Buddhist festivals

Festivals play a very important role in the life of Buddhists. It is diffi cult, however, to generalize about them. The different schools—Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana— celebrate different festivals (see MAHAYANA BUDDHISM, THERAVADA BUDDHISM, and VAJRAYANA BUDDHISM). So do different regions, such as Sri Lanka, Burma, and Thailand, all countries where Theravada predominates. In most places Buddhists celebrate festivals according to a lunar calendar in which the months are defi ned by the phases of the moon. In Japan, however, Buddhists use the calendar commonly used in the United States. Important festivals commemorate events in the life of the BUDDHA. Theravada Buddhists believe that the Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and parinirvana ("ultimate NIRVANA," what non-Buddhists think of as his death) all occurred on the same day, a full-moon day that usually occurs in the month of May. Some Buddhists refer to it as Buddha Day. In Theravada countries this is a very important festival. Theravada Buddhists commonly celebrate this festival the way they celebrate most festivals: They give food to the monks and the poor, they dedicate themselves to the Five Precepts (instructions on how to live, similar to the TEN COMMANDMENTS in JUDAISM and CHRISTIANITY), they listen to DHARMA talks (sermons on Buddhist topics), and they walk in a devotional manner around STUPAS, monuments where Buddha relics are kept. Unlike Theravada Buddhists, other Buddhists celebrate the birth, enlightenment, and parinirvana of the Buddha Sakyamuni, as they call him, on different days. For example, Japanese Buddhists celebrate his birth on April 8, his enlightenment on December 8, and his parinirvana on the 15th of February or March (traditions vary). Particularly striking is the celebration of Sakyamuni's birth. It is known in Japanese as Hanamatsuri, "fl ower festival." Japanese Buddhists decorate altars profusely with fl owers to recall the fl owers in the grove where Sakyamuni was born. They also pour sweet tea on an image of the baby Buddha. Other Mahayana Buddhists pour tea on Buddha images, too. According to legend, the skies rained sweet tea at Sakyamuni's birth. RELICS of the Buddha play a large role in Buddhist practice. In Sri Lanka, the most important relic is a tooth of the Buddha. It has traditionally been the sign of the rightful ruler of the island. It sits inside a richly decorated gold reliquary that is kept for most of the year in a temple in the city of Kandy. But once a year, in July or August, at the climax of several days of celebration, the decorated gold reliquary with the tooth inside is brought out of the temple, mounted on the back of an elephant, and taken through the city in a large procession. In addition to festivals focusing on the Buddha, Buddhists celebrate festivals in honor of BODHISATTVAS and other prominent Buddhists. The Chinese celebrate a festival in honor of Kuan-yin, the bodhisattva AVALOKITESVARA in female form. Especially important for Tibetan Buddhists is the festival in honor of Padmasmbhava. For members of the Jodo Shin school in Japan the most important festival honors Shinran (1173–1262), the founder of the school. The NEW YEAR FESTIVAL is a major celebration for almost all Buddhists. Because they use different calendars, they celebrate it at different times. The focus of New Year's celebrations is generally on achieving health and prosperity in the coming year, not on any specifi c Buddhist teaching or practice. In China, Korea, and Japan, the most popular festival for Buddhists who are not monks or nuns is Ullambana. The Japanese call it Obon and celebrate it on July 13–16. Ullambana honors the ancestors: It is believed that at this time the spirits of the dead return to earth. This is a joyous occasion, not a macabre one. Buddhists celebrate Ullambana by decorating household altars and cleaning grave sites. They may also light bonfi res and sponsor events such as dances to entertain the spirits. At festival's end, the Japanese make little boats, often out of leaves, attach candles to them, and fl oat them down streams and out to sea.