Festivals are central to the life of the Buddhist community.  The Buddha advised his followers that if they were to thrive they should 'meet together regularly and in large numbers.'  The festivals provide an opportunity for celebration and the expression of devotion and gratitude to the Buddha and his teachings.  They are the celebration of 'the Three Jewels', the Buddha, the Dharma (the Buddhist teaching), and the Sangha (the spiritual community).


Wesak: the Celebration of the Buddha's Enlightenment

The Full Moon of May/June

The Buddha's Enlightenment is the central event in Buddhism, and Wesak, the celebration of that Enlightenment, is the most important festival of the Buddhist year.

Enlightenment was attained by many of the Buddha's disciples, and in the centuries that have followed there have been many other Enlightened masters.  They too are recalled at Wesak with readings of accounts of their lives or from works they wrote themselves.

All Buddhists aspire to the ideal of Enlightenment, so Wesak is a chance to reflect on what it might mean for individual Buddhists.


Dharma Day: the Celebration of the Buddha's Teaching

The Full Moon of July

Soon after his Enlightenment the Buddha rose from where he had been sitting, went to find his former disciples and shared his experience with them.  This event, which happened at a place called Sarnath in northern India, might be called the start of the Buddhist religion and it is this that Dharma Day celebrates.  On Dharma day there are often readings from the Buddhist scriptures and a chance to reflect deeply on their contents.  Above all on Dharma day Buddhists feel profoundly grateful that the Buddha and other Enlightened masters did share their teachings with other people.


Sangha Day: the Celebration of Spiritual Community

The Full Moon of November

On Sangha Day Buddhists celebrate both the ideal of creating a spiritual community, and also the actual spiritual community which they are trying to create.  This is a traditional time for the exchanging of gifts.


Paranirvana Day: the Death of the Buddha

The Full Moon of Februrary

Buddhists celebrate the death of the Buddha, which came when he was eighty years old.  He had spent some forty years teaching after his Enlightenment.  The notion that all things are impermanent is central to Buddhist teaching, and loss and impermanence are things to be accepted rather than causes of pain and grief.  The Paranibbana Sutta gives a moving and dignified account of the Buddha's last days and passages from it are often read on Paranirvana Day.

The day is used as an opportunity to reflect on the fact of one's own future death and on people whom on has known who have recently died.  Meditations are done for the recently deceased to give them help and support wherever they might be now.