The Buddha Birthday Mystery
What we can learn is both complex and simple
How do we celebrate the birthday of someone who defined the world and the self as an illusion? Is that the sound of one hand clapping?
The annual celebration is on the lunar calendar between May 5th and 26th, 2024, depending on national tradition wherever you live.
The exact date of Buddha’s Birthday is based on the Asian lunisolar calendars and is primarily celebrated in Vaisakha month of the Buddhist calendar and the Vikram Samvat Hindu calendar. This is the etymology behind the term Vesak. In modern-day India and Nepal, where the historical Buddha lived, it is celebrated on the full moon day of the Vaisakha month of the Buddhist calendar. In Theravada countries following the Buddhist calendar, it falls on the full moon, Uposatha day, typically in the 5th or 6th lunar month. In China, Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines, it is celebrated on the eighth day of the fourth month in the Chinese lunar calendar. The date varies from year to year in the Western Gregorian calendar but usually falls in April or May. In leap years it may be celebrated in June. In Tibet, it falls on the 7th day of the fourth month of the Tibetan calendar. [Source:Wikipedia]
This is a worldwide event as forms of Buddhism, selectively filtered by Western Culture and…
