Thoughts and Significance of Celebrating Buddha’s Birthday – Buddhist Calendar 2562
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Thoughts and Significance of Celebrating
Buddha’s Birthday – Buddhist
Calendar 2562
Vietnamese Version:
Buddha’s Birthday or Vesak Day, Buddhist Calendar 2562 is again returning to our
earth, millions of Buddha’s followers from East to West; from Europe to Asia,
with millions of hearts just as one, and with a single belief in joyfully
welcoming this important day.
That is the day when our World Honored One comes into existence with the great
vow of Wisdom and Compassion, bringing peace and happiness for the majority;
setting straight what is fallen down from net of hatred and ignorance, false
beliefs; healing what is broken from ideologies of self-attachment and
variations of mean selfishness; turning on the light for people to see “the
original face” of themselves and showing them the way to escape from birth-death
nights full of darkness.
Wishing for a life of peace and happiness and a life of interest does not belong
to any individual person, any class or organization, but to all the people from
different social backgrounds and in a broader sense, it is the wish of all
human-beings with human nature and all living beings with Buddha nature.
Without human nature, human-beings become losers in the country and among their
fellow ones, they are only interested in physical comfort and joy of luxury,
make use of scientific achievements and knowledge to exploit people, animals,
and environment for the satisfaction of wild passions filled with animal nature
and evil consequence.
Without Buddha nature, sentient beings are all but slaves to material desires,
deity, and karma-reward, therefore they do not have any chance to make their
life civilized and humanitarian, and thus they find it unable to develop that
civilization in a perfect way by power of self-belief, self-consciousness, and
voluntary knowledge. Without Buddha nature, sentient beings will not have the
great vow of Wisdom and Compassion so as to eradicate ignorance themselves, and
explore the unlimited treasure of enlightenment in the tranquil nature that is
included in their own minds as well as the mind of all sentient beings. Without
Buddha nature, sentient beings find it unable both to explore what is lovely
from others just for their mutual existence and even worse, to investigate the
close relationship between humans and environment for mutual respect and
agreement, and thus for mutual protection and safeguard as well as for
co-existence in peace and happiness. Without Buddha nature, sentient beings are
even unable to improve their own life and life of others right at this life and
the following lives.
Therefore, we the Sangha and Buddhists in the world celebrate the Buddha’s
Birthday just for the purpose of marking the day when the Enlightened One comes
into existence in this earth so as to emancipate knowledge for humans, to open
up a new vision, both accurate and perfect to human life and the universe by the
wisdom of “Causation” and shape a bright path for humans to free themselves from
slaves to deity and material desires through long nights of darkness, to turn on
the light of Buddha’s wisdom to humans and all species, thus making them realize
the value of their co-existence, respect their presence, and join hands to
improve life in the spirit of Wisdom and Compassion, Freedom and Liberation.
We the Sangha and Buddhists in the world celebrate the Buddha’s Birthday, since
the day marks the appearance of Wisdom and the disappearance of ignorance; since
the day marks the start of Compassion life and the clearing up of all hatred;
since the day marks the existence of a life of liberty and the emancipation of
lives of belief and knowledge slavery. And the day also marks the time when
humans regain their control and are liberated from prisons of birth and death
and from unilateral ideologies.
If we Buddha’s disciples celebrate the Buddha’s Birthday in such significant
ways, certainly from the lotus stand, the Enlightened One will look at us with
the eyes of Compassion, and from great concentration, the Enlightened One will
offer us a smile of wisdom.
Making efforts to eradicate evil things and perform good deeds, to keep minds
and thoughts clear and clean, and to serve all sentient beings with all the
belief and the Bodhi vow is the most significant celebration of the Buddha’s Day
by generations of our Buddha’s disciples.
Namo Bodhisattva, Mahasattva of constant efforts for celebration and offering.
Bhikshu Thich Thai Hoa