Celebrating Buddha’s Birthday

 
 

“Good relationship.
Today is Buddha's birthday in 2548 Buddhist Era.
I do wish happy Buddha's birthday to all of you, the family of Anguk Zen Center.
Buddha came to this world as a great result of Karma to save living beings, showed in person the phenomenon of birth, aging, illness and death and advised his disciples to achieve Buddhahood by practicing hard and lighting the lanterns unextinguished forever, the meaning of which we should take to heart.

Knowing that all the universe is full of Buddha's teachings and all living beings of the nature have the Buddha-nature, we, Buddhists, should light lanterns in the minds of living beings.  Furthermore, if we can help the people who are anxious for truth to reach enlightened men easily by hanging out the lanterns full of Buddha's mercy, it will be a big blessing to other Buddhists who learn and practice Buddhism.

It is very meaningful that, holding majestic lantern ceremony, Buddhist mass and baby Buddha bath on Buddha's birthday, we take to heart and bear in mind the meaning of Buddha's birthday. In addition to it, we should get a rod(jookbi) of mind ready so that we may devote  to Buddha our emptied minds which we have cleaned and polished by practicing for long.

We should get ready for monks' rods(jookbi) which prevent us from falling into sleepiness and restlessness .What is more important, if we scold and punish ourselves with a rod(jookbi) of mind, behave as Bosal(a Buddhist saint) with Buddha's teaching in mind and live with Hwado even in busy and hard life, wouldn't the life in the filthy and turbid world become much easier?

The everlasting Buddha of miraculous efficacy you should preserve with incessant practice.
I hope you will stick to(keep watching) Hwado all the time, hitting your lazy bodies and minds which have not escaped from greed, anger and foolishness yet with your rods(jookbi) of mind.
Let's practice hard.”

On Buddha’s Birthday, 2548 Buddhist Era,
with all the world full of Buddha's glory of mercy, Monk, Soo-bool delivered a special sermon for and celebrated Buddha's Birthday with all the Buddhists that crowded  Ahnkook Zen Center.
With the Buddhist chant “The day when Buddha was born” by Anguk Chorus echoing calmly in and around Anguk Zen Center decorated with colorful lotus lanterns, ‘baby Buddha bath' was held solemnly by Monk, Soo-bool and all the Buddhists present at the Buddhist mass, which reminded us again of the great result of Karma by which Buddha was born into this world.
Anguk Zen Center in Boo-san opened in a hard situation 16 years ago, when we, thanking Buddha for his appearance, celebrated the first Buddha's Birthday in Anguk Zen Center with only about 2000 lanterns lit by the efforts and the wishes of the family of Anguk Zen Center.
Today, however, more than 18,000 lotus lanterns are blooming and giving off the light of mercy and glory in and around Anguk Zen Center thanks to Buddha's blessing and the incessant efforts and painful contributions of the family of Anguk Zen Center.
Besides, though Anguk Zen Center in Seoul met Buddha's Birthday with no more than 600 lotus lanterns 8 years ago, in the year when it opened, the family of the Zen Center praised one another for their efforts to light as many as 7,000 lotus lanterns today.
Hoping that the beautiful lotus lanterns made with sincere faith and mind of practice of our family will comfort all the suffering people all over the world and light the lanterns in their minds, we held 'baby Buddha bath' with our monk.
For the great mercy and compassion of Buddha who said that He would lead all the living beings to the world of truth and not leave even a single living being to fall into the hell, we thank Buddha by decorating all the world with lotus lanterns like boundless Buddha's mind today.
Numerous lotus lanterns filled with living beings' wishes are blooming at their best in and around Anguk Zen Center in Busan.
With our monk's lighting, all the lotus lanterns turned pink, green, yellow and white, and are lightening the minds of our Buddhists who are praying Buddha that they may be reborn by burning up the suffering of birth, aging, illness and death and greed, anger and foolishness of the filthy, turbid and wicked world.
“Subhuti, what all Buddhas say is difficult to understand. Granting that I deliver sermons with numerous means and a variety of comparisons and karmas, what I say you can not understand easily by thinking and discriminating. None but Buddhas know it. It's because They appear in this world as a great result of Karma.
Buddha appears in this world in order that living beings may open Buddha's wisdom and purify themselves, Buddha appears in this world in order that living beings may see Buddha's wisdom, Buddha appears in this world in order that living beings may realize Buddha's wisdom, and Buddha appears in this world in order that living beings may achieve the same wisdom as Buddha has.
Subhuti, these mean that Buddhas appear in this world as a great result of Karma.” (Lotus Sutra)
“Subhuti, Buddha appeared in this world in order that He might save living beings from the filthy, turbid and wicked world and have them attain Buddhahood.”(Lotus Sutra)
Buddha's birthday is a festival day to Buddhists who learn Buddha's teachings and live altruistic lives. We should not only comfort the living beings who live a hard life in mental and physical respects, but also try to make a world where we can live together with them by giving ourselves up.
Today, Buddha's birthday, we pray Buddha with all our hearts that all the living beings all over the world, including all the family of Anguk Zen Centers at home and abroad, may be reborn with Buddha's wisdom day by day.

Director : Suck Dam
Writer : Eun Arm
Translater : Boo Arm