Uposatha

Uposatha

Introduction
As per Bible, the Sabbath is a religious day of rest every week as ordained by the Ten Commandments. In Buddhism, this sabbath is the Uposatha. The day was instituted by the Buddha to honour the request of King Bimbisara. The Buddha explained that this day was meant to purify the polluted mind which would in turn lead to inner tranquility and happiness. He urged the monks to disseminate the teachings to the lay people and recite the Patimokkha every second day Uposatha Day themselves.

The term Uposatha owes its origin to the Sanskrit word 'upavastha' which means the pre Buddhist fast day that preceded Vedic sacrifices. The weekly uposatha is observed on the basis of four phases of the moon - the full moon, the new moon and two quarter moon in between. In quiet a few communities, only the new moon and the full moon are kept as the uposatha day.

Today, the weekly day is observed in mostly the Theravada countries. The dates are chalked out on the basis of a difficult traditional formula that is based on the lunar calendar. Because of this, the dates, quiet a number of times, do not match with actual astronomical dates. To worsen the situation even more, the various sects of the Theravada Buddhism have different calendar.


The Five Most Important Uposatha Day
These five full moon uposatha day are of special mention.

• Vesak or the Buddha Day : The day commemorates the three most important days in the life of the Buddha – His birth, awakening and parinibbana.
  
  
• Asalha Puja or the Dhamma Day : The Dhamma Day marks the first preachings of the Buddha which He gave to a group of five monks. After His discourse came to an end, one of the five monks, Ven. Kondañña, urged the Buddha to accept Him as His disciple, thus paving way for the rise of the Noble Sangha. The day also marks the beginning of the annual Rains Retreat (vassa) the next day.
  
  
• Pavarana Day : The Rains Retreat which begins on the day following the Dhamma day continues for three months and concludes on the Pavarana day. The next month sees the celebration of the Kathina ceremony in which laity come together to make formal offerings of robe cloth and other requisites to the Sangha.
  
  
• Magha Puja or the Sangha Day : This day marks an important event in the life of the Buddha when without taking His appointment, 1250 arahants gathered at the Veruvana Monastery in the Rajgaha city. To this assembly, the Buddha delivered the Ovada-Patimokkha Gatha, a summary of the main points of the Dhamma.
  
  
• Anapanasati day : When the Rains Retreat came to an end, the Buddha was extremely happy with the development of the assembled monks. So much so, that He urged them to extend their retreat for yet another month. At the end of the fourth month, He gave His instructions on the mindfulness of breathing.
  
  
  

The Observance Practice
The day for a lay practioner is basically meant for observance of the Eight Precepts. They have to reaffirm their faith and commitment to the Dhamma. If a monastery is nearby, lay practioners visit them and present their offerings to the Sangha. Listening to the Dhamma talks, chanting special suttas and practising meditation in the late night also forms part of their practice.

For the monastic community, however, the practice differs a bit. They are required to undertake more intensive reflection and meditation. On the full and New Moon days, the recitation of the Bhikkhu Patimokkha (monastic rules of conduct) takes place. However, before the commencement of the recitation, the monks have to confess whether they have violated any monastic rules to another monk of the Sangha. The recitation itself, can take, anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour. In a number of monasteries, physical labour is stopped for the day.

Vesak or Visakha Puja

Significance of Vesak & Its History
Vesak, the most important day in the Buddhist calendar around the world, celebrates the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Gautam Buddha. Its significance lies in it being associated with the Buddha and His universal message of peace. Though festivals were celebrated since long around the time around which Vesak is celebrated today, yet, the formal decision to mark it as the Buddha Day was taken at the first Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists (W.F.B.). This conference was held at Sri Lanka in 1950 and the resolution adopted here read,

"That this Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, while recording its appreciation of the gracious act of His Majesty, the Maharaja of Nepal in making the full-moon day of Vesak a Public Holiday in Nepal, earnestly requests the Heads of Governments of all countries in which large or small number of Buddhists are to be found, to take steps to make the full-moon day in the month of May a Public Holiday in honour of the Buddha, who is universally acclaimed as one of the greatest benefactors of Humanity."

The Name Vesak - In India & Other Countries
The 2nd month in Hindu calendar is known as 'Vaisakha' and it is from here that Vesak draws its name. Vesak, itself, is a Sinhalese word for Pali 'Visakha'.

Vesak is known by different names in different countries. In India, Bangladesh and Nepal, it is Visakah Puja or Buddha Purnima while in Thailand, it is called Visakha Bucha. Buddhist in Vietnam celebrate it as Phat Dan while those in Indonesia call it Waisak. Sri Lankan and Malaysian Buddhist term it as Vesak (Wesak) and Tibetan Buddhist as Saga Dawa. In Laos and Myanmar, the festival is known as Vixakha Bouxa and Ka-sone respectively.


The Celebration Date - 2008
Vesak is celebrated on the first full moon of the Tauras (an astrological sign) which is quiet often in May in common years and June in leap years. In coming years, Vesak will be celebrated on following dates:

2008 - 18th June


The Celebrations
Vesak is a completely religious festival wherein the Buddhist are required to reaffirm their faith in the Buddha Dharma and vow to lead a noble religious life.

For this, Buddhist devotees gather in their respective area temple before dawn and attend the honourable hoisting of the Buddhist flag. Hymns are sung exalting the holy triple jewel - the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. Offerings of flowers, candles and joss sticks are made. These offerings are symbolic of the ultimate reality of life - death. As the flowers wither away and the joss sticks burn out in time, so the life is destined to come to an end in due course of time.

Devotees are also called upon to avoid any kind of killing and eat vegetarian food on the day. In quiet a few countries, particularly in Sri Lanka, two days are marked out for the celebration of Vesak and all liquor shops and slaughter houses are closed by government orders. Also, a number of animals and birds are set free from captivity in a 'symbolic act to liberation'.

Buddhist monks recite verses given by the Buddha some 2500 years ago and call upon people to live with peace and harmony. Also, they urge people to respect other religious faiths as preached by their great teacher, Lord Buddha.

Unlike usual festivals, where people dress up beautifully and prepare delicious dishes, during Vesak, Buddhists, endeavour to bring a bit of happiness in the life of miserable people like the aged, handicapped and the sick. For this, they give away gifts in both cash and kind. Apart from this, devotees also distribute food amongst those who come into the temple to pay homage to the Buddha. Also, they lend a helping hand to adorn and lighten up the temple and paint scenes from the life of the Buddha.


Some Similar Festivals
Though Vesak is the main festival that marks the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Buddha, yet, in many other countries, festivals that mark only the birth of Buddha are also celebrated. Prominent amongst these is Hana-matsuri, also known as the Flower festival and celebrated on April 8 in Japan. In Hongkong, Macau, Taiwan and South Korea, the 8th day of the 4th moon is celebrated as Buddha's Birthday. It is infact, a public holiday in these countries.

Asalha Puja Day

Background & Significance
One of the most important festivals of the Thervada Buddhists, the Asalha Puja Day or the Dhamma Day celebrates the first teaching of the Buddha. Elaborating on this, the Buddha gained enlightenment on the full moon of Vesakha - the sixth month. After this, He was not too keen to teach, but on the insistence of His friends who had spent several years journeying the Gangetic plains with Him, He decided to go to Benaras. From Gaya, the distance to Beneras where His friends were staying was around 150 miles and it took Him around two months to reach there. On reaching Beneras, He delievered His first discourse which consisted of the essence, of the all future teachings. At the conclusion of His discourse, one of His five friends Kondañña, exclaimed his understanding of the Truths just preached and urged the Buddha to accept him as a disciple. This was followed by an extremely simple ordination process that gave birth to the the order of monks.

The preaching delievered by the Buddha is quiet often referred to as "setting into motion the wheel of dhamma," It comprises the four noble truths - life means suffering (dukka); origin of suffering is attachment(tanha); cessation of suffering is attainable and finally, the way to cessation is via the eightfold path. Throughout the world, whatever school of thought a Buddhist might belong to, the central doctrine of Buddhism for him still remains the four noble truths.

The festival is celebrated on the full moon day of the 8th lunar month, Asalha, of the old Indian calendar. Asalha is also the month of the starting of the monsoon. During this period the Buddha and His monks and nuns would hold their wanderings. Even today, monasteries keep a three month long 'rains retreat' which commences on the Dhamma day and the concludes on Pavarana. For all those who desire to join the order but just cannot renounce their present life, ordination as short term monks is also possible in this period.

Yet another significance of the Asalha is that it was during this month that the Buddha's son Rahula was born. It was after this that Buddha gave up all His royal worldly pleasures to attain spiritual enlightenment and the truth of life.

Pavarana Day

The Background & the Significance
The Rains Retreat which begins on the full moon day of Asalha (often in July) comes to an end on the Pavarana Day (often in October). The term pavarana literally translates into 'inviting admonition or inviting others to advise one'. The name is closely related to the history of the day. As per history, a number of wandering monks sought shelter in a residence during a three months long rainy season. In order to avoid any conflict amongst themselves, these monks decided to keep a silence for the complete three months. When the Buddha came to know about the silence of the monks, He immediately disapproved of it saying that it was not beneficial for any community. Instead, He advised the monks to come out in open about what they liked or disliked about the monastic life so that improvements could be made within.

This marked the beginning of the Pavarana day. On this day, the resident monks within each monstery invite and reprimand one another and also discuss the good and bad points of the monastic life. The reprimands are done in a constructive manner with love and compassion for each other. The topic of discussion is agreed upon by both parties and disagreement in the matter is sorted out by discussions. The ceremony helps in bringing about requisite changes, promotes unity and therefore, without doubt, leads to the betterment of the community.

The day is also celebrated as the welcoming-ceremony for the Buddha's return from celestial realm. The story behind it goes that the Buddha spent the three months of the seventh rains period after his enlightenment in the Tavatimsa heaven giving Abhidhamma instruction to his mother, Mayadevaputta, and to the other gods who had gathered. On the Pavarana day, He came back to the earth with the help of the jewelled stairways. When he returned, people gathered in a large numbers with alms to welcome the Buddha. This return of the Buddha from the celestial realm is referred to as 'Devrohana' in Thai and Pali language. The place where the Buddha returned was Sankisa. For this reason, Sankisa till date remians one of the eight most revered Buddhist pilgrimage destinations.

Even today, on this day, people visit Buddhist temples and present alms and food to the Buddhist monks.

A number of the Mahayana countries do not observe the three months lent season, vassa, which ends with the Pavarana Day.


The Celebration Time
The Pavarana day is celebrated on full moon day of the 11th lunar month. This is usually in October.

Magha Puja Day (Four Fold Sangha or Sangha Day)

The Story Of The Festival Goes...
Post the first Rains Retreat (Vassa) at the Deer Park in Sarnath, the Buddha reached the Rajagaha city. Here, without seeking His permission, 1250 Arahats along with two of the His main disciples, Ven. Sariputta and Ven. Moggalana, assembled to pay their respect to Him at the Veruvana Monastery. To this assembly, the Buddha delievered his sermon, or recitation of the Patimokkha (the rules and regulations of the monastic order).

The Magh Day Puja, today, is celebrated to commemorate this event which took place early in the life of the Buddha.


On Why It is Called The Magha Puja Day/Four Fold Sangha/Sangha Day
This assembly had four distinct features. First, all those 1250 who gathered were Arahants. Secondly, they were all ordained by the Buddha himself. Thirdly, all of them gathered on their own without any prior invation from the Buddha and lastly the gathering took place on the full moon day of Magha month (March).

Because of these features, the festival is also known as the Fourfold Assembly, Magha Puja Day or the Sangha Day.


Siginificance of the Festival
The festival is one of the most important festivals celebrated by the Buddhist community. The festival honours the Sangha, or the Buddhist community and offers a chance to the people to reaffirm their faith and commitment to Buddhist practices and traditions.

The Sangha or the spiritual community, is extremely important in Buddhism because it is one of the three jewels of Buddhism apart from the Buddha and the Dhamma.


Celebration of the Festival
For the ordained community, the festival is a chance to come together and carry out meetings to discuss various aspects of the Buddhs's teachings, indulge in group meditation and listen to talks given by senior members of the community. The Sangha Day is also a time for exchange of gifts and lighting of oil lamps.

Celebration varies from country to country, however, it is in the west that more importance is given to the festival.


Time of Celebration
The festival is celebrated on on the full moon day of the third lunar month (March).