Festivals, sangha-specific
Certain festival days are not widely celebrated in the culture in general but are important milestones within the Buddhist monastic community (the sangha). This discussion uses the Chinese monastic example but can be said to pertain to Buddhist monastic practice in general.
VASSA
Vassa, the rains retreat, marks the beginning of the annual period when the monks settle down in one place.
PAVARANA DAY
The 15th of the seventh month marks the traditional end to the rainy season retreats. Monks normally recite sutras on the evening of the 14th. on the 15th they enter the hall and prepare cakes.
On the final day the monks also hold a special ritual of confession and contrition, Parvana. They review their faults and publicly call on others to review those faults of which they are unaware. This confessional practice takes place on the final evening of vassa. The practice also served as the origin of the Ullambana festival.
JIANGHU ASSEMBLY
From the 10th month to the 15th day of the first lunar month the sangha holds another retreat period, which mirrors the summer retreats and is called in Chinese jie dong, "breaking the winter." The celebration summons all the monks in the various "rivers and lakes"—in other words, near and far—to assemble together and cultivate and is thus called the "Assembly of Rivers and Lakes." From the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) to today another habit has developed within the Chinese sangha of not holding the summer retreat and staging only a winter retreat. Instead of holding vassa during the summer months the sangha during winter focus on lectures and study of the vinaya (rules and regulations for monks). This practice has become codified in the Chinese sangha, leading to the saying "Meditate in the winter; lecture in the summer."
BUDDHIST FAST (ZHAI) DAYS
In ancient India two days per month were set aside as days of reflection. on those days lay practitioners as well as monks were to review their conduct, their actions as well as speech, and vow to improve. Such an act of reflection was uposadha, "faults broadly conceived." In ancient India such meetings were held every 14 or 15 days and gave all believers an opportunity to confess their faults.
The practice was continued under Buddhism. The Uposathagara ceremony served several purposes. Besides allowing the individual to reflect on his or her own behavior, it reinforced the unity of the community; it was in fact a group ceremony that reinforced the relationship between individual and community. The main element of the ritual was the recitation of the Pratimoksa, the monastic rules, by a chosen monk. The uposathagara was in fact a statutory act required in the Pratimoksa— the entire body of ordained monks were required to be present because, as the Buddha mentioned, attendance at such statutory acts as Uposathagara was a sign of respect for the community. The Upo-sathagara also later became associated with the practice of fasting on six days of the month.
Festivals, Theravada cultures
SRI LANKA
Esala Perahera (Buddha’s Tooth Day) The Festival of the Tooth takes place in Kandy to commemorate the sacred Buddha RELIC housed there.
Vesak Poya Day Wesak or Vesak, the Buddha’s Birthday, is celebrated in Sri Lanka on the full moon of the fifth month. Poya is a term derived from the Pali and Sanskrit word uposatha/uposadha, which implies a "fast day." In Sri Lanka, just as in Chinese traditions, several days are seen as "poya days," during which the practitioner is expected to fast and follow the eight precepts.
Vesak Poya Day is the foremost poya day in Sri Lanka, for not only does it commemorate the birth of the Buddha, it also commemorates his enlightenment, his PARINIRVANA (death), and his visit to Sri Lanka. The tradition states that eight years after his enlightenment the Buddha visited Sri Lanka. Kelaniya continues to be a place of pilgrimage today because the Buddha is said to have visited it.
THAILAND
Buddhist New Year In Southeast Asian countries the New Year holidays fall on the first three days of the full moon in April. This no doubt reflects the intense heat of the period, prior to the onset of the monsoon rains. It also coincides with the popular festival of Songkran, in which people playfully splash water on each other and participate in boat races.
Elephant Festival On the third Saturday in November is the Elephant Festival in Thailand. This commemorates the Buddha’s use of an elephant as a metaphor in the study of Buddhism. Just as a wild elephant can be tamed by pairing it to a tame one, taught the Buddha, so a person new to the Dharma should study with an experienced one.
Magha Puja Day ("Sangha Day") This day falls on the full moon in the third lunar month. It commemorates the visit of the Buddha to Rajagaha in India for an assembly of 1,250 arhats who all felt drawn to meet there without prior arrangements. This assembly is also called the "Fourfold Assembly" because the participants were all arhats, they were all ordained by the Buddha, they assembled without consultation,and the meeting occurred on the full moon of the traditional month of Magha.
Today Magha Puja is an opportunity to show respect to the sangha in general, as an important institution in Thai society.
Asalha Puja Day (Dhamma Day) This day, on the full moon of the eighth lunar month, celebrates the Buddha’s first teaching. After his enlightenment he taught the truth of the Dhamma (Dharma) to the five ascetics in the Deer Park at Sarnath.
Kathina (Robe Offering) Ceremony This ceremony is held within one month after the Vassa, or rains, Retreat. During this ceremony robes and other offerings are given to monks. Since the monks were not allowed to travel during the Vassa period, Kathina is an opportunity for lay supporters to check on the welfare of monks and offer them things before they travel. Again, this practice reflects the high status accorded the sangha in Thai and Theravada cultures, as well as the dependence of the sangha on the laity.
Today in the formal Kathina ceremony a lay representative offers fabric robes to two chosen bhiksus (monks) who represent the sangha. The two bhiksus then pass the offering to the sangha. The sangha together say, "Sadhu," [it is well], confirming agreement. The ceremony is finalized later that day when the robes are completed and presented to the honored bhiksus.
Loy Krathong (Festival of Releasing Dharma Boats) In the full moon of the 12th lunar month the water level is highest in Thailand’s waterways. People make bowls of leaves, add candles or incense sticks, and release the bowls onto the water. The boats are said to carry bad luck away. The festival in fact commemorates a holy footprint left by the Buddha by the banks of the Namada River in India.
MYANMAR (BURMA)
Abhidhamma Day
The Burmese celebrate the day when the Buddha visited his mother in Tusita Heaven. The purpose of the trip was to teach her the Abhidhamma, those philosophical teachings that explain the sutras of Buddhism. This celebration is held on the 15th day of the seventh month in the Burmese calendar, which falls in october in the solar calendar.
See also Festivals, Buddhist; Myanmar, Buddhism in; Sri Lanka, Buddhism in; Cambodia, Buddhism in; Thailand, Buddhism in.
festivals, Tibet
Above and beyond those festivals common to Buddhists around the world, at least 30 major festivals mostly associated with Tibetan or Tantric Buddhism remain popular in Tibet.
The calendar of festivals associated with Buddhism begins with the New Year and the Grand Summons Ceremony Losar, which is described in a separate entry.
GAHDEN-NAMGYE (ILLUMINATION) FESTIVAL
Small lantern festival is held on the 25th day of the 10th month. It commemorates the day in which Tsong Khapa, the founder of the Gelug school, died. Lamps are placed on roofs of monasteries and homes. on the ground Buddhist practitioners take ritual walks and place tree branches into incense burners in front of the Jokhang Monastery.
BELHA RABZHOL (AUSPICIOUS HEAVENLY MAID) FESTIVAL (FAIRY MAIDEN FESTIVAL)
This festival, held on the 15th day of the 10th month, commemorates the Auspicious Heavenly Maid, the protector of the Jokhang Monastery. A portrait of the Maid is carried to the main hall on the evening of the 14th and placed opposite the statue of Sakyamuni Buddha. On the 15th, monks from Moru Monastery carry her portrait along Barkor Street in Lhasa. Along the way onlookers present offerings, in particular the hada scarves. The festival is particularly popular with women.
SAGA DAWA FESTIVAL
The Saga Dawa commemorates Sakyamuni’s birth, Buddhahood, and parinirvana. It occurs on the 15th day of the fourth lunar month. It is also known as the Festival for Releasing Living Things. Many Tibetans refrain from eating meat for the entire month to prepare for this festival. on the holiday people wear formal dress and often hold picnics.
THE LINGKA WOODS FESTIVAL (WORLD’S INCENSE BURNING DAY)
The Lingka Woods Festival, held on the 15th of the fifth month, commemorates Padmasambhava. Padmasambhava overcame evil in this month. Today it is an opportunity for Tibetans to dress up and enjoy displays, folk arts, and the arrival of spring. The festival, which normally lasts a month, is a major social gathering of the year for many nomadic Tibetans.
THESHOTON (SOUR MILK DRINKING) FESTIVAL
This uniquely Tibetan festival was originally an occasion to celebrate the end of the monk’s three-month period of confinement during the vassa. Local people prepared yogurt and a feast for the monks on the first day of the seventh month. But starting in the mid-17th century a new element was introduced in the celebration—opera. The festival also became known as the Tibetan opera Festival and was held outside the monasteries. In the early 18th century the Dalai Lama’s new summer residence, Norbu Lingka, became the site of the Shoton Festival. The festival continues today.
Today different opera troupes continue to compete for honors.
52 stages
In general Mahayana theory, the bodhisattva advances through 52 distinct stages in his development toward enlightenment. In the Sutra of the Bodhisattva’s Prior Jewel-like Acts these are grouped into sections, as follows: 1-10 the Ten Stages of Faith; 11-20 the Ten Stages of Security (the 10 abodes); 21-30 the Ten Stages of Practice; 31-40 the Ten Stages of Devotion (transference of merit); 41-50 the Ten Stages of Developing Buddha Wisdom (dasabhumi), 51 the stage of Near Enlightenment; 52 the Stage of Supreme Enlightenment (myogaku). These teachings on the 52 stages are laid out in a variety of sutras developed in China, including the Jeweled Necklace Sutra, the Benevolent Kings Sutra, and the Brahma Net Sutra.
Different schools had variations of this general scheme of 52 stages. The Fa Xiang (Vijnanavada) school outlined 41 stages. However, the Tian Tai and Hua Yan schools both agreed on the scheme of 52 stages, and this model has since dominated Mahayana practice.
Lists of10 stages can be found in the Mahavastu, a pre-Mahayana work, and the Avatamsaka Sutra. However, these longer, 52- (or sometimes 41-) stage schemes of bodhisattva development are unique to Chinese Mahayana, since they are not found in Indian or Tibetan sources.
Filial piety (xiao, xiaoshun, hsiao, hsiao-shun)
Filial piety entails respecting, caring for, and honoring parents and ancestors. Filial piety is a deeply rooted value throughout eastern Asian cultures, especially those influenced by the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius. Confucius was clear in favoring ordered relations between family members. "Filial piety and brotherly respect," he is recorded to have said, "are the root of humanity [ren]" (Analects 1:2). The requirements to respect parents extended into the afterlife: "When parents are alive, serve them according to the rules of propriety. When they die, bury them according to the rules of propriety and sacrifice to them according to the rules of propriety" (Analects 2:4).
The idea of filial piety took deep root in Chinese culture after Confucius’s time. The primary expression of the value of filial piety is found in the Classic of Filial Piety (Xiaojing), a work dating from the Zhou dynasty (1027-221 B.C.E.), which was often memorized by students in later periods. There are texts focusing on filial piety in all the major religious traditions of China. For instance, in Buddhism the Sutra about the Deep Kindness of Parents and the Difficulty of Repaying It (Fumu enbao nan jing) and the Sutra on the Profound Kindness of Parents (Fumu en zhong jing) focused on filial piety. These Buddhist works did not concentrate solely on filial piety, however. In contrast, strong emphasis has generally been given to this theme in popular literature from all traditions. In Buddhism the most obvious formats in which filial piety is discussed are popular lectures (sujiang) and the precious scroll (baojuan) literary form, which developed with mass printing in the 1600s.
Nevertheless, Buddhism was often attacked for breaking up families by forcing monks and nuns into celibacy. However, as Buddhism grew to be part of Chinese life it took on Chinese cultural values, including such aspects as filial piety and obedience.
A paradigmatic expression of filial piety was gegu, "cutting the thigh." Gegu involved cutting and boiling a piece of one’s leg, then feeding the broth to a sick parent to nurse him or her to health. Although it was normally condemned officially, the practice was symbolic of absolute devotion and reverence. Such prototypical stories were found in Buddhist popular literature as well as other traditions in Chinese history. In the story of Guan Yin the goddess is said to have offered her arm and an eye to save her father from disease, although he had behaved terribly toward her.
Perhaps the most filial of all Buddhist acts is to perform funeral rites for the deceased parent. Traditionally Buddhist services are held on the seventh day after death, until the final ceremony on the 49th day. The background of these observances is to guide the soul of the dead individual through a series of obstacles, such as gates guarded by obstinate officials in hell. once all the obstacles are overcome the soul finally reaches Amitabha’s Western Paradise.
As Chinese culture spread to neighboring countries so did the notion of reverence for parents. These values are alive today, although experiencing modification along with rapid industrialization. A recent survey covering China, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan confirmed the importance of such traditional Confucian values as filial piety.
Five elements
Early Indian thought taught there were five fundamental types of materials in the universe: space, air, fire, water, and earth. Space (akasa) was seen as the material that tied the other four together, a type of glue. Buddhism incorporated the Indian concept of five elements, called the Mahabhutas in Sanskrit and translated into Chinese as the "five greats." These gross elements, space, air, fire, water, and earth, corresponded to the five tanma-tras, or subtle types of matter: sound, touch, form, taste, and smell.
Over time Buddhist thinkers developed additional elaborate associations of the five elements with Buddhas, bodhisattvas, symbols and, functions. For instance, water is associated with the Buddha Askobhya, with the bodhisattvas Mai-treya and Kshitigarbha, with wisdom, diamonds, and the five-prong VAJRA thunderbolt symbol.
In China this scheme coexisted with but was kept separate from the native Chinese theory of the materials or processes (wu XING): wood, fire, earth, metal, and water.
Five hindrances
In Buddhism the hindrances are the five factors that will delay and deflect the cultivator from achieving progress. They are sensual desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry, and doubt. Such roadblocks are overcome through constant effort and gathering with fellow cultivators, for instance, in the sangha. One must overcome the five hindrances in order to develop dhyana (in Pali, jhana), the state of "absorption."
Five Patriarchs and Seven True Daoists
The Quanzhen Daoist tradition recognizes five founders and seven lineage founders. Their images are found in Quanzhen temples, where they are worshipped as deities. The first four of the founders are legendary figures found in other Chinese religions as well:
Wang Xuanpu (also called Donghua Dijun) and Zhongli Quan (also called Zhengyang, Yunfang) (both said to date from the Han dynasty, 206 B.C.E.-220 c.e.)
Lu Dongbin (Tang dynasty, 618-907 c.e.)
Liu Haichan (also called Liu Cao); (Liao dynasty, 907-1125)
Wang Chongyang (1112-70); (Song dynasty 960-1129)
The first three figures are almost certainly mythical characters. Wang Xuanpu is said to have been an emanation of Laozi. Zhongli Quan, the teacher of Lu Dongbin, is in turn said to have been a government official in the late Han period (206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.). Lu Dongbin has been the most popular Daoist figure since the Song dynasty (960-1279). He is also one of the eight immortals. Liu Haichan was a master of inner alchemy during the Northern Song period. Only the last, the founder Wang Chongyang, is probably historical.
But addition of these legendary figures to the genealogy of founders helped to date Quanzhen’s genesis back to the Han period and, ultimately, to transmission from Laozi, the founder of Daoism.
Traditional Quanzhen accounts also describe the seven key disciples, or the Seven True Daoists (qi zhenren) of the North, who succeeded the Quanzhen founder Wang Chongyang. In contrast to the first four patriarchs, these seven lineage founders are historical figures. Note each individual had two or three names. The third names were later used to identify their lineages within the Quanzhen tradition. Qiu Chuji’s followers, for instance, were known as the "Longmen school."
The formula of the Five Patriarchs and Seven True Daoist immortals first appeared in 1326 but can possibly be traced back to 1269 because the formal titles used refer to titles given by the emperor in that year.
Foguangshan
Foguangshan (Buddha’s Light Mountain) is one of several new Buddhist groups founded in Taiwan in the 1970s. While primarily a Chan Buddhist organization, Foguanshan freely mixes elements of Pure Land Buddhism in its life and work. Its headquarters complex near the southern Taiwanese city of Kao-hsiung boasts an eight-story-high statue of Amitabha Buddha as well as a Pure Land Cave. However, it has become even better known for its espousal of the perspective of the venerable Tai Hsu (1890-1947), teachings generally termed humanistic Buddhism, which call for a reorientation of Buddhist life away from otherworldly concerns (such as rebirth into the Pure Land after death) and toward a remaking of the world into a pure land in which people can live.
After the transfer of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan in the 1950s, the Buddhist Association of the Republic of China (BAoRC) was founded to supervise Buddhist activities in Taiwan, and for several decades religious freedom was severely restricted. However, with the lessening of tensions with the People’s Republic of China, there was a loosening of restrictions signaled by the end of martial law in 1987.
Among the groups established initially under the authority of the BAoRC was Foguangshan, founded in 1967 by Master Xingyun (also known as Hsing Yun) (1927- ). As a youth of 12, he entered a Linji Chan Buddhist monastery in Nanjing, China, and took his initial vows of renunciation. He was fully ordained in 1941 and is today the 48th patriarch of the Linji school. In 1949, he left China for Taiwan as the Nationalist Army made its retreat from the Communist forces that subsequently founded the People’s Republic of China.
Master Xingyun has rejected radical social action as a means of achieving change; rather, he calls upon members to act at their own self-cultivation and then to assist others in improving their condition in the world. Foguangshan has founded a number of social service organizations to embody its approach to change.
To facilitate its members’ self-cultivation, Foguangshan has developed an extensive publishing program. To further its social goals, Xingyun has nurtured the assistance of both government and corporate leaders to back his social programs.
As Taiwanese have moved to other countries, especially the united States, Foguangshan has followed them and established an extensive international network. Its temple complex in Southern California is the largest outside China. It has also established large temple complexes in Australia and South Africa. In the West, Foguangshan is better known through its lay organization, the Buddha’s Light International Association. The International Buddhist Progress Society is the group’s educational and outreach organization. Internationally, the group claims more than a million affiliates.
