1. The Birth of the Buddha, Peacemaker for the World;
The Significance of Visakha Puja Day
On behalf of The Council of Thai Bhikkhus in the U.S.A., as the Secretary of the
Council, I would like to join in this year’s Visakha Puja celebration. This year Vesak is
especially significant because it is the commemoration of the 2600 th anniversary of the
Enlightenment of the Buddha. Under the auspices of the Mission of the Republic of Sri
Lanka to the United Nations and of the United Nations General Assembly, special
events have been planned in New York to celebrate this auspicious occasion.
Today Vesakha Puja is recognized as an international day of celebration of the life of
the Buddha. This May, 2011, we have the Vesak ceremony in all the Buddhist
countries, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Japan, Korea, China, and
others. In fact, Visakha Puja is celebrated across the globe.
It was not always this way. When Anagarika Dharmapala, arguably the greatest
preacher of Buddhism in modern times, was a boy in the 1870s in his native Sri Lanka,
then the British colony of Ceylon, he was caned by the headmaster of the Christian
school he attended for taking off to celebrate Vesak. It was the same Dharmapala,
however, who in May of 1897, following the World Parliament of Religions four years
earlier, presided over the first Vesaka Puja celebration in America in San Francisco.
Then in 1999, sixty-six years after the death of the great Buddhist preacher, Visakha
Puja received the worldwide recognition it deserves. On December 15 of that year at
the behest of the country of Sri Lanka, Dharmapala’s homeland, the fifty-fourth United
Nations General Assembly declared Vesak Day, the full-moon day in May, an
International Day. Buddhism was recognized as one of the oldest religions in the
world, a religion that should be praised for its concerns about the welfare of human
beings.
Visakha Puja commemorates three important events in the life of the Buddha, all
occurring in different years on the full-moon day of May: his birth, his Enlightenment,
and his passing away. These events can serve as lessons for us today.
I would like to begin with the event of his birth. After the Buddha was born, he
walked seven steps and said, "I am chief in the world, I am best in the world, I am first
in the world. This is my last birth. There will be no further rebirth." This statement
expresses the Buddha’s aim in his life. His words are not just the silly boasting of a
child. Rather, they signify that we are all individually responsible for what we make of
our lives. Think about that. Do you take this responsibility seriously? If you do not,
you should reflect on this matter today.
Let us talk about the second event commemorated on Vesak. After the Buddha
achieved Enlightenment, he said to himself, “Through the round of uncountable births,
I wandered without finding the house builder I was seeking. Rebirth again and again is
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2. painful. House builder; you are seen! You will no longer build my house. All your
rafters are broken. The ridge pole is destroyed. Mind attains the unconditioned. Mind
achieves the end of craving.” The Buddha recognized what causes problems for us. We
should also recognize that the problems we encounter come from inside the mind. The
problems start there—with our thoughts.
The third event recalled on Vesakha Puja Day is the Buddha’s passing away. Before
he passed away, he told his disciples, “All component things are subject to decay and
destruction, work out the real freedom with earnestness.” These were the last words of
the Buddha. We should work hard to understand that nothing in life is permanent, that
nothing can be counted on, so that was can free our minds from greed, hatred, and
delusion and thereby attain peace and freedom.
The message of Visakha Puja Day is a message of loving-kindness and compassion
that bring peace. We celebrate Vesak day, or the Buddha’s day, because of his great
loving-kindness and compassion not only to the Buddhist people but also to all the
people of the world. The Buddha was a great man who walked on the earth and
preached to the people 2,500 years ago about how to live happily and peacefully. After
he realized the truth, he did not keep it to himself; he spread the truth for forty-five
years of his life. That is why we gather together and celebrate on this day.
Visakha Puja Day commemorates the birthday of the Buddha as the arising of the
Buddha to bring peace. The Buddha-to-be was born into the Brahmin tradition, but he
left this tradition behind. He tried to get rid of all unwholesome things inside and
outside people, for example, the castes in the society of his time. He traveled
throughout the Middle Area for forty-five years teaching people, and then he passed
away in final Enlightenment. He visited the poor, his enemies (for instance, Devidatta),
and kings because of his great compassion and because of his wisdom.
The message of Visakah Puja Day is also that of overcoming egoism. The Buddha
worked without egoism, giving people the opportunity to light the inner light in their
hearts and reach their final goal. He found truth and liberation and destroyed egoism.
He destroyed all the defilements in his mind and found freedom from the self. As a
result, he can help society today find its freedom and can teach society liberation from
the self. He can enable society to find peace.
At Visakha Puja the birth of the Buddha is celebrated in two senses: the Buddha-to-
be’s being born from the womb of his mother, and the Buddha’s being born as the
Awakened One, having destroyed the defilements, especially egoism, atta. The Buddha
has the answer to the question of how the people of the world can attain inner peace.
In Buddhism, we have two ways of worship and celebration. The first one we call
material worship, the worship that uses candles, flowers, incense—material things. The
second is practical worship, the way that we apply the Buddha’s teachings to our lives,
that we put the teachings into action. The worship or celebration that the Buddha
admires more is practical worship.
Practical worship is truly the way in which egoism is overcome. The Buddha wants
us so to practice so that we can benefit from his teachings and free ourselves from
suffering.
The Buddha’s overcoming of egoism means that he woke up. The word Buddha
means to wake up and to know. Last month a husband and wife took their children to
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3. the temple. When they saw the monks, they paid respect and told their children to pay
respect, but they called the monk, “my Buddha.” I did not have a chance to explain to
them that they should not call the monk “Buddha.” The more I think about what they
said, however, the more I realize that they were expressing a great truth. They are
reminding us to be the Buddha, that is, the Awakened One, insofar as we wake up from
the sleep of ignorance, greed, hatred, and delusion.
There is a story about the Buddha after he achieved Enlightenment.
He decided to go teach at Varanasi. On the way to Varanasi, one Brahmin asked
him, “Are you a god?”
“No,” said the Buddha.
“An angel?”
“No.”
“A saint?”
“No.”
“Then what are you?”
The Buddha answered, “I am awake.”
The Buddha defined himself as the one who had woken up.
As we celebrate this Visakha Puja Day, then, we do not forget the Buddha, but we
follow his advice as his disciples. Learning something from our great teacher, we build
the Buddha within our minds. It is never too late to change our ways of thinking,
speaking, and behaving, ways that cause us problems.
Let us spread loving-kindness and compassion. Let us overcome egoism and wake
up. These are the ways to find the Buddha’s peace.
Phramaha Thanat Inthisan, Ph.D.
The Secretary General of the Council of Thai Bhikkhus in U.S.A.
Wat Thai Washington,D.C.
April 19, 2011
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