holidays and festivals

Briauna Nielsen Professor Monnin World Religions 21 October 2018 Buddhism Festivals and holidays Within our world there are thousands of different types of religions. In my lifetime I have been exposed to only a few of those religions. Each religion has many different aspects to one another but they also can share things in common. I have found these first six chapters of our book to be very interesting. I believe that the five religions we have gone over are the ones that I have been least exposed to and it is very insightful to go in depth about these religions and what makes them so unique. The religion that has struck me as most interesting is Buddhism. Being a Catholic my entire life I know that our traditions and holidays are very important to us so I want to dig into the Buddhist religion to find out their festival and holidays backgrounds. To further my research on this unique religion I want to stay focused solely on their festivals and holidays they celebrate and why. Just like Christianity, Buddhism celebrates a holiday in regard to their religious visionary/thinker. Christianity celebrates the birth of Jesus while Buddhist every year for the last 2000 years have celebrated the birth of Prince Siddhartha. The Buddhist call this holiday; Vesak while Christianity calls their day Christmas. Buddhist celebrate this holiday based on when the first full moon is in the month of May (Huffington Post). Due to different calendars, different parts of the world celebrate it on a different day. This part is very different from Christianity since we celebrate Christmas on the exact same day every year. This day (Vesak) encompasses everything Buddhist stand for due to him. According to Ranshoff Vesak is celebrated to commemorate the Prince’s death and birth. Along with his death and birth, they celebrate how he became enlightened. They celebrate this holiday by trying to gain their own enlightenment just like Buddha. Just like Christianity, Buddhist decorate their house for this holiday but it does not end there. Vesak is also celebrated by taking flowers, candles, and food to the monks (Ranshoff). During this time, according to Ranshoff, they also make it necessary to pour water on Buddha to remind themselves of his purity and that should purify their minds and bodies as well. Lastly, Vesak also is the time for Buddhist to “offer gifts to the Buddha out of admiration for Buddha and Buddhism (Ranshoff).” Vesak as we can see if similar and different from Christmas but the more holidays we dive into the Buddhist religion really begin to become different and are quiet interesting. Sangha Day is the second most important holiday to the Buddhist religion behind Buddha’s birthday. Sangha is second because according to BBC it is the day where they celebrate in honor of the Buddhist community. This holiday allows for the people of the Buddhist religion to “reaffirm their commitment to Buddhist practices and traditions (BBC).” Although this holiday is the second most important it is only the high up on priorities due the the Western Buddhist who acknowledge this because Eastern Buddhist do not acknowledge it as much. The next holiday that is celebrated by Buddhist is something everyone can relate to, not just Christians. In our world all over we celebrate the New year, but Buddhist do this a different way and at a different time. Ranshoff states that their new year is celebrated for 3 days, rather than the rest of the world who celebrate it for one day. My family, every year for new years spends time with our family and friends all at once for this holiday. However, Buddhist do it differently. The first day according to Ranshoff they celebrate with their family and the second and third day are spent with their friends. Their celebrations are spent with people at different times. I would consider them spending time with their family first what they cherish more. Another difference between the rest of the world and the Buddhist new year is the time of year they take place. In certain areas such as Tibet they celebrate the new year by the first moon that takes place in February, where as in China, Vietnam, and Korea they could celebrate at the end of January or early February based on when their moon calendar falls on the first full moon (Ranshoff). That is different from the rest because New year is celebrated on January 1st at midnight every year. Lastly what makes this holiday special to Buddhist’s is that this is a time for them to “purify themselves and get rid of evil spirits (Ranshoff).” The next two holidays that they celebrate are a kind of their own and are very special to the religion. Dharma day is yet another important holiday for Buddhist that according to BBC is celebrated on the first full moon in the month of July by Theravada countries. This holiday is quiet important because “it is the marks the start of the Buddha’s teachings (BBC).” Along with this holiday comes a very important symbol to their religion. The symbol becomes known as dharmachakra. According to The Introduction of World Religions textbook the symbol has multiple layers of meaning. The Introduction of World Religions textbook states that the first layer of importance is that it symbolizes when the Buddha turned the wheel of teaching to get his movement going (p. 115). Second, The Introduction of World Religions textbook says “the dharmachakra’s implied motion is a symbol of the spiritual change created by Buddhism (p. 115). Lastly, “the different parts of the wheel summarize Buddhism (p. 115).” These parts according to The Introduction of World Religions textbook are the rim, which represents the endless cycle of birth, the eight spokes represent the noble eightfold path taught by Buddha, and lastly the wheel’s hub symbolizes moral self-discipline, the first step toward enlightenment (p. 115). Overall, I think that Dharma day is a great representation of multiple aspects of the Buddhist religion and their symbol Dharmachakra really ties everything together of what their religion encompasses. The last festival to cover for the Buddhist religion is Parinirvana. This festival to most is known as Nirvana. Parinirvana’s meaning according to the textbook Intoduction to World Religions is the Buddha passing into full nirvana at his death (p. 118). With this meaning we get a better understanding as to why they celebrate Parinirvana. This festival is a way to continue the spread of the religion. Back when Buddha passed according to the textbook Intoduction to World Religions his body was cremated and at his funeral hundreds of monks met in Rajagrha, India in order to finalize Buddha’s teachings and recite them (p. 118). According to an article written by BBC titled Parinirvana Day: When a Buddhist achieves Nirvana, he or she will not be reborn again. The Buddhist has achieved a state of complete understanding, when no more suffering can be experienced. Mahayana Buddhism teaches that Nirvana can be achieved by anyone, when all desire and suffering is gone. Buddhists may celebrate Parinirvana Day with meditation or going to Buddhist temples or monasteries […] Parinirvana Day is significant to Buddhists today as they think about their lives and how they can work towards gaining Nirvana. They remember friends or relations who have recently died and reflect on the fact that death is a part of life for everyone. As stated above Nirvana is something that is not just achieved by the Buddha but everyone of the religion is capable of doing so. This is similar to Christianity in a way because Christians believe in Heaven and this is their after life. Where as for Buddhist they have nirvana which is their death that leads to their rebirth. Overall I think that any religion can be similar but they all are unique in their own ways. After covering this topic of Buddhism and their festival and holidays I have a better understanding as to why they celebrate them and when they do. I still find it quite interesting that they have so many holidays that intertwine with one another. This religion is definitely unique and I hope to learn more about it in the future. For now, I have the basic understanding of these holidays and festivals and can be more aware and respectful towards their holidays. Works Cited Ed. “Buddhist Celebrations.” PAMF Preteen Health Education California, Julia Ransohoff and Sam Ransohoff, www.pamf.org/preteen/share/celebrations/buddhist.html. “GCSE Religious Studies - Festivals - Revision 3.” BBC Bitesize, BBC, www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/zd4dtfr/revision/3. “Religions - Buddhism: Sangha Day.” BBC, BBC, 7 May 2004, www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/holydays/sangha.shtml. Van Voorst, Robert E. Introduction to World Religions. Cengage Learning, 2018.