The Festival of Mahayana Tradition

The celebrations observed on the occasion of Mahayana festivals are not much differ from Theravada tradition but especially on the day of celebration of Buddha’s birthday (Vesak). On this particular festival day, they would devote their time to abstaining from all evil, practice charity and help others to relieve themselves from their suffering. They may also entertain friends and relatives in a respectable way. People come from China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, etc. They mostly belong to the Mahayana tradition. To them, the New Year starts on the first full moon day in January^[1] .

However, the Buddhist New Year depends on the country of origin or ethnic background of the people. For example, Chinese, Koreans and Vietnamese celebrate late January or early February according to the lunar calendar, whilst the Tibetans usually celebrate about one month later. On this day, many peoples attend the festival, whether they are Buddhist or non-Buddhist, the organist would remind the lay peoples about the Buddha’ discourse such as life is impermanent, life is like a bubble, etc. in order to help them to overcome their desires or miseries of their attachment.

Several members come from different places to the temple offer incenses, flowers, candles and fruits and so on. They pray for their relatives on such good health, good fortune on the New Year Day so that all the bad fortune on the year may go away quickly. They also wish for their relatives who had passed away to be reborn in a good world or a good realm. Then, they enjoy different kinds of the vegetable foods and feel happy on the first day of New Year in Temple.

However, in the Buddhist tradition, there’s a constant attempt to get rid of contingent influences of that kind. For instance, the motivation behind an act of charity needs to be examined very carefully. Are we being generous out of respect for social conventions, or are we really expressing a spontaneous altruistic impulse? ^[2] To be perfect, giving should be free of any expectation of something in return, any reward, any hope of praise or gratitude, and even any idea of gaining ‘merit’. To be a true source not only of merit but also of wisdom, an act of giving has to be free of three concepts: belief in the true existence of the subject, the person who gives; of the object, the person receiving the gift; and of the action, the actual giving. Euthenics giving is accomplished with a purity of intention devoid of all attachment.

Buddhists do not pray to a Creator God, but they do have devotional meditation practices which could be compared to praying. Radiating loving kindness to all living beings is a practice which is believed to benefit those beings. The sharing of merit is a practice where one dedicates the goodness of one’s life to the benefit of all living beings as well as praying for a particular person.

Ancestor Day (Ulambana):

It is celebrated throughout the Mahayana tradition from the first to the fifteenth days of the eighth lunar month, with much popularity in many countries including China, Vietnam, Japan, and Malaysia. On the Occasion of Ullambana, it is widely believed that the 'Gates of the Hell' are opened and the dead ones pay visit to their loved ones". Therefore, offerings are made to the spirits of the dead and to the hungry ghosts for good fortune and luck. It falls on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month.

Ullambana is a key Mahayana Buddhist concept based on the story of 'Mahamaudgalyayana saving his Mother'. A Sanskrit word, it means "rescuing those who are hanging upside-down."Traditionally it is referred as 'seeking salvation for the anguished souls in hell'.

By the Buddhist legend, a disciple of Buddha, Mahamaudgalyayana (Mogallana or Moelin) on obtaining the six spiritual penetrations uses his Way Eye and meditative skills and finds his deceased mother reborn but tormented with hunger and starvation. Deeply sad, Mahamaudgalyayana started a journey to the netherworld. Finding her in a poor state, he tried feeding to ease her hunger but before she could eat, it all erupted into ball of flames. A dejected Mahamaudgalyayana begged to Sakymuni to provide him a solution to allow salvation for his mother. But Buddha answered; "her past sins are deep and huge for you alone to save". Although your filial respect move the heaven spirits, the earth spirits, twisted demons, and those outside the way, Brahmans, and the four heavenly king gods, are also without sufficient strength. So, the awesome spiritual power of the ten (community of Monks) 'Sangha' from all ten directions is necessary for salvation to be restored.

Buddha also advised Maudgalyayana to make the best offering of five fruits, incense, oil, lamps, candles, beds and bedding to the assembled ten monks of the Order and pray along with them for the salvation of her mother's soul. Also added that such an offering will not only redeem salvation for her mother but also all his kith and kin and forefathers will escape suffering and attain eternal bliss^[3] .

Ullambana festival chiefly reinforces the concept of filial piety. It signifies the importance of performing "good deeds" to accumulate spiritual merit. Most significant is to share the merit with the departed souls, to help them reborn in good realms and end their suffering.

Legend of Ullambana has passed over ages and is celebrated by Buddhists all over, by holding ceremonies of charity to make the outcast and famished ghosts cross over to salvation. Thus, the 15th day of the seventh moon has become an Occasions for teaching the virtues of filial piety. The date of Ullambana depends on the calendar that is followed, and varies slightly in different parts of the world. Ulambana is also a Japanese Buddhist festival known as Obon, beginning on the thirteenth of July and lasting for three days. It marks the reunion of family ancestors with the living.

Robe Offering Ceremony (Kathina Ceremony):

It is celebrated in both the Mahayana and Theravada traditions. It is held on any convenient date within one month of the conclusion of the Vassa Retreat, which is the three month rains retreat season (Vassa) for the monastic order. It is the time of the year when new robes and other requisites may be offered by the laity to the monks.

Avalokitesvara’s (Kuan Yin) Birthday:

In this festival, people celebrate the Bodhisattva ideal represented by Avalokitesvara. He represents the perfection of compassion in the Mahayana traditions of Tibetan, Vietnamese, Chinese, Taiwanese, etc. It takes place on the full moon day in March.

In Tibet, prayer is observed regularly. Tibetans pray in a special way. They believe that when certain sounds and words, called mantras, are said many times, they arouse good vibrations within the person. If a mantra is repeated often enough it can open up the mind to a consciousness which is beyond words and thoughts.

In Japan, millions of Buddhists pray to the Amida Buddha, the Buddha of Infinite Light. They believe that the Amida has created a Pure Land in the west and that those who have faith and repeat the Amida’s name in prayer will go there. Yet they also believe that the Amida is actually within them.

Large communities of Vietnamese people living in Australia celebrate three main Buddhist festivals by the Buddhist community include Vesak (Buddha's Birthday), Vulan (Ullambana) and New Year. A traditional Buddhist also visits the temple on the fifteenth day of the Lunar month (Ram), and on various other festival days of the Mahayana Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

The Chinese and Taiwanese Buddhist communities in Australia are also large. The festivals that they celebrate are not different from those celebrated by Vietnamese people. On the holy days, the Chinese Buddhists visit temples to make offerings of prayers, incense, fruits, flowers and donations. On such days, they observe the moral precepts as well as having only vegetarian food.

All the festivals mentioned above are marked by different ways of activities from different nations, organize by the groups of engaged Buddhists in various Temples. Some of them try to distribute the free publishing of Dharma, in different mediums such as books, CD, DVD, VCD and so on, nothing more than the benefits for other in order to help all sentient beings to relieve their mental obstacles and lives happy life.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

http://www.buddhanet.net.au/festival

[2]:

Revel, Jean, F., & Ricard, M. The Monk and the Philosopher. A Father and son discuss the meaning of life. America. 1999: 304-305

[3]:

http://www.buddhanet.net.au/culture