"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”
—Buddha
"Love makes you warm; Anger makes you burnt; generosity makes you free; Greed makes you tired;Wisdom makes you clear; and delusion makes you cloudy.”
—Ashin Kelasa, Buddhist Monk from Amarapura, Myanmar
Buddha Day is celebrated every first full moon of the ancient lunar calendar. This year it takes place on Friday, May 26. The United Nations began celebrating Buddha Day in its headquarters and offices in the year 2000. The holiday is marked with ceremonies at temples around the world, as well as meditation centers in the U.S. and abroad, reflecting on Buddha’s teachings. Buddhism can be traced to the 5th and 6th centuries B.C. in India. Historians believe Siddhartha Gautama, as he was so named was born into a wealthy royal family in Lumbini, in what is now Nepal. His father shielded him from the outside world by confining him to the palace, where he lived in princely luxury. Yet, it was not enough. Something persistent as his own shadow, drew him into the world beyond the palace walls. There, in the streets, he encountered three simple things: a sick man, and old man, and a dead man being carried to the cremation grounds. Nothing in his pampered life prepared him for this experience. When his charioteer told him that all beings are subject to sickness, old age, and death he could not rest. As he returned to the palace, he met a wandering ascetic walking peacefully along the road, wearing a robe and carrying the single begging bowl (to collect food) of a sadhu, a religious ascetic.
He then resolved to leave the palace in search of the answer to the problem of suffering. After bidding his family a silent farewell he rode to the edge of the forest, cut his hair and exchanged his finer clothes for the simple robes of a wandering ascetic. After six years of searching for a solution of human suffering, and studying under various teachers, Gautama, spent 49 consecutive days in meditation under the Bodhi tree, where he attained enlightenment—enjoying the freedom and tranquility of liberation and becoming the Buddha, the "Awakened One." After his death in 483 B.C., Buddha’s followers started a religious movement, and his teachings evolved into Buddhism.
Postscript: My main meditation teachers over the years in Burma were Michele MacDonald (photo) and Steve Smith of Vioassana Hawaii.
