Newsletter World Vesak Celebration 2021

May, 2021 - www.nebvmc.org

NEW ENGLAND BUDDHIST VIHARA & MEDITATION CENTER [BOSTON BUDDHIST VIHARA]

In this issue Statement by President Biden on Vesak The White House Celebrate Vesak United Nations Vesak Day Important of Vesak Contentment from mindfulness Four Foundations of Mindfulness Vesak at Temple I am waiting for my flight back to Boston. How we Celebrate Vesak

"Sabba papassa akaranam - kusalassa upasampada Sachitta pariyodapanam - etham buddhana sasanam"  "To keep away from all evil, cultivate good, and purify one's mind is the advice of all Buddhas"

Statement by President Biden on Vesak

Jill and I extend our warmest wishes to Buddhists in the United States and around the world as they celebrate Vesak, a day honoring the birth, enlightenment, and passing of the Buddha. The ceremonial lighting of a lamp, the symbol of this holiday that has been celebrated for over 2,500 years, reminds us of Buddhism’s teachings of compassion, humility, and selflessness that endure today. On this day, we also commemorate the many contributions of Buddhists in America who enrich our communities and our country as we all work together toward brighter days ahead. Link to statement THE WHITE HOUSE STATEMENTS AND RELEASES MAY 26, 2021

Vesak Programs 2021- From May 22nd to 29th 1. Vesak Sil for adults - 05/22/2021 A week-long celebration of Vesak was organized for 2021 begining on Saturday May 22nd with Vesak sil for adults. This was conducted under the guidance of Ven. Pannasiri. The program began with the morning buddha puja and observing eight precepts by the participants. Three Dhamma sermons followed by discussions took place by invited maha sangha. Ven.Jinanandha thero Ottawa, Canada, Ven. K.Dhammaloka thero of New York and Ven. Pemaratana Pittsburg PA led three Dhamma sermons and discussions with the participation of the attendees. 2. Special Buddha Vandana followed by Dhamma sermon - 05/3/2021 On Sunday there was a special Buddha puja to invoke blessings on the community. Ven. G Pannarathana Thero, Los Angeles, conducted a Dhamma desana on this occation 4. Vesak Sil program for children 05/29/2021 This year's Vesak Sil for children was conducted in two sessions. The first one for younger kids was conducted by Ven.Kondanna, New York. and the second for older children conducted by Ven. Jinananda Thero, Ottawa, Canada

VESAK CELEBRATION  Vesak Day is an officially recognized United Nations (UN) holiday that celebrates the birth, enlightenment, and passing away of Gautama the Buddha.  The Buddha’s teachings focused on compassion, peace and goodwill with the possibility to awakening wisdom within every human being. His teachings have become a beacon of light pervading the far corners of earth today guiding millions through the darkness of human suffering. We invite you to light a candle to show your gratitude to the Buddha,

United Nations Vesak Day - May 26  I send my warmest greetings to Buddhists all over the world on Vesak, when we honour the birth, enlightenment and passing of Lord Buddha. Today, we recognize the contributions Buddhism has made to human spirituality and culture for more than two and a half millennia.

UN Secretary-General's Message for 2021 On this Day of Vesak, let’s resolve to build lives of peace and dignity for all on a healthy planet. António Guterres

VESAK CELEBRATION 2021

NEBVMC Vesak Celebration May 22nd through 29th Pictures: NEBVMC - GRAFTON, MA

For the First Time Ever, the White House Celebrates Vesak, the Buddha’s Birthday

Wednesday, May 26, 2021 marked a historic moment for Buddhists in the US. For the first time ever, the White House celebrated Vesak, the holiday that commemorates the Buddha’s birthday, death, and enlightenment. According to a press release from Dharma College, Dixey said, “It is wonderful that prayers were offered from all three great traditions of Buddhist practice here, at the heart of American democracy.” The Most Venerable Uparatana represented the Theravada tradition; Rev. Marvin Harada represented the Mahayana tradition; and Venerable Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche, who is Dixey’s father and the founder of Dharma College, represented the Vajrayana tradition. Read more about Read more about 

Children's Vesak Program From May 24th through May 29th there was a series of Buddha puja starting at 7.30 pm finishing with special presentations by children of the Dhamma School. The children's program was hosted by Methru Bnadara, Bhagyavi Bandara, Nigel Karunaratne and Sanidi Waduthanthri.

Contentment from mindfulness Practicing mindfulness with clear comprehension makes the mind fully engaged in all the activities you do. You practice mindfulness and clear comprehension while walking forward, backward, looking around, standing, sitting, wearing clothes, and any other mental and physical activities. Everything is included—every action, every thought. Then there is no room in the mind to think of acquiring any material thing or situation. The mind withdraws from the very thought of obtaining something. This is contentment. You need nothing more than the moment provides. Contentment is being satisfied with wholesome thoughts, words, and deeds. You are content with your friends, relatives, and family members. You are content with your food and eat moderately. You are content with your clothes. You acquire them and wear them moderately. You do everything moderately without being greedy, hateful, or confused. One who is full of contentment feels full all the time. One who is discontented feels something is missing all the time. Bhante Gunaratana

4 Foundations of Mindfulness Sathipatthana Sutta was delivered to a group of Bhikkhus, or monks, living in the province of Kuru in India. The main theme of Sathipatthana Sutta is mindfulness. The key objectives are to describe in detail the various modalities of mindfulness and to present the correct methodology to cultivate them. Kayanupassana, or mindfulness of the body, teaches us that practicing skillful observation of one’s natural breath can effectively be used to develop mindfulness. Choosing a suitable location free of noise and other disturbances and maintaining an appropriate posture in the body are considered favorable to the practice. Preparations also include sitting upright, locating the area near the nostrils and upper lip where the flow of breath is felt the most, and enabling one to be mindful of that breath. Meditation on the breath can be considered somewhat unique as it mandates the specific posture and details. Other types of meditations only require we simply stay mindful about the actions of the whole body and mind. Sathipattahana Sutta describes four ways of establishing mindfulness. They are:  Kayanupassana: Contemplation of the body Vedanupassana: Contemplation of feelings Chittanupassana: Contemplation of mind Dhamupassana: Contemplation of mind contents 1

2 The Sutta describes six ways to contemplate the body. Breath happens to be the first and most significant. Vedanupassana focuses attention on the feelings associated with the sensory experience. Chittanupassana deals with the nature of the mind when it works in conjunction with the sensory experience. We are either attached to sensory input because it makes us happy, or averse because it happens to oppose our inclinations, habits or interests. Chittanupassana also deals with the contemplation of exalted states of the mind. Cultivation of Dammanupassana allows one to know and understand the state of the mind. Progress in Dhammanupassana typically involves identifying how to strengthen weak states of the mind. Dhammanupassana teaches us to identify and abandon restraints arising from the interaction of internal and external sense media so that we can finally awaken to a realization of the four noble truths. The Dhammanupassna describes five mental hindrances that impede one’s progress in taming the discursive mind through meditation. These five clinging conditions articulate how a being or personality (I.mine.ness) is formed when adhering to sensory experience. Cultivation of Dhammanupassana culminates in the development of seven factors of enlightenment that lead to the realization of the four noble truths. By Bhante Pannasiri

Vesak at Temple Vesak means May, which is when we celebrate the Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and passing. We celebrate Vesak by making Vesak lanterns, singing songs, and selling candles. We celebrate during the night since that is when we see the full moon. We go to the temple and we dress up in our white clothes. Girls usually wear the lama sari and women wear saris. The boys and men wear sarongs or white pants. We offer flowers and food at the beginning of the Vesak ceremony and all the kids sing Vesak songs. The adults sing after the kids. The older kids give speeches to the people gathered to the ceremony. We also have dinner which includes traditional Sri Lankan food like milk rice, lunu miris, coconut smabol, and curries. We also have desert like kokis and ice cream. The guests bring over the food for all to enjoy. This is called a dana – an act of generosity. We light all the lanterns when it begins to get dark, and groups of kids sell candles to raise money for the temple. We all go home happy and full. We hope to see a Vesak celebration like this in 2022. Sayumi Prematillake Level 3 - Dhamma School

May all be well, happy & peaceful HAPPY VESAK

Picture: NEBVMC- GRAFTON MA

I am waiting for my flight back to Boston from California and my phone dies. By Cami Graham I am waiting for my flight back to Boston from California and my phone dies. I am in a meeting that is all male except me, and I keep getting talked over. I receive a notice that my book chapter is due, and I have no recollection of agreeing to this project. I am a physician who sees patients at a local hospital and an executive at a pharmaceutical company. I have a lot of stress and I love my jobs. I want to stay calm and focused so I can be effective in my work and maintain my own health. About a year ago I decided I needed something different in my life. I had attended events at Open Spirit and saw that a meditation group was being formed. I had no idea if this was what I was looking for, but I decided it would be interesting to check it out. Our teacher is Bhante Pannasiri, and he had spoken at other Open Spirit events, so I knew he is a Buddhist monk and is friendly. He had us go through exercises such as chanting, focusing on the breath, readings in Pāli and English and he provided lessons in principles of Buddhism. I enjoyed these sessions, although I wondered how to use these teachings in my life. I was speaking at a conference for women executives and found myself using examples Bhante Pannasiri had taught us as I described how to put annoying sexist experiences into perspective. Now, when stressful events happen, I remind myself that this moment that is happening now will never happen again, and I am experiencing it because I am alive and aware. None of those events listed above were worse than being dead.   I was surprised at how excited I was to receive my spiritual name from Bhante Pannasiri. He gave me the name Muditā. This has prompted me to read about this concept, “finding joy in the happiness and success of others,” and thinking about how I can live my daily life with Muditā. I hope I can grow into this name.

Why and How we Celebrate Vesak It was the month of May, A baby was born to Queen Mahamaya and King Suddhodana, at beautiful Lumbini Park. When he was born, the baby spoke these words of wisdom, “I am the highest in the world. I am the foremost in the world. This is my last birth. I will not be born again.” Then he took seven steps and each step a lotus sprang under his feet. Everyone was amazed by his actions. He was named Prince Siddhartha. Later in his life he understood the noble truth and became enlightened again in the month of May. That is our lord Buddha and, also his parinibbana happened in the same month and same day. Buddhist people all over the world celebrate buddha’s birth, Enlightenment and Parinibbana on the full moon day of May. Which we call Vesak full moon poya day. Vesak is celebrated as two major types of puja, amisa puja and pratipatti puja. Amisa puja is basically obtaining merits for your next life, the more merits, the better life you get. This includes offerings of material or hospitality. So, for Vesak celebrations, Buddhists display Vesak lanterns, flags, and lamps. Pratipatti pooja is practice dhamma to attain nibbana. We practice meditations with the other monks, we also chant many buddha chanting. We observe 8 or 10 percepts of sila. We offer free food for those who in need, to show our generosity. I am happy to celebrate Vesak this year with my NEBV monks, dhamma school friends and teachers. Happy Vesak Everyone!!!!!! Sanuth Rupasinghe Level 3 Dhamma School

Newsletter Contributors: Bhante Pannasiri - Advisor Committee Members Udaya De Silva Joyce Schauer Gayani Weeraratne Lasitha Yahampath Asanya Wawlagala Sanath Wijeratne Lakmini Prematillake Nigel Karunarathne  NEW ENGLAND BUDDHIST VIHARA & MEDITATION CENTER 162 OLD UPTON ROAD GRAFTON MA 01519 Web: www.nebvmc.org Email: information@nebvmc.org bostonbuddhistvihara@gmail.com Phone: (508) 8395038 Copyright © 2021 NEBVMC, All rights reserved.

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