanka, China, Korea, Japan, Cambodia, Vietnam, and other Asian countries.