The Buddha’s Birthday

Posted: April 8, 2009 | Author: Doug | Filed under: Buddhism, Religion | Leave a comment »

Today is the Buddha’s Birthday or hanamatsuri in Japanese Buddhism. Other East Asian countries still observe this through the Chinese Lunar Calendar, or something similar, but Japan moved its holidays to the Western calendar back in the Meiji Period, hence it always falls on April 8th.* Hanamatsuri in Japan is something all Buddhist sects observe, and generally follows the same traditions in each. Followers often pour sweet tea, or amacha (甘茶) over a statue of the Baby Buddha.

According to the traditional stories, upon birth, the Buddha took 7 steps and said “I alone am the World-Honored One”. This miracle story was supposed to convey how the Buddha’s birth in this world was something very fortuitous, since according to various texts, the Buddha had lived countless, countless lifetimes before as a Bodhisattva, reaching perfection, until finally came this, his last birth before becoming a fully enlightened Buddha. The seven steps signify his transcending the six realms of rebirth (hell, hungry ghosts, animals, asura/fighting spirits, humans and deva/heaven realms), plus one more: nirvana.

Bhikkhu Bodhi, one of my favorite contemporary monks, wrote a fantastic article about the life of the Buddha, and his legacy to the world. I highly recommend reading the whole thing if you can. At the same time, I am also reminded of a certain verse in the Lotus Sutra, chapter 16, that says we don’t have to seek the historical Buddha in the past:

All harbor thoughts of yearning
and in their minds thirst to gaze at me.
When living beings have become truly faithful,
honest and upright, gentle in intent,
single-mindedly desiring to see the Buddha
not hesitating even if it costs them their lives,
then I and the assembly of monks
appear together on Holy Vulture Peak.

Vulture Peak was a real historical site where the Buddha.

Anyways, Happy Hanamatsuri, everyone!

P.S. I wanted to write more, but I’ve been totally slammed this week, and still recovering from my cold, so this is the best I could do. Honestly, I am sure a lot of other people posted about this today, so there’s plenty of good content on the web. Take a look.

* – More on the general holiday throughout East Asia here.

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