Key Buddhist Days

Makha Bucha ( Thai มาฆบูชา) is an important religious festival celebrated by Buddhists in Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos on the full moon day of the third lunar month (this usually falls in February). The full moon of the third lunar month, a month known in the Thai language as Makha (Pali: Māgha). Bucha, also a Thai word (Pali: Pūjā), meaning to venerate or to honor. As such, Makha Bucha Day is for the veneration of Buddha and his teachings on the full moon day of the third lunar month.

The spiritual aims of the day are: not to commit any kind of sins; do only good; purify one's mind.

Māgha Pūjā is a public holiday in Thailand and Laos - and is an occasion when Buddhists tend to go to the temple to perform merit-making activities.

It was nine full months after Buddha got Enlightenment, on the full-moon day of 6th lunar month, 45 year before the Buddhist era.

Origin

Māgha Pūjā day marks the four auspicious occasions, which happened nine months after the Enlightenment of the Buddha at Veḷuvana Bamboo Grove, near Rājagaha in Northern India. On that occasion, as recorded in the commentary to the Mahāsamayasutta, DN 20) four marvelous events occurred:

1.There were 1,250 Sangha followers, that came to see the Buddha that evening without any schedule.

2.All of them were "Arhantas',the Enlightened One, and all of them were ordained by the Buddha himself.

3.The Buddha gave those Arhantas principles of the Buddhism, called "The ovadhapatimokha".

Those principles are: - To cease from all evil,- To do what is good,- To cleans one's mind;

The Buddha gave an important teaching to the assembled monks on that day 2,500 years ago called the 'Ovādapātimokkha' which laid down the principles of the Buddhist teachings. In Thailand, this teaching has been dubbed the 'Heart of Buddhism'.

Activities to be observed

1.In the evening of Vesak full-moon day, each temple in Thailand holds a candle light procession called a wian tian (wian meaning circle; tian meaning candle). Holding flowers, incense and a lighted candle, the monks and congregation members circumambulate clockwise three times around the Uposatha Hall - once for each of the Three Jewels – the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

2.Tum Boon: Making merit by going to temples for special observances and join in the other Buddhist activities.

3.Rub Sil': Keeping the Five Precepts. Practice of renunciation: Observe the Eight Precepts, practise of meditation and mental discipline, stay in the temple, wearing white robes, for a number of days.

Vesak is an annual holiday observed traditionally by practicing Buddhists in South Asian and South East Asian countries like Nepal, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Indonesia and India. Sometimes informally called "Buddha's Birthday," it actually encompasses the birth, enlightenment (Nirvana), and passing away (Parinirvana) of Gautama Buddha.

On Vesak day, devout Buddhists and followers alike are expected and requested to assemble in their various temples before dawn for the ceremonial, and honorable, hoisting of the Buddhist flag and the singing of hymns in praise of the holy triple gem: The Buddha, The Dharma (his teachings), and The Sangha (his disciples). Devotees may bring simple offerings of flowers, candles and joss-sticks to lay at the feet of their teacher. These symbolic offerings are to remind followers that just as the beautiful flowers would wither away after a short while and the candles and joss-sticks would soon burn out, so too is life subject to decay and destruction. Devotees are enjoined to make a special effort to refrain from killing of any kind. They are encouraged to partake of vegetarian food for the day. In some countries, notably Sri Lanka, two days are set aside for the celebration of Vesak and all liquor shops and slaughter houses are closed by government decree during the two days. Also birds, insects and animals are released by the thousands in what is known as a 'symbolic act to liberation'; of giving freedom to those who are in captivity, imprisoned, or tortured against their will. Some devout Buddhists will wear a simple white dress and spend the whole day in temples with renewed determination to observe the eight Precepts.

Celebrating Vesak also means making special efforts to bring happiness to the unfortunate like the aged, the handicapped and the sick. To this day, Buddhists will distribute gifts in cash and kind to various charitable homes throughout the country. Vesak is also a time for great joy and happiness, expressed not by pandering to one’s appetites but by concentrating on useful activities such as decorating and illuminating temples, painting and creating exquisite scenes from the life of the Buddha for public dissemination. Devout Buddhists also vie with one another to provide refreshments and vegetarian food to followers who visit the temple to pay homage to the Enlightened One.

Tradition ascribes to the Buddha himself instruction on how to pay him homage. Just before he died, he saw his faithful attendant Ananda, weeping. The Buddha advised him not to weep, but to understand the universal law that all compounded things (including even his own body) must disintegrate. He advised everyone not to cry over the disintegration of the physical body but to regard his teachings (The Dhamma) as their teacher from then on, because only the Dhamma truth is eternal and not subject to the law of change. He also stressed that the way to pay homage to him was not merely by offering flowers, incense, and lights, but by truly and sincerely striving to follow his teachings. This is how devotees are expected to celebrate Vesak: to use the opportunity to reiterate their determination to lead noble lives, to develop their minds, to practise loving-kindness and to bring peace and harmony to humanity.

Asalha Puja (known as Asanha Puja or Asarnha Bucha in Thailand, Thai: อาสาฬหบูชา aa-saal boo-chaa) is a Theravada Buddhist festival which typically takes place in July, on the fifteenth day of the waxing moon of the eighth lunar month. It commemorates the Buddha’s first sermon in the Deer Park in Benares and the founding of the Buddhist sangha. In Thailand, Asalha Puja is a government holiday.

The day is observed by donating offerings to temples and listening to sermons. The following day is known in Thailand as Wan Kao Pansa; it is the first day of vassa, the Theravada rains retreat.

Thai: pansa or phansaa, also called Rains Retreat, is the traditional retreat during the rainy season lasting for three lunar months from July to October. During this time Buddhist monks remain in a single place, generally in their temples. In some monasteries, monks dedicate the Vassa to intensive meditation. During Vassa, many Buddhist lay people reinvigorate their spiritual training and adopt more ascetic practices, such as giving up meat, alcohol, or smoking (Vassa is sometimes known as "Buddhist Lent", though at least one prominent Theravada monk has objected to this usage- see [1]). And in countries such as Thailand, the laity will often take monastic vows for period of Vassa and return to lay life afterwards. Commonly, the number of years a monk has spent in monastic life is expressed by counting the number of Vassas he has observed.

The Vassa retreat has largely been given up by Mahayana Buddhists, as Mahayana Buddhism has typically flourished in regions without a rainy season, however for Mahayana schools such as Zen and Tibetan Buddhism other forms of retreat are common.

The observation of Vassa is said to originate with the Buddha himself. Gautama Buddha ordered his disciples to observe a pre-existing practice whereby holy men avoided travel for a three month period during the rainy season, in order to avoid damaging crops.

Vassa is followed by two of the major festivals of the year among Theravada Buddhists, Wan Awk Pansa and Kathina.

The end of vassa is marked by joyous celebration. The following month, the Kathina ceremony is held, during which the laity gathers to make formal offerings of robe cloth and other requisites to the Sangha.

Wan Awk Pansa (Thai: วันออกพรรษา) is the last day of the Thai/Laos observance of vassa. It occurs in October, three lunar months after Wan Kao Pansa.

The day is celebrated in Isan by illuminated boat processions (Thai ไหลเรือไฟ lai reua fai, Isan ไหลเฮือไฟ lai heua fai), notably in Nakhon Phanom on the Mekong river, and in Ubon Ratchathani on the Mun.

The main ceremonies feature boats of 8-10 metres in length, formerly made of banana wood or bamboo, but now sometimes of other materials. The boats are filled with offerings such as kao tom mut (sticky rice sweets wrapped in banana leaves) and decorated on the outside with flowers, candles and lamps. The boats are launched in the evening.

Additionally, some celebrants individually launch their own, smaller vessels. Boat races also take place around this time in many places throughout the country.

The phenomenon known as the Naga fireballs, in which glowing egg-sized balls rise out of the Mekong river, is most often reported around the night of Wan Awk Pansa. A clear reason for the fireballs has yet to be determined.

Source: Wikipedia