Here are the details.
- The Buddha’s birth as Prince Siddhartha took place on this day at Lumbini in Kapilavatthu (modern Nepal).
- Ascetic Siddhartha Gautama attained Supreme Enlightenment on this day at Buddha Gaya under the sacred Bodhi Tree.
- The Supreme Buddha’s Great Demise (Parinibbana) happened on Vesak Full Moon day at Kusinara.
- The Supreme Buddha’s display of His psychic powers through the performance of Yamaka Maha Patihariya (The Miracle of the Twin Wonders) took place on a Vesak Full Moon day. This event is a crucial turning point in His Dispensation as this convinced numerous skeptics “doubters” - about the Supreme Buddha’s Enlightenment.
Celebration of Wesak Day
Wesak is the name of a month in the ancient Indian calendar. The Buddha or The Supreme Enlightened One was born on 623 B.C. on a Wesak Full Moon Day. The young prince was named Siddharta or "the one who brought about all good". Siddharta Gautama was provided with all the worldly comforts that could be provided in a royal palace. His parents shielded him from the harsh realities of the outside world.
One day, when Siddharta ventured outside the palace gates, he sighted an old man bent with age, a sick man and a corpse. The young prince was horrified when he learnt that the human body which was so well cared for in youth could be subjected to the ravages of age, disease and death. He started to contemplated deeply and was determined to seek a panacea for such sufferings.
The Prince also saw an ascetic, dressed in simple clothes but glowing with the inner peace of one who had given up all worldly possessions. He was deeply impressed by the sense of happiness and calm that the ascetic radiated.
The Prince went to many teachers but their wisdom was limited. They could not help him to gain the Enlightenment that he was searching for. So he decided to seek the path on his own. The struggle for the realisation of the truth took him 6 long years. One of the first lesson he learnt was to seek the Middle Path, that is not to go to extremes. In order to calm the mind to gain purification, one must be moderate in all respects.
Buddha's Enlightenment
Finally on the 35th anniversary of his birth, again on the full moon day of Wesak and seated under a Boddhi tree in Buddha Gaya, the ascetic Siddharta became the Buddha, the fully Enlightened One. For the next 45 years, the Buddha travelled around Northern India preaching His message of loving-kindness for all beings and realisation of the nature of existence. He realised that man's ignorance is the root of all misery. Man's clinging to an illusion of an ego creates the desire to satisfy the concept of "self".
The basis of Buddha's teaching is the Four Noble Truths:
- The first is the Noble Truth of Suffering. Life is filled with the miseries of age, sickness, death and unhappiness.
- The second is the Noble Truth of the cause of suffering. People chase after pleasure, but only end up with more sufferings, pain and dissatisfaction.
- The third is the Noble Truth of the end of suffering. When desire is eliminated, suffering will cease.
- The fourth is the Noble Truth on the path which leads to the end of suffering - the Noble Eightfold Path.
- Right understanding
- Right thought
- Right speech
- Right action
- Right livelihood
- Right effort
- Right mindfulness
- Right concentration
Finally after 45 years of preaching, lying underneath two sala trees and before a large assembly of monks, the Buddha passed away at Kusinara. The passing of Buddha is also known as Mahapaniribbana or "the attainment of ultimate peace and bliss". This great even also occurred on the full moon day of Wesak. The Buddhist Era begins from the Mahapaniribbana - Passing away of the Buddha.
May Vesak, the thrice sacred day bring peace and happiness to everyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment