A Great Bodhi Day (Rohatsu) Message.

One of a reasons which we impute to a month of Dec as, "the holidays" in America is since it's so most more than Christmas. The Jews applaud Chanukkah, a Muslims Ashura as well as most African-Americans applaud Kwanzaa. And, for Buddhists we applaud a enlightenment of Buddha on this day, Dec 8th. In honor of his endeavor, most Buddhists outlay a day or month in meditation as well as honor his memory by acts of kindness. Often meat eating Buddhists will buy as well as recover an animal which was in captivity--usually fish.

For this year, we found a great small piece by Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara. It is a great point of view on how complicated day, normal Buddhists can take a impulse to celebrate/honor a day despite a hectic report as well as life:

The fable says which as he gazed during a sunrise star, he said, "How marvelous, I, a great earth, as well as all beings have been naturally as well as concurrently awakened." This phrase teaches us a great doctrine of interdependence, which we have been not separate from all which is, but rather we have been interconnected, a piece of a grand total of a universe. And during a same time, this very piece, this "I" sitting here is an constituent as well as critical member of a whole. When we take care of this "I", we can take care of a total universe. So, even if we cannot persevere a week or a full night but have been usually able to meditate for a couple of minutes on Bodhi Day, it can be a reminder of a wisdom which is naturally accessible to us, a wisdom of cultivating a minds as well as noticing a propinquity to a whole.

James: Each year, on Bodhi day, we lay as well as picture all a Buddhists in a universe as well as suppose us all together in a single place, sitting united to incite to assent in oneself, as well as assent in a universe as Thich Nh! at Hanh says. Then we enlarge which picture to include a universe as well as suppose people saying us all sitting. Then watching them ride toward which pacific energy to just lay with us, regardless of religion; to simply suffer which moment--together, as a world, as a species, as a planet. It always makes me smile as well as recharges me for a new year. So, to you, dear reader; we wish we a pacific Bodhi day as well as Happy New Year.

~Peace to all beings~