Diversity Affairs Feature

The Wesak Festival

In 2008 the Festival of the Wesak full moon in Taurus
occurs on Wednesday, May 3 at 3:09 am PDT

The second of the three major spiritual planetary festivals is The Wesak Festival, The Buddha’s Blessing, and is celebrated in the eastern hemisphere at the Taurus full moon. This is the festival of The Buddha, divine intermediary between the highest spiritual center, Shamballa, and the Hierarchy.

The Buddha is the expression of the Wisdom of God, the embodiment of light and the indicator of divine purpose.

The Forces of Enlightenment are active during this festival. These forces emanate from the Heart of God, and transmit the second principle of Divinity, Love-Wisdom, leading to Divine Understanding and strengthening those who serve humanity.

Buddha literally means 'one who is awake' and has become enlightened. It is a term that denotes a person who has attained the supreme wisdom and compassion of Enlightenment.

To Buddhists Enlightenment is a blessed state in which the individual attains Nirvana - the transcendence of desire and suffering.


Woman lighting incense at Buddhist temple

Budda's disciples

Many of Buddha's disciples have attained Enlightenment, and there have been many other Enlightened teachers.

The celebration of Wesak is a chance to remember the story of how the Buddha gained Enlightenment, and to reflect on what it might mean for individual Buddhists to move towards Enlightenment themselves.

Celebrations

The festival is celebrated with much colour and gaiety. Homes may be cleaned and decorated. In Thailand, for example, special Wesak lanterns are made of paper and wood, and often there a large ceremonial releases of caged birds.

This festival is extremely religious, and so everyone tries to follow the Buddhist guidelines as closely as they can. They believe the most important things to practice are the good virtues of kindness and generosity to all living things. There are stands by the sides of some roads from which free food or drinks are given to people walking by. The streets are filled with entertainers, pageants, and happiness. In Sri Lanka, Buddhists dress in white and carry baskets of flowers to the monastery. Some people donate blood to hospitals, while others give away free dharma books. Buddhists all over the world decorate monasteries with Buddhist flags, lanterns, and flowers.

In many countries during the festival, Buddhists will visit their local temple for services and teaching, and will give offerings to the monks of food, candles and flowers.


Traditional dancer at Buddhist shrine

Chanting and praying are an important part of Wesak. The 'Bathing the Buddha' ceremony is also often included. Water is poured over the shoulders of the Buddha and serves as a reminder to purify the mind from greed, hatred and ignorance.

Chinese Buddhists incorporate elements of their country's culture into their religious celebrations like the traditional dancing dragons.

Gifts are taken to an altar to be offered to the Buddha statues. This shows respect and gratitude to the Buddha for his life and teachings.

If there is food it is usually vegetarian as Buddhists try not to harm animals.

Related links

External Web Links

• Buddhanet - festivals - http://www.buddhanet.net/festival.htm
• Buddhist Society - festivals - http://www.thebuddhistsociety.org/resources/Festivals.html