Saga Dawa
The Most Auspicious Time of the Year for a Buddhism Practitioner
The Most Auspicious Time of the Year for a Buddhism Practitioner
Saga Dawa is a month-long festival that celebrate the birthday, enlightenment, and death of Buddha Shakyamuni. The festival takes place in the fourth month of the Tibetan Calendar with the main celebration on 15th of the month, the day Buddha Shakyamuni was born, became enlightened and entered into paranirvara.
Saga Dawa is called "bun jur" dawa in Tibetan language, which means the month of 100,000-fold multiplication. The merit or positive karma generated by a virtuous deed performed within the month of Saga Dawa increases 100,000 fold comparing to that conducted in the other days of the year. This is due to the auspiciousness of the time related to Buddha's birth, enlightenment and paranirvana.
The natural power of Saga Dawa does not limit to the positive deeds conducted by buddhist practitioners, all positive actions performed by all people gain the same magnitude benefit for oneself. This is because Buddha's love is universal, without limitation or discrimination. One of Buddha's mental achievement is equanimity. All sentient beings are equal in the sense we all long for happiness and dislike suffering. And others' happiness are more important than that of oneself. By putting others' happiness before yours', the ego is checked at bay and so are its allegiance of negative mental factors that destruct your inner peace such as aggression, anxiety, fear, resentment, hate, etc. By putting others' happiness before yours mentally, the positive attitudes leading to happiness are cultivated and nourished such as love, patience, compassion, forgiveness. As these positive forces become dominant in your mind-stream, you feel happy naturally.
Saga Dawa is called "bun jur" dawa in Tibetan language, which means the month of 100,000-fold multiplication. The merit or positive karma generated by a virtuous deed performed within the month of Saga Dawa increases 100,000 fold comparing to that conducted in the other days of the year. This is due to the auspiciousness of the time related to Buddha's birth, enlightenment and paranirvana.
The natural power of Saga Dawa does not limit to the positive deeds conducted by buddhist practitioners, all positive actions performed by all people gain the same magnitude benefit for oneself. This is because Buddha's love is universal, without limitation or discrimination. One of Buddha's mental achievement is equanimity. All sentient beings are equal in the sense we all long for happiness and dislike suffering. And others' happiness are more important than that of oneself. By putting others' happiness before yours', the ego is checked at bay and so are its allegiance of negative mental factors that destruct your inner peace such as aggression, anxiety, fear, resentment, hate, etc. By putting others' happiness before yours mentally, the positive attitudes leading to happiness are cultivated and nourished such as love, patience, compassion, forgiveness. As these positive forces become dominant in your mind-stream, you feel happy naturally.