I kind of read this like a dressing of one tradition with another. Feels only very weird to me.
Up to today, I thought the Buddha was believed to be enlightened in the month of Vesakh, which falls around May. Anyone knows which Buddhist tradition celebrates Buddha's enlightenment every Dec 8? Siska -----Original Message----- From: "Bill!" <[email protected]> Sender: [email protected] Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2011 08:56:58 To: <[email protected]> Reply-To: [email protected] Subject: [Zen] Season's Greetings! *** This is a nice Buddhist Holiday message from another Buddhist-oriented forum I frequent *** Season's Greetings! Every year, each one of us may ponder whether or not or how much to participate in the winter holiday spirit and whether to even engage in the customary "Merry Christmas" cheer. This season brings to mind that there are significant elements we all share regardless of varying beliefs, preferences, cultures and traditions. There is a Buddhist holiday on the 8th of December, known as Bodhi Day, which commemorates Bodhi [pronounced: bohdee]) by Siddhartha Gautama Shakyamuni, commonly called "the Buddha", the enlightened one. It is the day when the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment (Bodhi). Candles are lit and special celebrations take place in temples and homes around the globe. Anyone walking about Chinatown in urban America will observe statues of a smily, stout fellow carrying a sack over his shoulder. Chinese merchants call him Happy Chinaman or Laughing Buddha. This Hotai lived during the T'ang dynasty. He had no desire to call himself a teacher or to gather many disciples around him. Instead he walked the streets with a big sack into which he put gifts of candy, fruit and other goods. He gave these to children on the streets who gathered around him in play. Once he was about his business when a Zen master happened along and inquired, "What is the significance of Zen?" Hotei immediately plopped his sack down on the ground in silent answer. "Then," asked the other, "What is the actualization of Zen?" At once our Happy Chinaman swung the sack over his shoulder and continued on his way. This Koan demonstrates exactly what our Hotai was all about. Another Koan is about a university student who was visiting the Zen master Gasan. He asked him: "Have you ever read the Christian Bible?" — "No, read it to me," said Gasan. The student opened the book and read from the gospel of Matthew: "And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these ... Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself." – Gasan said: "Whoever uttered those words I consider an enlightened man." The student continued reading: "Ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened." – Gasan remarked: "That is excellent. Whoever said that is not far from Buddhahood." Both the birth of an enlightened man as well as the turn in Gautama Siddhartha's life and its various seasonal expressions highlight the human need for liberation from bondage, illusion and separation – the dualistic mindset in which we often find ourselves entangled. It is a reminder to look beyond our individual ego by realizing that we all are part of a larger, transcendent inter-being. We come to nourish our innate nature of compassion for those less fortunate, those who are suffering, those who are suppressed, disadvantaged and rejected. To whatever religious tradition we are accustomed or whichever spiritual path we follow, we all share this oneness – the deeper reason for the season. Happy Bodhi Day! Happy Hanukkah! Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! May all beings be happy! Fajian
