Context: Bodhi Day will fall on December 8 this year. It occurs on the eighth day of the 12th month of the lunisolar calendar.

What is Bodhi Day and why it is celebrated?

• Aim: The Bodhi Day is celebrated to commemorate the day Gautam Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree and achieved enlightenment 2500 years ago.
• Events to Mark the Day: Followers of Buddhism indulge in meditation, studying the Dharma, chanting Buddhist texts (sutras), or performing kind acts towards other beings to mark the day.
• Ritual: Some followers celebrate with a traditional meal of tea, cake, and readings.

• Popularity: Bodhi Day is observed in many mainstream Mahayana traditions including the traditional Zen and Pureland Buddhist schools of China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam.
• Versions of the Festival:
  • Rohatsu: For Japanese Zen followers, the Bodhi day is known as Rōhatsu or Rōhachi, which means the 8th day of the 12th month.
  • Laba: It is the Chinese version of this festival. It is celebrated on the Eighth Day of the La (or the Twelfth) Month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar.
• Significance of the Day
  • Bring People to Work for Common Good: Bodhi Day provides a platform for people from diverse backgrounds to come together for the common good.
  • Honour Buddha’s Teachings: The day also inspires and motivates people to follow the teachings of the Buddha.

About Gautama Buddha

• About: Gautama Buddha was a religious teacher, ascetic, and philosopher, who was the founder of Buddhism. 
• The Birth: The Buddha was born as Siddhartha in Lumbini (Nepal) to royal parents of the Shakya clan. His father was Suddhodana and his mother was Mayadevi. He later married Yashodhara.
  • There was a prophecy that said that if Prince Siddhartha stayed at home, he was destined to become a world ruler. If he left home, however, he would become a universal spiritual leader. Hence his family isolated him in his palace, away from all the events around him.
• Mahabhinishkramana: During his visit outside the palace, Siddhartha came across an old man, a sick man, a dead body, and an ascetic.
  • These events greatly affected the prince, who decided to seek answers to his questions on human life and suffering.
  • One night, Prince Siddhartha left the palace along with his horse Kanthaka and his charioteer Channa. This marks the event known as the Great Departure or Mahabhinishkramana.
• Ascetic Life: Siddhartha wandered as an ascetic from place to place seeking answers. He practiced meditation and fasting to train his body.
• Buddha’s Meditation:
  • Resolve: When Buddha left home, he vowed to find the root cause of suffering or die trying. He sat under a peepal tree (Bodhi tree), and started meditating until he found the root of suffering.
  • Temptations: During meditation, Lord Indra sent Mara, the demon of illusion to distract Buddha from his meditation through temptations.
• Nirvana: After spending 49 days under the Peepal tree, Siddhartha finally found the answers he sought and attained Nirvana (enlightenment). Siddhartha became a Buddha or “Awakened One”. 
• Enlightenment: Siddhartha sat meditating under a peepal tree in Uruvela on the banks of the Niranjana River. He meditated for 48 days and on the 49th day, he achieved enlightenment.
  • This place came to be known as Bodh Gaya.
• First Sermon: The event is known as Dharmachakraparivartana and takes place in the Deer Park near Sarnath. Buddha gave his four noble truths.
• Maha Parinirvana: It refers to the passing away of the Buddha near Kushinagar. It is the ultimate state of Nirvana (everlasting, highest peace and happiness) attained by an Awakened Being.

Philosophy and Teachings of the Buddha:

• Four Noble Truths:
  • Dukha (Suffering)
  • Samudaya (Root cause of Suffering)
  • Nirodha (Reducing suffering by conquering desires)
  • Magga (Path to conquer suffering by following an eight-fold path)
• Eightfold Path (Ashtanga Marga):  Right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right samadhi.
• Compilation of Teachings:
  • Sutta Pitaka: Compilation of words of the Buddha, and the teachings and doctrines of Buddhism. 
  • Vinaya Pitaka: It is a compilation of the conduct of monk order.
  • Abhidhamma Pitaka: It deals with the matters of metaphysics and psychology.
• Triratnas of Buddhism: 
  • Buddha (the highest spiritual potential)
  • Dhamma (Buddha’s teachings)
  • Sangha (order of Buddhist monks)
• Famous Contemporaries of the Buddha: Mahavira (the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism), Ajatashatru, and Bimbisara (Kings of the Haryanka dynasty) were famous contemporaries.
• Belief and Practices of the Buddha:
  • Middle-path: Buddha’s middle path steers clear of the extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification.
  • Belief in God: Buddha did not believe in god or the soul.
  • Varna System: Buddha opposed the varna system.
  • Medium of Teaching: Buddha taught in the Pali language.
• Disciples of Buddha: Sariputra, Ananda, Mahakasyapa, Upali, Rahula, Subhuti, Mahāmaudgalyāyana, Punna Mataniputta,  Mahākatyāyana and Aniruddha were the famous disciples of the Buddha.
• Famous Quotes by the Buddha:
  • “No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.”
  • “Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.” 
  • “It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you.”
  • “Health is the greatest gift, contentment is the greatest wealth.”
  • “The past is already gone, the future is not yet here. There’s only one moment for you to live.”

About Buddhism

• Core Philosophy: Buddhist teachings are called Dhamma and are concerned with solving the problem of human suffering. They include the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.
• Schools of Buddhism:
  • Hinayana: It literally means ‘Small Vehicle’ in Sanskrit, and does not believe in the divinity of the Buddha. It puts an onus on individual salvation through self-discipline and mediation.
  • Mahayana: It literally means ‘Great Vehicle’ in Sanskrit, and its followers believed in the divinity of the Buddha. It involves idol worship.
  • Theravada: It is the oldest school of Buddhism that follows the teachings of the Tripitakas. Being the oldest school, it involves the “silent” or “recluse” monks.
  • Vajrayana: The Vajrayana School is mainly practiced in Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Tibet. It includes many tantric practices and has a complex hierarchy of guru, lineage, and retreat systems.
  • Zen: It is most popular in East Asia, in the countries of China, Japan, and Korea. It mainly involves meditative techniques and exercises that help the practitioner achieve a state of mindfulness.

Conclusion:

Buddhism and its philosophies are relevant in contemporary times when the world is increasingly becoming violent. Bodhi Day encourages the adoption of Buddha’s teachings in everyday life.