December 08: Bodhi Day

Bodhi Day
Mara failing to tempt Buddha

Bodhi Day is celebrated on December 8th in Japan. The Chinese version is called the Laba Festival and is held on the eight day of the twelfth lunar month of the Chinese calendar (December or January, but usually January).

This day honors the enlightenment of Siddhartha Gautama. According to tradition, Siddhartha had recently forsaken years of extreme ascetic practices and resolved to sit under a peepal tree and simply meditate until he found the root of suffering, and how to liberate oneself from it.

In the Pali Canon, The Longer Discourse to Saccaka, the Buddha describes his Enlightenment in three stages:
  • During the first watch, the Buddha discovered all of his past lives in the cycle of rebirth, realizing that he had been born and reborn countless times before.
  • During the second watch, the Buddha discovered the Law of Karma and the importance of living by the Eightfold Path.
  • During the third watch, the Buddha discovered the Four Noble Truths, finally reaching Nirvana.

The morning star rose in the early morning on the third watch, and that’s when Siddhartha found the answers he sought and became Enlightened and experienced Nirvana. Siddhartha became a Buddha or “Awakened One.”

People celebrate this day by meditating, studying the Dharma, chanting Buddhist texts, and/or performing kind acts towards others. Some Buddhists celebrate with a traditional meal of tea and cake.

⇴ image from Hintha, wikipedia, (CC BY-SA 3.0) . It’s a wall painting at a monastery in Penang, Malaysia called Mara failing to tempt Buddha from attaining Enlightenment and also failing to capture the Golden Throne as well.

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