Anti-Neocons

Vesakha is the sixth lunar month of the old Indian calendar - usually falling in May.

Vesak is probably the most universally celebrated festival in the whole Buddhist calendar. In the Theravada tradition it is a remembrance of the three most significant events in the Buddha's life - his birth, enlightenment and final passing. Tradition has it that these all took place on the full moon of Vesakha. It is unlikely that this is historically accurate but that these three events are celebrated on the same day gives great importance to the occasion. The day is very much centered around devotional practices; especially in relation to a recollection of the life of Gotama Buddha and there are often readings from scriptural texts or contemporary commentaries of various stories from his life. These would be interspersed with periods of meditation. Shrines and the Buddha images in particular will receive a lot of attention on this day.

The coming of a Buddha - an enlightened being - into the world is seen as tremendously important. The teachings given by such a being are seen as a light that dispells the darkness of ignorance and the use of lights or lanterns is common as a way of marking this festival. In Sri Lanka much is made of this with great processions and illuminated floats.


Vesakha Puja is often called Buddha day.


Edit: pix as prior one was deleted.

I'm cooking lots today and I have made all of my lanterns. I will have most my family and friends over, tmrw.

Vesakha Puja/Buddha Day

May 19



Instead of something Buddhist I will use a fable to bump this thread.

Source: http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/ift/ift28.htm

NE day Sun, Moon, and Wind went out to dine with their uncle and aunts Thunder and Lightning. Their mother (one of the most distant Stars you see far up in the sky) waited alone for her children's return.

Now both Sun and Wind were greedy and selfish. They enjoyed the great feast that had been prepared for them, without a thought of saving any of it to take home to their mother--but the gentle Moon did not forget her. Of every dainty dish that was brought round, she placed a small portion under one of her beautiful long finger-nails, that Star might also have a share in the treat.

On their return their mother, who had kept watch for them all night long with her little bright eye, said, "Well, children, what have you brought home for me?" Then Sun (who was eldest) said, "I have brought nothing home for you. I went out to enjoy myself with my friends--not to fetch a dinner for my mother!" And Wind said, "Neither have I brought anything home for you, mother. You could hardly expect me to bring a collection of good things for you, when I merely went out for my own pleasure." But Moon said, "Mother, fetch a plate, see what I. have brought you." And shaking her hands she showered down such a choice dinner as never was seen before.

Then Star turned to Sun and spoke thus, "Because you went out to amuse yourself with your friends, and feasted and enjoyed yourself, without any thought of your mother at home--you shall be cursed. Henceforth, your rays shall ever be hot and scorching, and shall burn all that they touch. And men shall hate you, and cover their heads when you appear."

(And that is why the Sun is so hot to this day.)

Then she turned to Wind and said, "You also who forgot your mother in the midst of your selfish pleasures--hear your doom. You shall always blow in the hot dry weather, and shall parch and shrivel all living things. And men shall detest and avoid you from this very time."

(And that is why the Wind in the hot weather is still so disagreeable.)

But to Moon she said, "Daughter, because you remembered your mother, and kept for her a share in your own enjoyment, from henceforth, you shall be ever cool, and calm, and bright. No noxious glare shall accompany your pure rays, and men shall always call you 'blessed.' "

(And that is why the Moon's light is so soft, and cool, and beautiful even to this day.)

If you study Buddhism, I would recommend some pureland (just for study purposes).


Poems by Stephen Lane …

No matter if I forget
this Name I carry in my heart.
To Amida I am
unforgettable!
________________________

Even though I turn my back.
Even when I forget your Name.
After I’ve said a hundred times:
“I’ll do this myself” and fail.
You’re always there
And catch me as I fall.
________________________

The Pure Land is
another world.
The Buddha’s Name is
a foreign tongue.
A stranger in my own life –-
when I find you
I’ll know I’m home.
________________________

Talk to Buddha.
Amida is a great listener.
________________________

I shape into a Buddha
that which has no form.
I label with “Amida”
that which has no name.
When will I realise I live within
a mystery I cannot contain?
________________________

Question: If you have no form
how can I reach you?
Answer: Who is there to reach?
________________________

No matter how many times I betray you,
your Vow remains the same.
No matter how strongly I deny you,
you still answer to your Name.
________________________

One day I will understand you.
Then I will understand myself.
You and I are one indivisible Amida.
________________________

Why do I worry about me
when there is only you?
________________________

If only it were true.
If only you were real.
How different then my life would be.
________________________

Teacher of my heart,
teach this heart to break.
________________________

A tough
year over with!
Thanks, Buddha Amida.
Thanks for being there beside me
always.
________________________

A language has thousands of words
yet, for all the wrong we do
there is only “sorry.”
For all the good others do us
there is only “thank you.”
In the language of the Heart
there is only the Name.
________________________

Wherever you are
Buddha’s there with you.
Say the Name
and Amida’s at your side.
________________________

When Buddha breathes in,
I breathe out. As I breathe in,
Buddha breathes out.
How close we are!
________________________

The world is Buddha’s garden.
________________________

All through my life
I let down, time after time,
those I love the most.
Need you more than ever now.
________________________

Couldn’t get by without you
always at my side.
________________________

Out of my hands,
and yet
out of my mouth –-
Namo Amida Buddha!
________________________

Wherever you are,
you turn to the voice that calls your name.
So does Buddha.
________________________

We all talk to ourselves.
Now talk to Buddha.
Amida will answer you
as surely as you do yourself.
________________________

A baby is born without speech.
Born in Beijing it learns Chinese.
Born in Moscow it learns Russian.
Learn the language of the Heart,
as a child learns from its mother.
________________________

Buddha does not move.
It is we who come and go.
________________________

Like a lighthouse to a ship
on a foggy night,
Buddha leads us home
through the sound of the Name.
________________________

I pray for ‘this’ and ‘that,’
for ‘me’ and ‘mine.’
Buddha’s prayer is best –-
‘may the whole world be happy.’
________________________

How safe I feel
carried in your Heart –-
centre and circumference
of all I am, was and will ever be.
________________________

“Don’t know what to do, Amida.
I don’t know what to do.”
Just say the Name and you’ll come through.
________________________

In my wallet
I carry your picture.
In my heart
I carry your name.
So it is with Buddha.
________________________

I don’t know who you are,
what you are or where you are.
Who am I really calling
when I say your Name?
________________________

Pointless praying to you –-
you already know
my inner most thoughts.
But when I pray,
I’ll know them too.
________________________

Just today, Amida, please!
Just get me through this day!
________________________

So glad the world is round.
Running from you
I run into you –-
over and over again.
________________________

Listen!
A bird sings.
Grass rustles.
A bough creaks in the wind.
All things say the Name.
________________________

A child cries for its mother.
A river yearns for the sea.
I call out for Amida.
All things long for that
which completes and makes them whole.
________________________

When people say “Buddha” –-
it’s a lie.
When people say “me” –-
it’s a lie.
In these lies are all our miseries.
________________________

Without moving
the sun rises every day.
Without thinking
the seed puts down its root.
Without asking why
swifts gather to fly south.
Doing without doing,
knowing without knowing –-
this is living in Amida’s light.
________________________

Today I called and called.
You never answered.
I lose you!
I get you!
I lose you!
I get you!
Slippery as an eel
is my Amida.
________________________

Because
it's very hard
to keep all the precepts
you gave me just one to live by –-
your Name.
________________________

What if
I just give up
reciting “Amida”?
In the silence, I know, I’ll hear
your Name.
________________________

It’s my
family I
love, not you, mystical
Buddha. What use are you? And then,
you’re here.
________________________

Can’t think
of one thing you’ve
done for me, Amida.
And yet, there’s the miracle of
your Name.
________________________

In doubt,
clutching at straws,
I sit myself before
your statue. Your smile returns to
my face.

Budha fasted for 29 days yet he is normally fat on all his pictures and statues

_________________
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lol what? Thanks for bringing this back though and the moon was beautiful this year.