Lesson video

Hello, my name's Ms. Pauvaday.

Welcome back to another lesson on Buddhism.

We are going to be continuing with our lessons.

And today we're going to be looking at anniversaries of the Buddha.

So special days, events, that kind of highlight, particular times of the Buddhist life.

So we're going to look at anniversary of the Buddha today.

We're going to need a couple of things.

So you need a pen, paper, we need to be somewhere nice and quiet so you can focus.

So move away from any distractions if you can.

Go ahead and pause now and rejoin me when you're ready.

Today, we're going to be looking at festivals that mark important times in the Buddhist life.

So we're going to look at something called Vesak, which you have probably seen before.

It can be spelled V-E-S-A-K or W-E-S-A-K, depending on the pronunciation, basically.

We're going to look at Sangha Day, Dhamma Day and Parinirvana Day as well.

Before we start, let's think about why do we actually celebrate things? So have a look at these pictures.

So we've got birthdays, we've got Guy Fawkes and we have Christmas.

What are the underlying reasons that we celebrate these things, do you think? So go ahead and pause, have a think, have a chat with somebody if you can.

Why do we celebrate these things? So, you might think, okay, for birthdays, birthdays is really about celebrating that person's life, you know, celebrating that they came into the world, and I'm sure your guardians and family really celebrate this because you're important to them.

So it's, you know, something that we do, we celebrate, we mark this special occasion of this person coming into the world and being part of our lives.

And also the achievements that they've done, they've achieved throughout the year.

But you might have nother festivals, like Guy Fawkes.

Guy Fawkes marks an actual event in history.

So, that, some of you might have studied this, the kind of Catholic Protestant struggle in Britain.

So it marks a particular event in our British history.

But it can also mark a religious event.

So Christmas, for example, is very, very important to Christians because it marks the birth of Jesus, even though he wasn't born at Christmas, he was born much later, according to historians, but it does mark this idea that he has been born.

And because of that, Christians can now, they can be saved, and they can go to heaven eventually.

So very important.

So we celebrate things, but birthdays, too, marks special occasions in our life, like birth.

It could be a wedding anniversary, for example, we mark events in history, around history, things like Guy Fawkes and religious events like Christmas and Easter.

So that's why we celebrate things.

But if the Buddha was just a man, then why might Buddhists have, why do Buddhist festivals exist? Why do Buddhists celebrate? Have a quick think about that and when you're ready, resume and we can go over the answer.

Okay, so yes, the Buddha was just a man.

Sorry, excuse me.

The Buddha was just the man, but there are quite a few Buddhist festivals in Buddhist countries and they tend to vary on things.

They vary on mostly the Dhamma, so the teachings of the Buddha.

So Buddhists might celebrate the arrival of the Dhamma.

They might also, some Buddhists in Mahayana, so Southeast, Central Asia, China, Japan, Tibet, they might focus on what we know as Bodhisattvas.

So these are enlightened beings that are not in nirvana, but trying to help other beings reach, come out of samsara.

Some of the festivals might focus on deities, but it might be something like just celebrating new year.

The Buddhist calendar is slightly different to our calendar and the Chinese calendar.

So, Buddhists' new year is a different time of the year.

So there are those kind events, but there are events that do observe and celebrate events of the Buddha's life.

And the most common one that we know that you will find and you probably studied or looked at in either primary school or school already, secondary school, is Vesak.

And that is often known as the Buddha's birthday, but actually, it celebrates, you know, the whole journey, really.

I mean, the birth of the Buddha, according to the legend, there are some traditions that really kind of, they have like this kind of mystical element to them, the supernatural element where they talk about the Buddha being this extraordinary, special being now.

In the legend, it says that the Buddha was, when the Buddha was conceived, Queen Mara, she dreamt of a white elephant, six, sorry, six white elephants entering her side.

When she went to go and give birth, because at that time in India, the tradition was that you left your place of home and you went to a special place to go and give birth, when she left, on her way to this place, she fell into labour and then she found a place with her consort she was with, other people that she was, she was a queen, of course, and she gave birth under a tree.

And the legend says that the Buddha took seven steps.

You can see the image there.

The Buddha take seven steps and after each step, a Lotus flower appeared.

Some of you might remember the significance of a Lotus flower.

It means enlightenment.

And on his final step, he proclaimed, this is my last birth and there would be no more bursts anymore.

So henceforth, there will be no more coming to be, something like that.

That's what the legend says.

So the Buddha's birthday, you will see these kinds of things around Asia for Vesak, because the legend says that he himself had quite an incredible birth.

Obviously, we can't substantiate that.

Now, despite the story being a legend, it does show that the Buddha was determined to be a great man.

So we know that from the story of the Buddha and the holy man that kind of said he has a destiny of being either a great king or a great man.

So that's something that's quite accepted in the Buddhist tradition, despite the legend.

And sex celebrates that this great teacher came to earth to help humans and other beings to come out of suffering.

So that's why.

And it's normally celebrated on a full moon in May, it's seen as a really great celebration.

At this time, people clean their homes, they decorate it, same kind of thing that we're doing at Christmas.

Lots of food is prepared, lots of celebrations are happening in the streets, lots going on at the temple, and people will give food to monks.

They'll give them alms, because monks aren't allowed to own anything.

So monks and nuns aren't allowed to own anything.

So they're often given particularly food to, so that, you know, they can survive.

And this is known as alms. And as I mentioned, this, it's known as a Buddha's birthday, but it really represents his whole journey.

Now, in the temple, Vesak, for Vesak, what will happen is Buddhists will meditate and they will chant.

They will focus on the three jewels and show thanks to these.

There might be puja at home or in the temple.

And these are usually, you can see there's an image of some of the things that you might have for puja.

So candles, which represents enlightenment, flowers that are beautiful, but impermanent.

So the same goes for incense as well, which will burn and be very nice.

But it's impermanence.

It's all these kinds of symbols of reminding Buddhists of impermanence.

Water for purification, that kind of thing.

And the Buddha statues of bathed, because again, that's a sign of respect.

And Buddhists try to be very mindful of their thoughts and actions at this time.

So whilst there's lots of celebrations going on, there is this kind of sense of peace as well.

So those of you who are lucky enough to ever travel to these countries and witness these celebrations, they're really interesting, really, really a lot of fun, first of all, lots of fun, but really interesting to see how these are celebrated and how people behave, so.

Many will be vegetarian at this time.

So they'll stop eating meat, again, in line with the Eightfold Path of nonviolence to animals.

Remember these are not a set of rules, so it's, the Eightfold Path rules, they're just, they're kind of guidances on how to behave.

So somebody might not eat meat at all, but others might.

And then, you know, they're kind of working their way towards not eating meat or not being, nonviolent, that kind of thing.

And in Southeast Asia, in particular, what you might see are birds being released from cages as symbols of freedom, liberation, this escape from the cycle of samsara.

And Buddhists, lay Buddhists, so not your monks or nuns, but normal Buddhists, they would probably, at this time, they give money to the church, the temple, and the poor as well.

So this is the kind of thing that happens on Vesak.

Now, other traditions, 'cause we talked about Theravada, that these kinds of things do happen in other countries, but it's mostly Theravada traditions in Southeast Asia.

So that's Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, those kind of areas, Sri Lanka, they are Theravadan, and they will really celebrate Vesak.

But in other parts of China and Asia, there are some slight differences, because it changes depending on the culture and the type of Buddhism.

So Mahayana Buddhists, they celebrate the birth of the death, the birth of the Buddha, the enlightenment and the death as separate events.

And they kind of, these events that occur throughout different times of the year.

So in Japan, the Buddha's birthday is often celebrated at the same time as their spring festival, which is a really beautiful thing to go and witness.

So you'll see just flowers absolutely everywhere, lanterns everywhere, and it kind of coincides.

And it's, again, this idea of spring, a flower opening, it's synonymous, similar to the idea of the Lotus flower opening, enlightenment, and all those kinds of symbolisms that come in.

At this time, you'll find lots of Buddha statues that are dawned of flowers, and children wear an exchange flower ornaments at this time to celebrate the Buddha's birthday.

So why do you think the festival of Vesak is important to Buddhists? Why is it so important for them? Have a go, have a think, pause and then rejoin me.

Okay, so Vesak, again, it's really important to Buddhists because it's not about worshipping the Buddha, it's about worshipping what he did and the fact that he was born and was able to teach the Dhamma and help people, is seen as a very important thing.

So that's what they're celebrating.

The fact that he was born.

Now, in mostly Theravada traditions, you've got something called Sangha Day, and this commemorates an event that happened during the time of the Buddha, where 1,250 enlightened monks suddenly, spontaneously came together to give respect to the Buddha.

So they're all arhats, which means an enlightened being.

They had all been ordained by the Buddha.

And they kind of spontaneously came together from all different places.

And after this, the Buddha kind of delivered this important sermon for monks and nuns regarding purifying the minds.

Now, Sangha, you'll find a lot of Buddhist monks and nuns, particularly in the Theravada tradition, particularly in that tradition, because there is a bit of a focus upon it.

And Sangha Day is really to support and acknowledge this event in the Buddha's life, but also to support and acknowledge the Sangha in general, because the Sangha were there, yes, to become enlightened, but if you think about the three jewels, they are there to support the community, to help those people, to teach lay Buddhists the teachings of the Dhamma.

So they do support the community as well.

And usually, a very big part of the community.

So on this day, Buddhist monks and nuns are basically acknowledged and they're given alms, donations are made to temples, that kind of thing.

So why do you think the Sangha Day is important to Buddhists? Okay, so Sangha Day for Buddhists is important because, like I said, that they really support the community, they help spread the teaching of the Dhamma, they help, Buddhism is a practical religion.

So people live their religion.

They try to be mindful in everything that they do.

They might not necessarily go to temple.

That doesn't matter, as long as they're being mindful.

And the Sangha help support all of that through teachings, through working with the community.

And they were an important part of the Buddhist teachings because without the Sangha, the Dhamma would not have existed because they memorised it.

And they, because of that, it was put on paper and kept forever.

So, the Sangha is really, really respected in that regard.

Now, Dhamma Day.

Dhamma Day.

This is another popular festival in Theravada countries.

It occurs on the full moon in July, and it basically gives thanks to the Dhamma.

So the first sermon that the Buddha gave, which is the first turning of the Dhamma wheel, basically, this is the first teaching of Dhamma.

What is existence like? So the Four Noble Truths.

What is existence like? What causes us all this suffering? And how can we come out of it? All of that is the Dhamma.

And Dhamma Day celebrates that these teachings, that the Buddha decided to stay and teach, and it's normally, it's supposed to coincide with the first sermon.

We can't guarantee that that's what happened.

It's supposed to.

But really, it's just about celebrating the Dhamma.

And it's a time where Buddhists are really grateful for that teaching and that the Buddha was able to share this knowledge with the world.

So it's another thing that happens.

And what happens if people, they go to the temple, they might be a bit more mindful, they might read Buddhist texts, for example, so they'll just, again, it's a similar kind of thing, just being more mindful and maybe visiting the temple on this day.

Why do we think Dhamma Day is important for Buddhists? So Dhamma day, again, it's really to give thanks for the Dhamma, whereas other celebrations might be about the birth, the thanks to the Buddha, it's kind of acknowledging his birth, this great teacher coming to the world and helping people.

This particular festival is about the teachings, giving thanks and thinking about the teachings of the Buddha and the Dhamma.

Now, I mentioned that Mahayana traditions, they separate the main events of the Buddha's life.

So in Theravada, they kind of do it in one go, Vesak.

Whereas in the Mahayana tradition, it's separated.

So Vesak might be, in Japan is the spring festival, but in Mahayana, they tend to have another festival called Parinirvana Day.

Parinirvana is the idea that when an enlightened being passes into death, they can enter into parinirvana, which is the complete and final stage.

It's the final nirvana.

Now, Buddha taught for 45 years and he talked about this idea of nirvana.

Once you enter into parinirvana, that's it, the cycle of samsara is broken and you are free.

That is complete liberation.

So that's where most enlightened beings, most serious Buddhist monks and nuns are trying to get to.

But the Buddha didn't straight away go there.

He taught for 45 years.

And again, it's through this idea of compassion that he delayed nirvana so that he could teach others.

In the end, he died at 80, which is, for the time, is quite incredible, really, because the mortality rate was much, much lower, probably about half, probably around 40, I would say.

And he urged his followers not to be, he said, "Don't be distressed because this final liberation "could be for everyone." So Mahayana Buddhists say, on this day, they mark this day in the temple or they go home and they kind of listen and they reflect on his teachings.

They bring gifts to the monastery, and in temple, they might meditate and chant.

So it's not the happiest day.

It basically represents the time that the Buddha goes into this parinirvana day, it's one, to recognise the Buddha for his teachings, but also recognising what happens right at the end once you break samsara, the cycle of samsara.

So why do you think Parinirvana Day is important to Mahayana Buddhists? Good, okay, I think many of you've got this.

It really just shows it's kind of acknowledging all the things that Buddha did in his life and that he finally did go to parinirvana.

And that's the final stage of breaking this final cycle of samsara, and that everyone can do it.

So that's the point of Parinirvana Day.

Okay, so what we're going to do is, for today's task, you should go ahead and create a fact file on the anniversaries of the Buddha.

So include some of the most important events of the Buddha's life.

You can use this slide and your own research.

Go back to the most important anniversaries, why they're celebrated, how they're celebrated, use colour, use images, use the Pali and Sanskrit terms, explain what they are and why they're important.

And if you can, make sure you get permission, but we would love to see them.

So do share them with us if you can.

So well done for another great lesson.

Some, again, some tricky vocabulary today.

So I'm sure you nailed it, and I'm sure that you are interested to see next time, you might see some of these festivals being celebrated in your home town, and now you'll be able to know what's actually happening.

Two things as usual, make sure that you do the summary quiz at the end so that you can consolidate the terms and big ideas that you've learned today.

And if you can, go and talk to someone, tell them what you've learned today.

It's great to just for consolidating knowledge.

And I'll see you again next time.