Buddhism: Wesak Flashcards
Overview of Wesak
aka Buddha Purnima
Most important and holiest day in the Buddhist calendar – commemorated by Buddhists all over the world
Theravada and Vajrayana: commemorates the birth, enlightenment and Parinirvana of the Buddha (believed all occured on same day). Mahayana: only commemorates the Buddha’s birthday.
Culminate everything it means to be a Buddhist reinfocing faith and honoring the Buddha universally recognised as “one of the greatest benefactors of humanity”
Buddhists from various traditions come together in harmony and shared faith to commemorate Buddha’s life and teachings.
Characteristics and Features of Wesak
Typically celebrated on the full moon day in the lunar month of Vesakha (may/april) = exact date varies according to different Buddhist traditions and regional calendars.
Observed by Buddhists worldwide: public holiday in many countries w sig buddhist populations e.g. thailand and sri Lanka; some place’s colourful processions, lantern festivals and cultural performances are part of festivities.
Time for prayer, meditation, and acts of kindness, highlighting compassion, mindfulness, and the path to enlightenment. Common practices include monastic and lay sangha celebrating together, focusing on the dharma and personal commitment to renewal and rebirth.
The Buddha teaches followers to honor him by living his teachings, not through material offerings.
South Korea (Mahayana): Lotus Lantern Festival, temples decorated with lanterns, free meals and tea for visitors.
Sri Lanka (Theravada): Royal family attends, alcohol and meat sales prohibited, abattoirs closed, first and fifth precepts. Wear white, symbolizing purity of Dharma.
Practices of Wesak
Diverse celebrations: Each country’s devotees bring unique practices to the universal display of Buddhist teachings on peace, gratitude, and impermanence.
Buddhists visit temples at dawn, where the raising of the Buddhist flag represents the Buddha’s enlightenment aura, accompanied by hymns honoring the Three Jewels.
Wesak practices vary by tradition:
Mahayana: Three-step bow, praying for peace, blessings, repentance, and bathing the Buddha.
Theravada: Cook rice in milk, reflecting Buddha’s last meal, with offerings like flowers and candles.
Central Wesak practices: Worship and offerings to the Buddha, Refraining from violence, goodwill or charity
Practices differ widely, influenced by culture.
Goodwill and charity description
Wesak = time for generosity and compassion
Engage in acts of kindness uch as donating to charities, feeding the needy, and helping the less fortunate, in line with the Buddhist principle of “Dana.”
Many donate blood e.g. Nalanda Buddhist Society (mahayana) in Malaysia organizes an annual Wesak Blood Donation Drive at their centre, encouraging community members to donate blood. In 2024, over 270 donors participated, reflecting the community’s commitment to selflessness and compassion.
Some prepare vegetarian food for the local temple community and Sangha.
Others decorate temples with lights and paintings of the Buddha.
Goodwill and charitiy sacred text
- “The wise man rejoices in giving” Dhammapada
Difference in variants: goodwill and charity
Mahayana: Central to Mahayana practice is the aspiration to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. This motivation drives acts of charity and goodwill, aiming to alleviate the suffering of others e..g festivals like the Lotus Lantern Festival in South Korea involve community gatherings, free meals, and charitable activities
Theravada Buddhism emphasizes individual moral conduct and support for monastic life
Goodwill and charity beliefs
1) Eightfold path – Prajna and sila: right intention and conduct
2) 3 jewels—sangha: Buddhist assist the Sangha in their material needs
3) Metta: love for all beings extended to everyone particulary marginalised and vulnerable
Charity and goodwill impact on the individual
- Right effort’: use their mental energy to devoutly act: celebrations are wilful acts to enhance spiritual life of individual
- Accrue good karmic merit and purify self: reminder of how you should behave e.g. bringing offerings to the Sangha + participation in acts of service conveying selflessness.
- aligns individuals with the Buddha’s teachings on compassion and selflessness, deepening their spiritual practice.
Charity and goodwill community
- Unites the community in fellowship embodying the Buddha’s teachings through compassion and service.
o Supporting marginalised groups —aged, disabled, and sick—reflecting the First Precept by encouraging selflessness over personal happiness e.g. giving blood or singing to the elderly. - Engaging in communal charitable activities strengthens social bonds fostering belonging and enriching communal life.
Laypeople offering vegetarian meals to the Sangha exemplifies Dana (generosity), deepening ties between monastics and the community. - Nan Tien Temple, Australia: Hosts the annual Buddha’s Birthday Cultural Festival, with all ticket proceeds donated to Barnardos - Illawarra, supporting vulnerable children and families.
The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Singapore utilizes Vesak Day donations to support various charitable initiatives. One such initiative is the distribution of Maitri Charity Bags, filled with essentials, to the less fortunate during festive occasions like Vesak Day. This effort is conducted in collaboration with Kreta Ayer Seniors Activity Centres and other social service organizations. emphasizes charity and goodwill, encouraging the community to unite in support of these noble causes (mahayana)
Meditation and chanting description
- Meditation in Buddhism = central practice for cultivating mindfulness, concentration and self awareness
- Reflection undertaken during Wesak on the Buddhist teachings to seek spiritual growth especially that of the 4 noble truths (knowledge of life and its unsatisfactory nature).
- Meditation: Practiced individually or in groups. E.g., Bodhikusuma Buddhist & Meditation Centre (Sydney) holds Wesak meditation; private practice may involve candles & quiet spaces.
Chanting: Recitation of sutras, mantras (e.g., Tibetan “Om Mani Padme Hum”), or Dharanis. Enhances focus, memorization, and spiritual merit, fostering enlightenment.
Meditation and chanting sacred texts
- Through mediation the sangha and Sangha can come together to “Take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha” (Pali canon)
- “Not until I attain the supreme Enlightenment will I give up this seat of meditation” (Pali canon)
Meditation and chanting beliefs
- Meditation, integral to the last three steps of the 8FP—right effort, mindfulness, and concentration—cultivates samadhi, enhancing mental clarity and insight, needed to progess down the path and achieve enlightenment.
- Chanting: enhances concentration, deepening understanding of the Dharma and aiding liberation from suffering: focus on the dharma (1/3 jewels)
Meditation and chanting variants
Mahayana: Focuses on personal enlightenment, bodhisattva qualities (wisdom & compassion), chanting sutras, mantras (e.g., Om Mani Padme Hum), and Buddha/Bodhisattva names.
Theravada: Emphasizes Vipassana (insight) and Samatha (concentration) meditation, reflecting on Buddha’s life, and chanting from the Pali Canon (e.g., Sutta Pitaka).
Meditation and chanting individual
- Help observe thoughts and feelings w/o attachment promoting self-awareness and understanding anatta.
- Cultivating a calm and focused mind enhancing wisdom and fostering compassion = Crucial for enlightenment: help to transcend ego and achieve true liberation and contentment.
- Reaffirms devotion, fostering growth through reflection on the Buddha’s story and the path to enlightenment to achieve own buddha nature
- Chanting: allows individuals to connect with the Dharma by focusing their minds on sacred texts, mantras, reinforcing key Buddhist principles. The repetition of these words cultivates mindfulness, making it easier to internalize and embody the teachings.
During the 2007 Wesak festival, the Dalai Lama recited the Mahayana mantra “Om Mani Padme Hum” at the Great Stupa in Sanchi, emphasizing that wisdom is gained through the Dharma. Chanting this mantra helps individuals grow by cultivating mindfulness, compassion, and a deeper understanding of the Dharma.
Meditation and chanting community
Structured mindfulness practice fosters unity and interconnectedness, strengthening the faith community.
Develops mindfulness and empathy, enhancing relationships and collective wellbeing.
Monastics and laypeople join to celebrate, learn, and validate the Sangha as backbone of community.
Chanting provides collective identity with rhythmic recitation and harmonizing energy.
Guided meditation: Phuoc Hue Temple in Wetherill Park hosts the annual Australian Observance of the United Nations Day of Vesak, attracting Buddhists from various traditions. During this event, guided communal meditation sessions are held, fostering social cohesion and unity among attendees
Bathing of the Buddha description
- Water is poured over the shoulders of statues of the Buddha as a reminder of the need to purify the heart and mind.
- involves pouring scented, blessed water over an image of the infant Prince, whose right forefinger points up and left forefinger points down.
- Represents letting go of impurities and negative emotions, physical representation of rejecting the 3 poisons (greed, hatred and ignorance)
Bathing of the Buddha sacred text
- “It’s easy to wash away physical dirt, but much more difficult to cleanse one’s inner impurity of greed, anger and ignorance”
Bathing Buddha variants
- Theravada: practice that symbolizes purification and seeking enlightenment, but it’s not as central to the tradition as in Mahayana Buddhism.
- Mahayana: a prominent devotional practice, seen to connect with the Buddha and cultivate merit may include flowers, incense, and sutra recitations, emphasizing the bodhisattva vow
Bathing Buddha beliefs
- Samsara: symbolising the purification and renewal of karma within the cycle of birth and rebirth. Ritual serves as a reminder of the goal of liberation from samsara suffering inspiration to cultivate virtues and strive for spiritual enlightenment.
- Three Jewels: “I take refugee in the Buddha, Sangha and Dhamma: Buddha = role model for all Buddhists bathing the buddha pays respect and homage to him reminding adherents to live like him. Bathing of the buddha allows individuals to remember the teachings and look to the buddha as a guide (reflect on the Buddhas teachings of the dharma on continual self-improvement) acknowledging his teachings and the impact they have on practitioners’ lives
- 8FP: Samadhi (right concentration)
Bathing buddha individual
Purifies the mind by expunging the Three Poisons (greed, hatred, ignorance) and cultivating virtues for enlightenment
Expresses devotion and gratitude, demonstrating commitment to the Buddha’s path and the Three Jewels.
Generates merit (punya), accruing good karma for spiritual progress and future lives.
Educates new practitioners, especially children, about the Buddha’s life and teachings through ritual actions.
Bathing Buddha community
- Brings together communities of practitioners fostering a sense of unity and shared purpose E.g. The Nan Tien Temple in Wollongong hosts the Buddha’s Birthday Festival, where devotees and visitors pour scented water over the infant Buddha statue, purifying body, speech, and mind.
- Reinforces the collective commitment to Buddhist values and shared respect for buddha impact on individual lives.
Wesak 3 jewels
- Pay respect to the 3 jewels
- Expected to reaffirm their faith in the Dharma and Buddha
- ‘Take refuge’ in the 3 jewels as ultimate sources of authority and guidance
Buddha: entire destival focus (celebrates events of his life) e.g. bathing of the buddha, nepal eat kheer (asceticism)
Dharma: emphasises reflectino on the Dharma. Gather at local temple to hear important sutras in words of the Buddha read by Sangha, wear white to symbolise purity.
Sangha: pay respect through offering of vegetarian food. Lay buddhist learn from local sangha: listern to sermons (dharma talks), all attend temple reminder of unity e.g. guided meditation BBAMC bonding opportunity helping bind community.
Ahimsa and Metta
symbolises their importance for buddhists
both ways of treating living beings - reminder to extend these principles= refrain from violence and engage in good will.
Ahimsa: compassionate treatment of animals: strict vegetarian diet, free animals from cages, abittiors closed.
Metta: shown through acts of charity and good will: loving kindness. Extended to everyone but particularly marginalised and vulnerable: elderly, poor and sick. e.g. In spirit of Wesak day Da Ma Cal donates RM7,000 in gifts to old folk’s home
Enlightenment
celebration of enlightenment- Particularly true for Theravada and Tibetan Buddhists who believe the Buddha’s Enlightenment death and birth occurred on Wesak
- Several rituals symbolise the Buddhas enlightenment e.g. raising Buddhist flag at dawn, offering candles to buddharupas, releasing lanterns to represent the light of the Buddhas enlightenment e.g. Mahayana Buddhists in Indonesia particularly at Borobudur Temple, release lanterns into the night sky, a tradition symbolizing enlightenment and wishes for peace.
- More likely to achieve enlightenment through meritorious deeds and reaffirming their commitment to the moral precepts e.g. refraining from eating meat give opportunity to receive good karma
- Opportunity to reflect on the doctrine of Samsara
- Able to come to a greater understanding of what it means to reach nirvana e.g. Buddhist sermons given at Wesak help Buddhists come to a greater understanding of these principal belief
Wesak for Individual
Reinforce life with ideal goal, directed path and supportive community
- Encourage practices of kindness to fellow humans to spiritually develop one’s mind leading a noble life focusing on bringing peace to all humanity e.g. In Sri Lanka 2 days are classified as public holidays and during this time government has legislated that liquor shops and slaughterhouses are closed
Wesak Community
BUZZ WORDS: fellowship, community of believers
- Most important and holiest day in the Buddhist calendar commemorated by Buddhists all over the world form of active and visible participation in Buddhism as a religion (united under beliefs and rituals) Great significance to adherents both within local community and global level.
- Sense of Community and Collective Unity: Charitable acts, social support, and shared celebrations = strengthen social cohesion and express shared beliefs
- Reinforces cultural identity, preserves Buddhist tradition, and passes values to future generations.
