Siska, Japanese Buddhist including most Japanese Zen Buddhist sects celebrate Rohatsu on December 8th: http://buddhism.about.com/od/buddhismglossaryr/g/Rohatsu.htm <http://buddhism.about.com/od/buddhismglossaryr/g/Rohatsu.htm>
...Bill! --- In [email protected], siska_cen@... wrote: > > 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!" BillSmart@... > 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?" â" "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." > â" 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." â" 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 â" 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 â" the deeper reason for the season. > > Happy Bodhi Day! Happy Hanukkah! Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! > May all beings be happy! > > Fajian >
