(Parts of this blog are from a great Huffington Post article on Bodhi Day http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/07/bodhi-day-2014_n_6255748.html, along with some of my thoughts on its meaning and purpose)
Bodhi Day is a Buddhist holiday that commemorates
the day that the Buddha achieved enlightenment/awakening, translated as “Bodhi”
in Sanskrit or Pali. Bodhi Day is celebrated on the eighth day of the 12th
lunar month. In 2014, Bodhi day was observed on Monday, Dec. 8. (The Tibetan
Buddhist celebrate Saga Dawa in April/May which is a combination of the Buddha’s
birth, enlightenment and death.)
The Buddha was born as Siddhartha Gautama into a
noble, privileged household. When he was close to 30 years old, he abandoned his
material lifestyle and retreated to the forest seeking answers to the problem
of suffering, specifically old age, sickness and death. According to tradition,
he initially sought bodhi (enlightenment) through meditation,
self-mortification and practicing other austerities.
After several years of intense practice, he
realized that bodhi was to be found through a Middle Way, away from the
extremes of self-mortification and self-indulgence. The story goes that he
meditated in Bodh Gaya, a town in northeastern India, under a peepal tree (a
species of Banyan fig), now famously known as the Bodhi tree, and resolved to
continue meditating until he achieved enlightenment
It is believed that during 49 days of continuous
meditation, he confronted Mara, the archetype of craving, desire, unskillful
urges—the physical, spiritual and psychological “demons” we all face. After 49
days, he was able to simply sit and be present with whatever arose, learning
that it was possible to no longer respond in unskillful ways. He touched the
earth to demonstrate this truth. That is the moment when Gautama became “awakened”,
at the age of 35. Since then he was known as the Buddha ('the enlightened
one').
Buddhists around the world consider Bodh Gaya,
India, to be the most sacred of holy places as the birth place of their
tradition. Bodhi Day is celebrated in many mainstream Mahayana traditions
including Zen and in Pureland Buddhist schools in China, Japan, Vietnam and
Korea.
Buddhists commemorate this day by meditating, studying
the Dharma, chanting sutras (Buddhist texts) and performing kind acts toward
other beings. Some celebrate by a traditional meal of tea, cakes and readings.
In our lives, we each have the ability to become
awakened, by tapping into the innate wisdom and compassion that is within every
person. We each can experience a “Bodhi
Day” when we awaken to the truth of how things truly are. It usually doesn’t result in an “overnight”
transformation, but is that moment when we find the strength and courage to
transform our thoughts, our words and our actions over time. Happy Bodhi Day!
