Thursday, 08 December 2011

Buddhism: Today Is Bodhi Day

Buddhism
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Today Is Bodhi Day
Dec 8th 2011, 10:19

All over the web, you can find blurbs solemnly explaining that "Bodhi Day' -- the day to commemorate the enlightenment of the historical Buddha -- falls on the 8th day of the 12th lunar month. And this year, they say, it falls on December 8.

The real story is that in some Mahayana sects, the Buddha's enlightenment used to be celebrated on the 8th day of the 12th lunar month. However, when Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar in the 19th century, the day for observing Bodhi Day was fixed at December 8 -- the 8th day of the 12th Gregorian calendar month. Hence the name Rohatsu, which I am told means "the 8th day of the 12th month."

So, Rohatsu, or Bodhi Day, falls on December 8 every year, at least in Japan. And, as far as I can tell, there really isn't much observance of Bodhi Day outside Japan. So today is pretty much it, I think.

The Theravadins commemorate the Buddha's enlightenment as part of Vesak,which was May 17 in 2011 and will be June 4 in 2012. The corresponding holy day in Tibetan Buddhism is Saga Dawa Duchen, which usually falls a month after Vesak.

In Zen monasteries, Rohatsu is observed with an intensive sesshin in which the monastics sit zazen later and later every night, culminating in an all-night sit on the last night, December 8.

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