WESAK
Wesak is the most holy day of utmost importance to Buddhists all over the world. It falls on the full-moon day in the month of May and commemorates three important events in the life of the Buddha - his birth, enlightenment and Mahaparinibbana. In Malaysia, Wesak has been an annual national holiday since 1962, when prominent Buddhist leaders in the country successfully convinced the Government of its tremendous significance to its citizens of the Buddhist faith who comprised about one-third of the country's population. It is a religious festival which has always been celebrated by Malaysian Buddhists of Chinese descent without the noisy merry-making as witnessed when they celebrate their cultural festivals such as the Chinese New Year. Although their religious beliefs and practices may be tinged with certain aspects of the Taoist mystical cult and other superstitions revolving around ghosts and spirits, Wesak is an occasion when they may be absolved from their religious deviational tendencies. The majority, if not all, truly exhibit religious fervour in honouring the great religious teacher, whose teachings have brought enormous spiritual happiness and satisfaction to millions throughout the world. Of all Buddhist festivals, Wesak is the only one which is commonly celebrated by Buddhists of all schools, and has provided the bond for their unity and solidarity.
In cities and big towns, cooperation among Buddhists of all schools to jointly organize Wesak Day celebrations is very evident. Apart from organized joint celebrations, each temple has its own programme for celebrating the sacred day. All temples throw open their gates to all and sundry, Buddhists as well as non-Buddhists, who wish to pay homage to the Buddha, the Flower of Mankind. Religious services are held with the chanting of suttas by the resident monks and nuns to bless the devotees and all worshippers, who are greatly affected by the religious atmosphere prevailing in the temple premises. Joss-sticks and candles are burned by the thousands. One popular practice among the worshippers is the burning of oil lamps in the belief that it brightens up their lives ensuring a more peaceful and happy life with fewer trouble and illnesses. Offerings of flowers and fruits are made to the Blessed One in abundance, even though the significance of such offerings may not be clearly understood. The important thing is that the devotees and worshippers come with pure minds to venerate the Buddha and in return hope to receive His blessings for a happy and healthy life and perhaps, in some cases, for wealth and prosperity. In this modern world, where the average person is greatly motivated by the lure of material comforts, can he be blamed if, however religious he may be, there is, deeply ingrained in his mind, that craving for material wealth which is the sine-qua-non for a happy and comfortable life on earth?
The advent of Buddhism to China provided 111ritual comfort to the common people that the accumulation of good kammas in this life through the performance of meritorious deeds could assure a happier life in the next birth. So, on this particular day of Wesak, it is their belief that performance of good deeds will receive the great blessings of the Buddha and add another meritorious entry in their record of kusala kammas. On this matter of performance of good deeds, devotees would do well to take note of the advice given by the Buddha in Verse 118 of the Dhamma-pada:
Punnam ce puriso kayira Kayirath etam punappunam Tamhi chandam kayirdtha Sukho punnassa uccayo.
(Should a person perform a meritorious deed, he should do it again and again; he should find pleasure therein: blissful is the accumulation of merit).
Many devotees refrain from meat-eating on this day, a temporary act of purification in the presence of the Blessed One in the temple. Observance of this precept of not killing animals for food is being undertaken by more and more Buddhists as the teachings of the Buddha become more widespread among the Buddhist community. In temples where celebrations are held, vegetarian food is offered to all worshippers and also to the poor and destitute who come to ask for alms. Mere worshipping and prayer were the main concern of devotees on Wesak Day in the past, but with the excellent missionary work of the dedicated monks and nuns and the educated upasakas and upasikas of the various lay associations to propagate the Buddha-dhamma among the Buddhist community, more and more realize the importance of practising the noble teachings of the Blessed One, more so on this hallowed day of Wesak.
One important item in the joint celebration by all temples is the distribution of gifts, in cash and kind, to the poor and needy in charitable homes and orphanages, thus practising the virtue of generosity (ddna). This is a typical example of the social services undertaken by the Joint Wesak Celebrations Committee. Many Buddhists, in particular the youths, donate blood to the hospitals and frequently a Children's party is held to entertain the children from orphanages and Sunday schools. Scholarships and financial aid are given to poor pupils in schools to lighten the burden of their parents in providing academic education to them in government schools. Buddhists in Malaysia have not enjoyed a good image in the eyes of the multiracial and multi-religious society being often criticized for indulging in excessive praying and lacking efforts in the performance of social services. Recent increase in this direction is more consonant with Buddhist teachings and has earned much appreciation from their non-Buddhist fellow citizens. Whenever a Buddhist festival is organized, ample opportunities should be provided for devotees to observe precepts, practise detachment and generosity and increase their knowledge of the dhamma that could bring about an increase of wisdom and greater understanding of the purpose of life.
To add variety to the religious observances during the festival, a candle-light procession is annually organized with a decorated float bearing the huge image of Lord Buddha winding through the streets in the city. Devotees and worshippers who walk the whole route of the procession, following the decorated float, firmly believe in accumulating great merits in so doing. To them, the accumulation of merits is of great importance, because a person will experience happiness, here and now, as well as in the next birth. The annual candle-light procession attracts thousands of devotees and worshippers because they also believe that participation in it and walking the whole route enable them to overcome their difficulties through the grace of the Holy Triple Gem. Many elderly and infirm devotees even come with the faith that some of their ailments could be cured or at least allayed in severity by merely walking the whole route of the procession while paying homage to the Buddha, chanting suttas and radiating loving-kindness to all living beings. So strong is their faith that they manage to complete the whole route, despite aches and pains in their limbs, which miraculously disappear while their minds are concentrated on the procession. There are also many who undergo a profound change in their practice of the Buddhist religion, which they claim to profess, after participating in the procession. The success in bringing about a beneficial self-improvement in our Buddhists justifies the heavy financial expenditure involved in the organization of a procession of this nature.
In Theravada Buddhist temples and some Mahayana Buddhist temples, Wesak Day is a day when many Buddhists take the opportunity of observing the Eight Precepts and remain the whole day in the temple, practising meditation, listening to dhamma talks and generally take upon themselves to perform some chores of keeping the temple premises clean and tidy. The belief is that the merits accrued by the observance of Eight Precepts on Wesak Day is of higher value than that acquired on other occasions. Hundreds of devotees annually look forward to avail themselves of this opportunity on the hallowed day of Wesak to accumulate as much merits as possible through particularly by doing various religious activities organized for their benefit. Most of the Malaysian Buddhists of Chinese descent do not take their religion as seriously as their counterparts in Buddhist cousins, but on Wesak Day, they, for one reason or another, throng the Buddhist temples in thousands, evincing a religiosity that is most praiseworthy, and practising the sublime teachings of The Buddha as assiduously as they could. In this respect, it could be mentioned that they are gradually shedding many of the beliefs and practices i hat do not aid them in their spiritual development. This augurs well for the future of Buddhism in Malaysia for it will progressively lessen the unwarranted criticisms of detractors of the religion who seek to turn them against the religion of their
Ii m fathers.
