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THE MEANING OF VESAK
The day of the full moon of May is a special day for Buddhists
around the world.It is called Vesak, a word that comes from the
name of the month of May in thelanguage spoken a long time ago in
India.
On Vesak day Buddhists remember and reflect on the Birth of the
Buddha, his En-lightenment and the day when he died and entered
Parinirvana.
THE BIRTH
The Buddha was born earlier than expected in the gardens of
Lumbini, when hismother was travelling to her parents house to have
her baby.He was named Siddhattha and was the pampered prince of a
small kingdom. As hegrew up he tired of his empty life of luxury
and worried about the suffering of the
common people.One day Prince Siddhattha left the palace to live
in the forest as a poor beggar.He wanted to find out real happiness
by his own efforts in meditation and so to beable to help
others.
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THE ENLIGHTENMENT
Many years later, after a long period of meditation, he found
the cause and thecure of all our suffering. In this flash of
enlightenment was born the Dhamma, ashis teaching is called.He
realized that the cause of all suffering is greed and that the
nature of all thingsis to change all the time. The way out of
suffering is to be aware of this and wiselynot holding on to what
is changeable. He also advised to develop mindfulness andkindness
through meditation and reflection.Thus he reached Nirvana, which is
a state of profound peace and contentment.Since then the prince has
been known as the Buddha, a word that means
.
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THE PARINIRVANA
The Buddha wanted to share his discovery with everybody so they
also could be-
come enlightened. He spent the rest of his long life travelling
and teaching. Hefounded monasteries wherever he went and many
followers became monks andnuns.When the Buddha was 80 years old he
died and reached Parinirvana, which is astate beyond Nirvana
attained after death.
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VESAK DAY AT A BUDDHIST TEMPLE
On Vesak Day Buddhists visit their temple and listen to the
monks and nuns whohelp them to reflect on the message of the
Buddha. Everybody joins in chanting andin a short meditation in a
beautifully decorated shrine room. There are flowers and
candles on the altar in front of the Buddha image and the air
smells sweetly of in-cense. The participants bring food that they
offer to the monks and nuns and thenall share a nice and friendly
meal.
I had a lot of fun doing these drawings for you but I am a
little tired now; perhapsyou can help me and draw in this frame a
Vesak ceremony at a Buddhist temple.
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QUESTIONS
1 What do we celebrate on Vesak day?
2 Who was Siddhattha?
3 Was Prince Siddhattha happy in his palace?
4 What did he decided to do?
5 How did Siddhattha become the Buddha?
6 What does the word Buddha mean?
7 What did the Buddha do during his long life?
8 Why did the Buddha teach the Dhamma?
9 What was the last advice of the Buddha?
10 What do you think the Buddha meant by that?
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