Upcoming events
Songkran Sunday, April 8, 9:00 AM
Posted on March 28, 2018
The Songkran festival, celebrated in Thailand as the traditional New Year’s Day, falls at the hottest time of the year in Thailand, at the end of the dry season. The term comes from the Sanskrit Sankranta and means “a move or change” — in this case the move of the sun into Aries — Mesha Sankranti. Most importantly, Songkran is a time of renewal, a time for people make resolutions to refrain from unskillful behavior and to cultivate skillful behavior in the year ahead. People celebrating Songkran as a Buddhist festival go to the wat (monastery) to offer food to the monks and listen to the Dhamma. They pay respect to and bless all the monks by gently pouring water mixed with a Thai perfume over their hands.
The alms round will begin at 9:00 AM and the water blessing will begin around 12:30 PM.
Vesakha Puja Monday, May 29, 8:00 PM
Posted on March 28, 2018
Vesakha (Pali), is a holy day observed by all Buddhist traditions. It is sometimes called the “Buddha’s birthday,” but in fact it commemorates his awakening (nibbana) and final passing (parinibbana) as well as his birth. The name “vesakha” comes from the name of the lunar month falling around April-May.
To commemorate these events we will circumambulate the sala three times with offerings of flowers, candles and incense. The ceremony will begin at 8:00 PM and will be followed by a Dhamma talk and hour-long meditation.
Asalha Puja Friday, July 27, 8:00 PM
Posted on March 28, 2018
Asalha Puja is a Theravada Buddhist festival which typically takes place in July, on the full moon of the eighth lunar month. It celebrates the Buddha’s first sermon in which he teaches the Path to Awakening to his five former associates. This sermon is the first given by the Buddha after his Awakening, and it introduces the Four Noble Truths, the central framework of all his subsequent teachings.
To commemorate these events we will circumambulate the sala three times with offerings of flowers, candles and incense. The ceremony will begin at 8:00 PM and will be followed by a Dhamma talk and hour-long meditation.
The next day, Saturday, July 28, is the first day of the vassa, the rains retreat.
Kathina Sunday, October 28, 8:30 AM
Posted on March 28, 2018
The kathina is a ceremony in which donors present cloth and other requisites to the monks who have spent the Rains Retreat together without break. As it may be held only between the full moon dates in October and November, and only once a year in any given monastery, it is considered a very special opportunity for donors to join in and develop the virtue of generosity together.
In the time of the Buddha, the last month of the rainy season (October/November) was the time when monks would prepare their requisites for the upcoming eight-month period when they could wander and meditate freely in the forest. In particular, this was the time when they would patch their old robes or sew new ones if the old ones were beyond repair. Lay supporters thus took the opportunity to provide the monks with cloth at this time, and the Buddha established the custom of the kathina, in which donors would present cloth to a community of monks as a whole. The monks would then make the cloth into a robe within that day and present it to one of their members whose robes were old and worn, or who was deserving in any other way.
The alms round begins at 8:30 am. After serving the monks, the lay people can have a meal from the dozens of free food booths. The ceremonial offering of the kathina cloth will be held around noon.
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