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Vassa
''Vassa'' (, , both "rain") is the three-month annual retreat observed by Theravada Buddhists. Taking place during the wet season, Vassa lasts for three lunar months, usually from July (the Burmese month of Waso, ) to October (the Burmese month of Thadingyut, ).Vassa at About.com In English, Vassa is also called Rains Retreat. While Vassa is sometimes casually called "Buddhist ", others object to this terminology. For the duration of Vassa, monastics remain in one place, typically a or templ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vassa In Utt
''Vassa'' (, , both "rain") is the three-month annual retreat observed by Theravada Buddhists. Taking place during the wet season, Vassa lasts for three lunar months, usually from July (the Burmese month of Waso, ) to October (the Burmese month of Thadingyut, ).Vassa at In English, Vassa is also called Rains Retreat. While Vassa is sometimes casually called "Buddhist ", others object to this terminology. For the duration of Vassa, monastics remain in one place, typically a |
Vassa Candle
A ''Vassa candle'', or ''Tean Vassa'', is a giant Beeswax candles, beeswax candle that is burned for the duration of the Theravada, Theravada Buddhist festival of Vassa. These candles are most frequently used in Cambodia and Thailand. The Vassa candle has been compared to the paschal candle of Christians, burned during the entirety of Paschaltide. History Angkorian origin ''Tchen-t'an'' was an ancient Khmer Empire, Angkorian rite that was associated with a large candle, sometimes compared to the Vassa candle. According to the Chinese diplomat Zhou Daguan who visited Angkor in the 12th century, ''tchen-t'an'' was a rite of Virginity, deflowering girls between the ages of seven and nine years. Buddhist rite Archaeologists found the remains of a sandstone candle holder made by Buddhists at Wat Langka Krao in Siem Reap between 1807 and 1857. The oldest written Buddhist reference to the Vassa candle is in the Cambodian Royal Chronicles, composed between 1848 and 1859 during the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wan Ok Phansa
Wan Ok Phansa (, ; literally "day of going out of Vassa", ออก in Thai meaning exit or leave) is the last day of the Thai- Lao observance of Vassa. It occurs in October, three lunar months after the beginning of Vassa, known as ''Wan Khao Phansa'' (). The day is celebrated in the Isan province by illuminated boat processions ( ''lai ruea fai'' , ''lai huea fai'' ), notably in Nakhon Phanom Province on the Mekong and in Ubon Ratchathani city on the Mun River. The main ceremonies feature boats of 8–10 metres in length, formerly made of banana wood or bamboo but now sometimes of other materials. The boats are filled with offerings such as '' khao tom'' (glutinous rice sweets wrapped in banana leaves) and decorated on the outside with flowers, candles and lamps. The boats are launched in the evening. Additionally, some celebrants individually launch their own, smaller, vessels. Boat races also take place around this time in many places throughout the country as a way to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uposatha
An Uposatha () day is a Buddhism, Buddhist day of observance, in existence since the Buddha's time (600 BCE), and still being kept today by Buddhist practitioners. The Buddha taught that the Uposatha day is for "the cleansing of the defiled mind," resulting in inner calm and joy. On this day, both lay and ordained members of the sangha intensify their practice, deepen their knowledge and express communal commitment through millennia-old acts of lay-monastic reciprocity. On these days, the lay followers make a conscious effort to keep the Five Precepts or (as the tradition suggests) the ten precepts. It is a day for practicing the Buddha's teachings and meditation. Observance days Depending on the culture and time period, uposatha days have been observed from two to six days each lunar month. Theravada countries In general, Uposatha is observed about once a week in Theravada countries in accordance with the four lunar phases: the new moon, the full moon, and the two quarter moon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddhist Festivals
This is a list of holidays and festivals celebrated within the Buddhist tradition. Holidays * Vesak: The Buddha's birthday is known as Vesak and is one of the major festivals of the year. It is celebrated on the first full moon day in May, or the fourth lunar month which usually occurs in May or during a lunar leap year, June. In some countries this has become an occasion to not only celebrate the birth but also the enlightenment and parinirvana of the Buddha. * Parinirvana Day: also known as Nirvana Day, a Mahayana Buddhist holiday celebrated in East Asia, Vietnam and the Philippines usually on February 15. * Magha Puja: Magha Puja is an important religious festival celebrated by Buddhists in Thailand, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Laos on the full moon day of the third lunar month (this usually falls in February or March) * Buddha Jayanti: In South Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam and China, it is celebrated in April 8 in Lunar calendar. Also known as "Hanamatsuri", it is celebrated Ap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burmese Calendar
The Burmese calendar (, , or , ; Burmese Era (BE) or Myanmar Era (ME)) is a lunisolar calendar in which the months are based on lunar months and years are based on sidereal years. The calendar is largely based on an older version of the Hindu calendar, though unlike the Indian systems, it employs a version of the Metonic cycle. The calendar therefore has to reconcile the sidereal years of the Hindu calendar with the Metonic cycle's near tropical years by adding intercalary months and days at ''irregular'' intervals. The calendar has been used continuously in various Burmese states since its purported launch in 640 CE in the Sri Ksetra Kingdom, also called the ''Pyu era''. It was also used as the official calendar in other mainland Southeast Asian kingdoms of Arakan, Lan Na, Xishuangbanna, Lan Xang, Siam, and Cambodia down to the late 19th century. Today, the calendar is used in Myanmar as one of the two official calendars alongside the Gregorian calendar. It is s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theravada
''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' (anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or ''Dharma (Buddhism), Dhamma'' in the Pāli Canon for over two millennia. The Pāli Canon is the most complete Buddhist canon surviving in a Indo-Aryan languages, classical Indian language, Pāli, which serves as the school's sacred language and ''lingua franca''.Crosby, Kate (2013), ''Theravada Buddhism: Continuity, Diversity, and Identity'', p. 2. In contrast to Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna, Theravāda tends to be conservative in matters of doctrine (''pariyatti'') and monastic discipline (''vinaya''). One element of this Religious conservatism, conservatism is the fact that Theravāda rejects the authenticity of the Mahayana sutras (which appeared onwards). Consequently, Theravāda generally does not recognize the existence of many Buddhas and bodhisattva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thadingyut Festival
The Thadingyut Festival (), also known as the Lighting Festival of Myanmar, is held on the full moon day of the Burmese lunar month of Thadingyut. As a custom, it is held at the end of the Buddhist sabbath (Vassa) and is the second most popular festival in Myanmar after Thingyan Festival (New Year Water Festival). Thadingyut festival is the celebration to welcome the Buddha’s descent from the heaven after he preached the Abhidhamma to his mother, Maya (mother of Buddha), Maya, who was reborn in the heaven. Origins Thadingyut, the seventh month of the Myanmar calendar, is the end of the Buddhist sabbath or Vassa. Thadingyut festival at least lasts for three days: the day before the full moon day, the full moon day (when Buddha descends from heaven) and the day after the full moon day. Buddha's mother, Maya (mother of Buddha), Maya, died seven days after the Buddha was born and then she was reborn in the Trayastrimsa Heaven as a male Deva (Buddhism), . In order to show the gratit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ubon Ratchathani Candle Festival
The Ubon Ratchathani Candle Festival (), the most elaborate of the traditional parading of candles to wats (), is held in Ubon Ratchathani, Isan, Thailand, around the days of '' Asanha Puja'' (which commemorates Lord Buddha's first sermon) and '' Wan Kao Pansa'' (which marks the beginning of vassa). At the start of the Lenten period, it is traditional in preparation for the rainy season for the devout to donate to items for the personal use of monks, and of candles to dispel gloom in their quarters and elsewhere within the wat. The latter is often the core event of many village celebrations, but is at its most elaborate in the Ubon Ratchathani version, which nowadays is a major event both for residents and for tourists: giant candles are paraded through the town, each representing a local temple, district or other institution. The more elaborate versions are accompanied by scenes of Hindu and Buddhist mythology sculpted in wood or plaster and coated with wax. Of course, these ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was born in Lumbini, in what is now Nepal, to royal parents of the Shakya clan, but Great Renunciation, renounced his Householder (Buddhism), home life to live as a wandering ascetic. After leading a life of mendicancy, asceticism, and meditation, he attained Nirvana (Buddhism), nirvana at Bodh Gaya, Bodh Gayā in what is now India. The Buddha then wandered through the lower Indo-Gangetic Plain, teaching and building a Sangha, monastic order. Buddhist tradition holds he died in Kushinagar and reached ''parinirvana'' ("final release from conditioned existence"). According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and severe asceticism, leading to Vimutti, freedom from Avidyā (Buddhism), ignora ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Retreat (spiritual)
The meaning of a spiritual retreat can be different for different religious communities. Spiritual retreats are an integral part of many Buddhist, Christian and Sufi communities. There are many different types of spiritual retreats such as wellness retreats, mindfulness retreats, spa retreats, adventure retreats, detox retreats, yoga retreats, and religious retreats. In Buddhism, meditative retreats are seen by some as an intimate way of deepening powers of concentration and insight. Retreats are also popular in Christian churches, and were established in today's form by St. Ignatius of Loyola (14911556), in his ''Spiritual Exercises''. Ignatius was later to be made patron saint of spiritual retreats by Pope Pius XI in 1922. Many Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox Christians partake in and organize spiritual retreats each year. Meditative retreats are an important practice in Sufism, the mystical path of Islam. The Sufi teacher Ibn Arabi's book ''Journey to the Lord of Power ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asalha Puja
Āsāḷha Pūjā () is a Theravada Buddhist festival which typically takes place in July, on the full moon of the Āsādha month. It is celebrated in Indonesia, Cambodia (), Thailand, Sri Lanka, Laos, Myanmar and in other countries with Theravada Buddhist populations. In Indonesia, the festival is centered at Mendut Temple and Borobudur Temple, Central Java. Asalha Puja, also known as Dharma Day, is one of Theravada Buddhism's most important festivals, celebrating as it does the Buddha's first sermon, the Sermon in the Deer Park at Sarnath, in which he set out to his five former associates the doctrine that had come to him following his enlightenment. This first pivotal sermon, often referred to as “setting into motion the wheel of dhamma,” is the teaching which is encapsulated for Buddhists in the Four Noble Truths: there is suffering ( dukkha); suffering is caused by craving ( tanha); there is a state (nibbana) beyond suffering and craving; and finally, the way to ni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
