Happy Wesak Day!

What is Wesak Day?

It was Wesak Day yesterday, 21 May 2016. I have no idea why it is called Wesak in my country, Malaysia, but it seems like most countries call it Vesak Day. This day is marked as a celebration of Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and departure from the human world. They are not actually on the same day, but it just happened that Buddha was born in May, which there was a night with full moon. After 35 years, he was enlightened in May, and it was a night with full moon too. Coincidentally, he departed from the human world in May, at a night with full moon. So, Buddhists decided to mark the first full moon day in May as a celebration for these three events. Wesak Day might be celebrated on different day in different countries, but here in Malaysia, we celebrate it on the 15th day of April in Lunar Calendar.

Bathing the Buddha

I did not really celebrate Wesak Day, except enjoying the public holiday. Only in the last few years, I have found that there is a ritual or ceremony for Wesak Day, which is “Bathing the Buddha”. Yesterday, we went to the Buddhist temple and poured the blessed water over the statue of the little Buddha. It is said that when Buddha was born, he had his right index finger pointed to the sky, and left index finger pointed to the earth. We were told to bathe the little Buddha three times, first from the right index finger, then the second from the left shoulder, and third from the right shoulder. I read from the Internet, there are different ways to bathe or pour water onto the statue of little Buddha.

Why Bathing the Buddha?

The meaning behind bathing the Buddha is actually not just pouring water and cleaning the Buddha, as Buddha does not need our help to cleanse him anymore, but it is to purifying our heart, and we should learn from Buddha to be wise, mercy and forgiving. We should also get rid of the greed, hatred and anger, and also wish for the peace and harmony.

Though I do believe we do not need to physically go and pour water over the statue of Buddha in order to learn from him, or to purify our heart, we just took this opportunity to bring our children to the Buddhist temple to take part of the ceremony or celebration. I also told some simple stories about Buddha to my children. It may also be a good opportunity for them to learn more about Buddha or Buddhism, and also the Buddha Teachings.

There were also other activities going on in the Buddhist temple we visited, but I would like to take more rest now, so after bathing the little Buddha, we just came home. Besides the activities held in the Buddhist temple, there are other activities to celebrate Wesak Day, but I have not take part in those activities before. I would prefer to go to some quiet places, such as those Buddhist temples.

Do people in your country celebrate Wesak Day or Vesak Day? How do you celebrate it?

Join us at LiteracyBase if you would like to write, interact with others and make extra money at the same time.